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Yiyun Li Wins Guardian First Book Award
From: www.writerswrite.com

" Chinese-born author Yiyun Li has won the ?10,000 Guardian First Book Award for A Thousand Years of Good Prayers, a book of short stories. It is the first time that a short story collection has won the award.

Judges said Li's stories of modern China and Chinese Americans in the US were "perfectly crafted". The Chinese author lives in California but was denied permanent residency in the US this year, despite letters of support from novelist Salman Rushdie.

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Li's A Thousand Years of Good Prayers describes the often bewildering changes being experienced by the people of China as the country's econominc growth accelerates. The book has already won the Frank O'Connor International Short Story award and the California Book Award, and was shortlisted for the Orange Award for New Writers. Judging chair and Guardian literary editor Claire Armitstead said she was "delighted" to see Yiyun Li win.

"Short stories rarely win awards, partly because of a perception that, because they are short, they are intrinsically inferior to the novel," she said. "This collection shows triumphantly how, in the right hands, less can indeed be more." Li's win marks the fourth time the First Book Award has gone to a work of fiction since it was launched eight years ago.

Friedman joined HC in November 1997 and, under her leadership, the company's revenue has jumped nearly 80%, solidifying its position as one of the world's largest English-language publishers. In 2006, Friedman led HC's expansion into China and India, and directed the company's aggressive digital publishing efforts.

Other notables cited by the magazine for making a mark in the industry this year are Michael Hyatt, Thomas Nelson CEO; Mark Suchomel, head of IPG; Starbucks; and three publishers who were early on the sudoku bandwagon. Friedman and the other industry standouts will be profiled in Monday's issue of the magazine.

The 11-member writing staff of NBC's Office gathers for the typical "writers' room" bull sessions, in which Daniels solicits ideas and assigns scripts to individual writers. Although each episode's basic structure is mapped out in advance, Daniels leaves room for improvisation. "The actors I hired, I tried to have them all have improvisational backgrounds," he said. "Improv is a good tool to make it seem more natural."

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But the dual roles aren't always easy on the cast. Lieberstein admits that he still feels more comfortable writing. The reaction to early episodes, however, guaranteed him more air time as Toby. "Kevin Reilly, who's the president of NBC, was watching dailies and said, 'He's funny. More of him.' And that got around," Lieberstein said.

Lieberstein admits that he feels intimidated by his more experienced colleagues, including Carell and Rainn Wilson, who plays the nerdy crank Dwight, and John Krasinski, as the ambivalent regular guy Jim. Kaling too confesses she would rather write than act. But her personality and background have helped develop Kelly into a popular supporting character and the sometime love interest of a reluctant Ryan.

What organisers call Britain's "most dreaded literary prize" went to first time novelist Iain Hollingshead and Twentysomething for the "passage considered to be the most redundant in an otherwise excellent novel". The award sponsors at Literary Review magazine said it was Hollingshead's "bulging trousers" which put him ahead of runner-up Tim Willocks for The Religion.

"I am delighted to be the youngest ever recipient of the Literary Review's bad sex award," said 25-year-old Hollingshead. "I hope I win it every year." Hollingshead is now part of a select club of writers that includes Tom Wolfe and Sebastian Faulks. He collected a statue representing Sex in the 1950's and a bottle of champagne over shortlisted writers including Thomas Pynchon, Will Self and Irvine Welsh.

The review distributed selected passages of steamy and graphic prose from "Twentysomething" involving groans, grunts, squeaks and "flashing unconnected images and explosions of a million little particles." The prize was founded by then Review editor Auberon Waugh, son of 20th century British novelist Evelyn Waugh, and a prominent journalist and satirist. Now in its 14th year, the prize aims "to draw attention to the crude, tasteless, often perfunctory use of redundant passages of sexual description in the modern novel, and to discourage it."

...[T]here have developed so many different ways of expressing ideas in words enriched by "wordsmiths" and the "blogs" of countless websites. New literary forms have appeared. Some are new, others are newer versions of old classical forms. Among these is our much thought of post-modern style?a freer and less constricting way of creating art with words, liberated from the strictures imposed by the priests of our time, Mark van Doren, Lionel Trilling, John Crowe Ransom, Robert Penn Warren, and many others of their ilk, and the emphasis on the "hermetically sealed architectonic unit," which we of the previous generation measured our works against. And I understand that today in some countries, especially in America, there is talk of phasing out the print media for the more immediate demands of hurrying humanity who, with one click of the computer mouse, must be informed daily about what is going on in the world. With this, we see the possible demise of words on paper in order to give way to this electronic phenomenon.

But the soul of literature, its nature to sing of human triumph and heroism or lament man?s failures and faithlessness, remains the same, because despite the varied means employed by old and new technology, be it the scroll, the moveable type, the computerized color offset, or the electronic media, writers are guided by the truths of the same unchangeable moral universe.

For no technological advances can change the super-reality of this moral universe. Writers everywhere will still be moved by the same truths, will be propelled by the same consciousness, and literature would still sing of man?s courage and greatness.

"Suddenly space travel -- led by remarkable private industry efforts -- is becoming a hot topic again," says Mark Mayfield, editor-in-chief of Launch and president of MM Publishing Inc., the company producing the new magazine. "The response to our first issue was overwhelming and it's clear that we are filling a void for readers and advertisers."

A lifelong space enthusiast who covered five Space Shuttle flights as a reporter in the 1980s, Mayfield also served as editor-in-chief of three home design-related magazines: House Beautiful, Traditional Home and Southern Accents magazines.

"I remember the Space Age as a kid, when our heroes were astronauts who risked their lives for exploration," says Mayfield. "It's different today, but there are actually so many more opportunities for private citizens to participate in space programs. Back in the 1960s, it was just NASA. Today, there are hundreds of private companies getting involved in space exploration. And there are thousands of people, many of them kids, who are flying model rockets as their way of learning and participating."

According to Mayfield, "With NASA's budgets slashed, billionaires like Paul G. Allen, Richard Branson and Jeff Bezos are getting into the space business. They are using their personal fortunes to expand space exploration and the public is once again focusing on space travel. We haven't seen this level of excitement since the late 1960s."

From celebrities and charities to real estate and extravagant getaways, Speedway Club Luxury Living highlights the luxury lifestyles of people, places and things within the world of NASCAR. The premiere issue, with young gun driver Kasey Kahne on the cover, explores everything from chic party planning and holiday decorating to the advances women are making in the world of motorsports and new college degrees offered in the business of motorsports.

"This magazine represents the six degrees of NASCAR," said Editor-in- Chief, Colleen Brannan. "While there is a driver on the cover, it's less about cars and tracks and more of an up close and personal look at how NASCAR- related people live, eat, entertain, decorate and recreate."

"The overwhelmingly positive reaction to the magazine validates our thinking that there is a healthy appetite and need for a niche publication like Speedway Club Luxury Living," said Mike Dockery, president of SLC Publications. "It is a natural showcase for the fun loving, yet sophisticated lives of those associated with motorsports."