News
Seager, Wilkerson Win LA Times Book Prizes
April 20, 2021
The Los Angeles Times announced the winners of its 41st annual Book Prizes on Friday, April 16, the day before the 26th Los Angeles Times Festival of Books began as virtual event for the second consecutive year. Among the winners were two books published by Penguin Random House imprints in the following categories:
Grammy-Winning Singer/Songwriter Brandi Carlile Narrates Audiobook of Her Memoir BROKEN HORSES
April 20, 2021
Six-time Grammy Award–winning singer, songwriter, performer, and producer Brandi Carlile narrates the audiobook edition of her memoir, BROKEN HORSES, released by Random House Audio today, Tuesday, April 20. Carlile also sings more than 30 songs, recorded exclusively for the audiobook, including 23 of her own compositions as well as covers of songs by artists who have inspired her, such as Elton John, Dolly Parton, and Leonard Cohen.
Our BCALA 2021 Literary Award Winners and Honorees
April 19, 2021
The Black Caucus of the American Library Association, Inc. (BCALA) has announced the winners of the 2021 BCALA Literary Awards, with books published by Penguin Random House imprints and PRHPS client publishers recognized with four awards and one honor. They recognize excellence in adult fiction, nonfiction, and poetry by African American authors published in 2020. The awards ceremony will take place virtually on Thursday, July 29, during the BCALA 11th National Conference of African American Librarians (NCAAL).
Paula McLain’s WHEN THE STARS GO DARK is New GMA Buzz Pick
April 16, 2021
Ballantine published WHEN THE STARS GO DARK by Paula McLain on Tuesday, April 13, and today Good Morning America announced that this book is the new GMA Buzz Pick. Weaving together actual cases of missing persons, trauma theory, and a hint of the metaphysical, this propulsive and deeply affecting novel tells a story of fate and redemption. In a recent New York Times feature, McLain said that while walking her dog, “I pictured this troubled missing persons detective who becomes obsessed with a girl who goes missing in a town that meant something to her when she was a kid. Before I got home, I could see the whole thing.”
Friday Reads: Hemingway
April 16, 2021
"Live the full life of the mind, exhilarated by new ideas, intoxicated by the Romance of the unusual." - Ernest Hemingway
Are you among the fans who are watching Hemingway, a three-part, six-hour documentary film by Ken Burns and Lynn Novick on PBS? It examines the fascinating life of Ernest Hemingway, one of the most influential writers America has ever produced. Penguin Random House publishes some wonderful books, both by and about Hemingway, to enhance the experience:
Sarah Stewart Johnson Wins 2021 Whiting Award for Nonfiction
April 16, 2021
Sarah Stewart Johnson, author of THE SIRENS OF MARS: The Search for Life on Another Planet (Crown), has won the 2021 Whiting Foundation Award for Nonfiction. The ten winners of the 36th Whiting Awards, each of which comes with a $50,000 prize, were announced on April 14 in a virtual ceremony. The event featured a keynote by former U.S. Poet Laureate Tracy K. Smith, who won a Whiting in 2005, and readings by each of the winners.
Delacorte Press to Publish Diana Gabaldon’s New Outlander Novel in November
April 15, 2021
Diana Gabaldon © Nancy Castaldo
PRH Publishes 5 of 6 Finalists for the 2021 Dublin Literary Award
April 14, 2021
The shortlist for the 2021 Dublin Literary Award, sponsored by the Dublin City Council to honor a single work of fiction published in English, has been announced, with five of the six titles published by Penguin Random House imprints. The finalists were nominated by librarians worldwide. The winner of this €100,000 (about $117,965) prize will be named May 20, as part of the opening day program of the International Literature Festival in Dublin.
PRH to Publish “THE 1619 PROJECT: A New Origin Story” and “BORN ON THE WATER” in November
April 13, 2021
Penguin Random House is thrilled to announce November 16, 2021 as the publication date for THE 1619 PROJECT: A New Origin Story, created by Nikole Hannah-Jones and The New York Times Magazine, and The 1619 Project’s BORN ON THE WATER by Nikole Hannah-Jones and Renée Watson, illustrated by Nikkolas Smith.
Random House Presents “Big Ideas Night: Job Search," Tuesday, April 13
April 12, 2021
A special “Big Ideas Night” is themed “Job Search,” with a panel of expert authors tackling such topics as resume-writing, interviewing and negotiating at a virtual event hosted by Random House via Zoom on Tuesday, April 13 at 8:00 pm (ET).
Doubleday Author Asako Serizawa Wins the 2021 PEN Open Book Award
April 9, 2021
Asako Serizawa, Photo credit: Matthew Modica
Friday Reads: Gold
April 9, 2021
Nothing Gold Can Stay
Nature’s first green is gold,
Her hardest hue to hold.
Her early leaf’s a flower;
But only so an hour.
Then leaf subsides to leaf.
So Eden sank to grief,
So dawn goes down to day.
Nothing gold can stay.
- Robert Frost
“Gold” – metal, metaphor and muse – is what the following titles have in common. And while it may be true that “nothing gold can stay”, it is also the case that art is immortal. Let’s go panning for art:THE HILL WE CLIMB by Amanda Gorman Debuts at #1 on NYT and USA Today Bestsellers Lists
April 8, 2021
Amanda Gorman’s THE HILL WE CLIMB: An Inaugural Poem for the Country, a jacketed hardcover edition of her stirring presidential inaugural poem, featuring a foreword by Oprah Winfrey, has debuted at #1 on the New York Times adult fiction, USA Today, and Indie hardcover fiction bestsellers lists, with the highest week-one sales of any poetry book ever published.
Jacqueline Woodson Named Kennedy Center’s Next Education Artist-in-Residence
April 8, 2021
Jacqueline Woodson, Photo Credit: John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation
Penguin Random House Extends Discounted Digital-Book Library Program Through December 31
April 8, 2021
Penguin Random House Extends Discounted Digital-Book Library Program For Online Patrons, Educators, And Students Through The End Of 2021
PRH Continues Emergency eBook Terms as COVID-19 Continues to Adversely Impact Libraries and School
As the second year of the pandemic health crisis continues to have a wide-ranging disruptive impact on schools and libraries nationwide, Penguin Random House is again extending its Temporary Library Terms of Sale: Special Program in Response to COVID-19, to now run for all of 2021, through December 31.
Celebrate National Poetry Month, Sign Up for Knopf’s “Poem a Day”
April 7, 2021
The Academy of American Poets officially designated April as National Poetry Month beginning in 1996. This annual celebration highlights the extraordinary legacy and ongoing achievement of American poets while marking poetry’s important place in our culture and everyday lives.
Since its founding in 1915, Knopf has published some of the finest poets of all time. You are invited to celebrate this tradition by signing up for Knopf’s Poem-A-Day program. Each day throughout April, Knopf e-mails out a free poem by a new or established poet drawn from the imprint’s extensive list of books.
There's a Book for That: Autism Acceptance Month
April 7, 2021
“Autistic is not a swear word. It is a beautiful word, a name for an identity that represents an entire group of people who are diverse in their personalities, characters, abilities, and deficits. Autism is not homogeneous. Autistics are not homogeneous. But we are everywhere.” —Lydia X. Z. Brown
In honor of Autism Acceptance Month, Penguin Random House is excited to share this list of books by and for autistic people—from groundbreaking memoir and biography, to swoon-worthy romance, to middle grade detective fiction, and more.
James McBride First Two-Time Anisfield-Wolf Winner; Samuel Delany Honored for Lifetime Achievement
April 6, 2021
Riverhead Books author James McBride is the winner of the 2021 Anisfield-Wolf Book Award for Fiction for DEACON KING KONG, becoming the only writer to win the prize twice. Bestowed by The Cleveland Foundation, it is the only national juried prize for literature that confronts racism and explores diversity. In 1997, he was the Nonfiction recipient for THE COLOR OF WATER.
Claire Lombardo Virtually Launches THE MOST FUN WE EVER HAD Anchor Paperback via Crowdcast
April 6, 2021
Claire Lombardo, photo credit: Michael Lionstar
Westminster’s 24th Annual PRH Book Fair Goes Virtual
April 5, 2021
The 2021 Penguin Random House Book Fair is scheduled for Friday, April 9, and Saturday, April 10. Respecting the safety of our community, the 24th annual presentation of this popular extravaganza will take on a hybrid virtual format this year and consist of a variety of activities delivered via a micro-site.
Please join us, from the comfort of your own home, for the re-imagined Fair!