Monica Edinger's Blog, page 64

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory Musical

I wrote my first postabout the Matilda musical back in 2010 right before the original RSC production opened — the various videos and the RSC trailer (on my post) had me smitten and so thefirst thing I did when finalizing a trip to London last August was to get a ticket to the London production. Now I’m planning another summer trip to London and. while it is still all very mysterious, I’m planning on getting tickets to theCharlie and the Chocolate Factory musical, which begins previews next mo...

The Thing About Voice

At its core, writing is about cutting beneath every social expectation to get to the voice you have when no one is listening. It’s about finding something true, the voice that lies beneath all words. But the paradox of writing is that everyone at her desk finds that the stunning passage written in the morning seems flat three hours later, and by the time it’s rewritten, the original version will look dazzling again. Our moods, our beings are as changeable as the sky (long hours at any writing...

The Picture This! Festival

For those in the New York City area, the French Consulate has a wonderful festival underway celebrating creators of book art. Upcoming events include:

Alex Alice & Ron Wimberly
Dates:April 15, 2013 | 6 pm

Place:Columbia University Butler Library (Room 523)

Alex Alice and Ron Wimberly are graphic novelists who retell classic stories in contemporary comic book style. Join these two pop culture savvy storytellers for a conversation at Columbia University’s Butler Library.

Boulet & Gabrielle Bell

Dates...

The Watsons Go to Birmingham starts filming

The Hallmark Channel this week began production of a civil rights era film “The Watsons Go to Birmingham” in Atlanta for a 19-day shoot.

The film, based on a 1995 historical fiction novel of the same name byChristopher Paul Curtis, was created byNikki SilverandTonya Lewis Lee,Spike Lee’swife. Lee also wrote the script and spent nine years trying to get it to air.

Atlanta’s acclaimedKenny Leonwill direct, as he did last year’s “Steel Magnolias” remake for Lifetime. Walmart and P&G are co-sponsor...

Congratulations to New New York Times Book Review Editor, Pamela Paul

I was delighted to see yesterday’s announcement that Pamela Paul was assuming the editorship of the New York Times Book Review. Two years ago she became the children’s books editor and, knowing many would be curious about her as she was coming from outside the children’s literature world, I interviewed herfor a blog profile, beginning:

Recently,Pamela Paul, the new children’s book editor atThe New York Times Book Reviewchatted with me about her background, books, and some of her plans. In the...

Remembering the Holocaust Through My Family

Last week I applied to have my German citizenshiprestored. This is because I would be German if not for the Holocaust. That is, everyone in the generations before me on both my mother and father’s sides were German and Jewish. Some of them stayed and survived for various reasons (say because their ancestors had converted a few generations earlier and according to the various rules of the Nazis they were no longer Jewish), some (my grandfather for one) were killed, and some left in time for Br...

A Plethora of Prizes

Goodreads.com lists over 6,000 prizes on its Web site. The oldest, the Nobel Prize in Literature, was founded in 1901; the youngest was established yesterday. Ten more will certainly be announced tomorrow. Literary prizes have become so numerous and pervasive that just like the invention of the computer, it makes you wonder how writers ever survived without them.

From Amanda Foreman’s NYT essay, “Prize-Writing.“

In The Classroom: Does Spelling Matter?

The title of Simon Horobin’s book poseswhat, at first blush, seems a banal question. I imagine most readers would answer “Yes, spelling matters”, perhaps adding “though not as much as some believe”. Yet if the question of how words should be written is not uppermost in many people’s minds, its nagging everyday presence is nonetheless evident in the existence of spell-checkers and school spelling tests, as well as in mnemonics designed to help us with spellings, such as the venerable “i before...

Remembering Peter D. Sieruta Today

Remember a few years back when we heard that The Graveyard Book might be stripped of its Medal?

Or that worrisome item about Beverly Cleary’s efforts to “modernize” her series withRamona the Ant?

Or the grim day when we learned that Charlie Sheen had landed a book deal?

All done by the best April Fooler there ever was, Peter D. Sieruta. Missing you today, Peter.

Kudos to Chronicle Books

First of all, thanks to Chronicle publicist Lara Starr, I’m finally going to be one with the rest of the world with their Fifty Shades of Grey because, at a recent preview, she gave me this neatPantone: Fifty Shades of Gray Journal. Pretty darn clever, I say.

But more exciting is the following press release. Congrats to everyone at Chronicle!

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Chronicle Books Wins First Ever Bologna Prize

for the Best Children’s Publisher of the Year, North America

SAN FRANCISCO, MARCH 27, 201...