Algonquin Books Senior Editor Kathy Pories talks about the Bellwether Prize, the publication prize founded by Barbara Kingsolver to recognize literature that addresses issues of social justice. Algonquin published two Bellwether Prize winners–Hillary Jordan‘s Mudbound and Heidi Durrow‘s The Girl Who Fell from the Sky–to great success. Mudbound has over 170,000 copies in print andContinue reading
Five years ago, I stood on the periphery of the Duke University Chapel during the North Carolina Literary Festival, straining to hear the speaker. I was on the periphery because the chapel was packed full, so that many of us had spilled outside the large cathedral doors. On the stage, about the size of myContinue reading
We’re big fans of the Triangle’s newest independent bookstore, Flyleaf Books, conveniently located a mere seven minutes from our office. On more than once lunch break, I’ve slipped out of the office to peruse their fantastically stocked shelves. We were absolutely thrilled that Flyleaf recently hosted an Algonquin Book Club evening with special guest HeidiContinue reading
What does Hillary Jordan’s debut novel, Mudbound, have in common with the likes of Nickel & Dimed, Freakonomics, The Glass Castle, and Three Cups of Tea? The answer: it’s the 2010 selection for Appalachian State University’s Summer Reading Program. Like the aforementioned titles, Mudbound was assigned as summer reading for Appalachian’s 3,500 incoming freshman. TheContinue reading
What a year it’s been for Algonquin! Allow us to pat ourselves on the back when we say we had FIVE New York Times bestsellers in 2009. If you haven’t checked ’em out, what are you waiting for? Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen Mudbound by Hillary Jordan A Reliable Wife by Robert Goolrick WickedContinue reading
Please welcome Laura Williams, our Art Assistant and Promotional Materials Goddess! Laura gets to do design work on jackets, blads, press kits, and anything else we can dream up. In a job that necessitates constant creativity at a house that puts out so many beautiful books (if we don’t say so ourselves!), we were curiousContinue reading