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A film is in the works about the relationship between author Norman Mailer and convicted felon Jack Abbott; filmmaker Lena Dunham secured the help of Mad Men star Jon Hamm to promote the New Yorker iPhone app; Mat Honan explains how security flaws at Apple and Amazon allowed his digital life to be destroyed; and other news.
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The Chicago Tribune announced today that author Elie Wiesel has been awarded the 2012 Chicago Tribune Literary Prize for Lifetime Achievement.
Wiesel, a Holocaust survivor, is most widely known for his book Night, an autobiographical account of his experiences as a concentration camp prisoner during World War II, which was first published in France in 1958 and has since has been translated into more than thirty languages. He is the author over fifty books of fiction and nonfiction, and has received the United States Congressional Medal of Honor, the Presidential Medal of Freedom, and the Nobel Peace Prize.
"We are deeply honored to bestow the Chicago Tribune Literary Award upon Elie Wiesel, a man revered around the world as a living symbol of human rights," said Gerould Kern, editor of the Tribune. "Drawing upon his personal experiences as a Holocaust survivor, Mr. Wiesel's words have passionately and powerfully fought injustice and intolerance. He is a champion of the human spirit's capacity to overcome evil."
The Tribune also announced the 2012 recipients of the Heartland Prizes, which are given annually for works of fiction and nonfiction that "reinforce and perpetuate the values of Heartland America."
Novelist and short story writer Richard Ford won the prize in fiction for his novel Canada (Ecco, 2012), part of a series of novels that has garnered Ford both a Pulitzer Prize and the PEN/Faulkner Award. Paul Hendrickson was awarded the prize in nonfiction for Hemingway’s Boat: Everything He Loved in Life, and Lost, 1934-1961 (Knopf, 2011).
"The Chicago Tribune Literary Prize and the Heartland Awards for fiction and nonfiction reflect the Tribune's dedication to literature and the spread of ideas and enlightenment," Kern said. "We truly are honored to recognize the work of writers who have made such enormous contributions to our culture."
The Heartland Prizes were established in 1988. The Literary Prize was first awarded in 2002, and has included such recipients as Margaret Atwood, Arthur Miller, Joyce Carol Oates, Sam Shepard, and Tom Wolfe.
Gore Vidal dies at eighty-six; Yale's Beinecke Library announces recent acquisitions of Ezra Pound letters and manuscripts; J. K. Rowling's literary agency withholds advance copies from foreign publishes due to piracy fears; and other news.
Jonah Lehrer resigned yesterday from the New Yorker after admitting he fabricated quotations; the Baffler looks at the case of Adam Wheeler, who is serving a year in prison after defrauding Harvard University by falsifying admission and scholarship applications; author Marie Myung-Ok Lee describes what raising a child with disabilities can teach about personal happiness; and other news.
This week's New Yorker includes a never-published story by F. Scott Fitzgerald; novelist Colson Whitehead shares his eleven rules of writing; Alexander Chee examines America's obsession with Downton Abbey; and other news.
To coincide with the 2012 Summer Olympics opening ceremony, the Los Angeles Review of Books launches a new series of poets on sports; author Abby Mims explores writerly envy, a look at how bricks-and-mortar stores are tied to e-book sales, and more.
A trailer for the film adaptation of David Mitchell's Cloud Atlas was leaked this morning, and has since been removed; Mike Shatzkin predicts the future of the e-book marketplace; Random House is launching a television division; and other news.
