And Finally…
Everyone’s talking about…
The Bookshop Formerly Known as Waterstone’s is waving goodbye to that apostrophe. Ok, it may not be the biggest news this week, but it has garnered responses that range from the ridiculous to the, well, more sensible (with extra points awarded there for post title: ‘Apostrophcalypse Now’). Apostrophe Society chairman, John Richards, blasted the decision: “It’s just plain wrong. It’s gramatically incorrect. If Sainsbury’s and McDonald’s can get it right, then why can’t Waterstones? You would really hope that a bookshop is the last place to be so slapdash with English.” And whilst supporters of the move cite a more online-friendly approach to the branding, Twitter was seemingly split down the middle. Should they have ditched it? Kept it? Or should we accept that there are more important things going on in the world? What was that, move on? Ok…
In case you missed it…
We’re ridiculously excited to hear that Sister Spit have started a publishing imprint with the publishing arm of San Francisco’s legendary City Lights. To add to the excitement, Michelle Tea is also rumoured to be heading up a Sister Spit European tour later this year – fingers crossed! There was more swooning to be done when we kicked off our Literary Tattoos series (keeping sending those pics in!) with Libby’s gorgeous Alice In Wonderland ink.
We also reported that women writers won three out of the five category prizes at this year’s Costa Book Awards and we’d love to know what you think about the winners, the books and who might get the overall Book of the Year prize.
In other news…
Are you sitting comfortably? Good, because White Rabbit have released their first spoken word album, a collection of stories recorded for your listening pleasure (available on a nifty reusable memory stick from their shop). They say “treat yourself…make yourself a cup of cocoa, sneak a nip of rum in it, put on your PJs and get comfortable… just stick it gold side up into your computer and drift away to a magical, saucy, funny, and curious place…” Sounds heavenly! And if you can’t keep your pen still long enough to listen, get scribbling – White Rabbit are also seeking contributions to their Are You Sitting Comfortably? Charles Dickens special. Stories of around 1000 words, inspired by Dickens, should be submitted in Word format to areyousittingcomfortably@live.com by 9Th February.
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Alex Herod
Photo from Brit.’s Flickr photostream
