Festival preview: The London Word Festival, 7 March – 1 April 2010

London’s pioneering celebration of words, text and language returns for a third year, playing host to the most adventurous programme yet. Bringing to light the finest array of artists working with words.

100 Stories for Haiti

100 Stories for Haiti is a collection of short stories sold to raise money for relief efforts in disaster-striken Haiti. All proceeds go to the Red Cross.

Bookhugger sponsors YARNfest – celebrating story and storytelling

We are proud to announce that we are sponsoring the first YARNfest, a festival of storytelling that will take place in London between February 20th and 24th at The Book Club and the Queen of Hoxton, East London.

Catcher in the Rye author JD Salinger dies, aged 91

Reclusive novelist JD Salinger died of natural causes at his home.

Read full details on the BBC website

Merry Christmas from Bookhugger!

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year from the Bookhugger Crew and all of our publishers! We hope you have enjoyed the site this year and we look forward to bringing you the best books and authors in 2010.

Feeding the 5,000 – an interview with Tristram Stuart

On Wednesday 16th December 2009, Trafalgar Square will host a free feast of biblical proportions: a modern day Feeding the 5000. In this short film, Tristram Stuart, author of Waste, explains the problem – and outlines the solutions.

The Crusades – download an exclusive extract

Download an exclusive extract from Thomas Asbridge’s The Crusades, which is published in January 2010.

Short Story Collection Wins Guardian First Book Award 2009

An Elegy for Easterly by Petina Gappah, published by Faber, has won the Guardian First Book Award 2009, in association with Waterstone’s.

Listen to an interview with Petina Gappah

Read an extract from An Elegy for Easterly

See Going West brought to life

A scalpel has brought to life a classic Kiwi novel in a compelling ad produced for The New Zealand Book Council.

Shortlist Announced for Guardian First Book Award 2009

The shortlist for the Guardian First Book Award 2009, in association with Waterstone’s, has been decided.

Adventures in TwitLit: A Gentle Axe Experiment

Two frozen bodies are found in Petrovsky Park – a dwarf neatly packed in a suitcase, and a burly peasant hanging from a tree – and R.N. Morris has been serialising the adventures of Police Detective Porfiry Petrovich on Twitter…

Hilary Mantel wins the 2009 Man Booker Prize with Wolf Hall

The winner of the £50,000 prize was announced at a ceremony at London’s Guildhall this evening – and it was the bookies’ favourite, Wolf Hall.

And The White Queen competition winners are…

We announce the winners of our recent competition to win a fabulous edition of Philippa Gregory’s The White Queen worth £150.

Who needs a free newspaper anyway?

On the first day that Londoners had to cope without the now defunct London Paper, Bookhugger’s Simon Appleby encountered an unusual new source of reading material on his way home.

Art on an envelope from big name authors

A host of literary figures, including John le Carré and Andrew Motion, are helping to raise thousands of pounds for the National Literacy Trust by customising envelopes to create unique works of art for the public to buy.

September Best of the Web

We bring you the best new websites from the Bookhugger publishers.

The Stephen Fry effect

One tweet from Stephen Fry was all it took to send sales of David Eagleman’s Sum: Forty tales from the afterlives soaring in to the heavens…

Booker Prize 2009 shortlist announced

The shortlist for this year’s Man Booker Prize has been announced.

Extract and author tour dates for Nick Cave’s The Death of Bunny Munro

Canongate is extremely excited to publish Nick Cave’s new novel, The Death of Bunny Munro. You can read an extract from the novel here on Bookhugger and you also can listen to four chapters (for free) from the unabridged audiobook on the official website, www.thedeathofbunnymunro.com.

Guardian First Book Award 2009 longlist announced

The longlist for the Guardian First Book Award 2009, in association with Waterstone’s, has been confirmed.

Booker Prize 2009 longlist announced

The longlist for this year’s Man Booker Prize has been announced – featuring a title from Bookhugger publishers Faber & Faber.

It’s Independent Booksellers Week

The 15th to the 22nd of June is Independent Booksellers Week – so find out what’s going on at an independent bookshop near you.