Clippings 16: new and interesting

The US Post Office is marking the 200th birthday of Edgar Allen Poe with this commemorative stamp.  The portrait is by Michael Deas, author of the now out-of-print The Portraits and Daguerreotypes of Edgar Allan Poe.  Know of any other celebrations of Poe’s work?  Please leave links in the comments.

A Belgian artist and blogger has launched NamelessleTTer, a collaborative art project designed to get people into libraries and bookstores.  Interested readers simply create a bookmark for a certain book, send a scan or photo of the bookmark to the artist, and leave it in the book in a public place for someone else to find.  For inspiration, the artist is posting on the website some of the most creative bookmarks he’s received.  If you find one, be sure to join the Facebook group and describe what you found!

Economic woes continue to rock the publishing industry.  Recent hits include high-level layoffs at HarperCollins and the end of the International Poetry Forum in Pittsburgh.

The giant survives, however.  Tomorrow Amazon will open sales on their upgraded Kindle.  According to this report, the Kindle 2 can hold 1500 books and the battery lasts up to 2 weeks.  If I traveled a great deal, I suppose I would invest in one to end the battle between needing a lot of reading materials and trying to pack as light as possible.  So far, I’ve resisted.  But I’m curious:  do any of you have a Kindle, and if so, how has it altered your reading habits?

Kate S. has piqued my interest in this book.  The writer is new to me, and like Kate, I am intrigued not just by the premise but also by the writer’s creative interests.  It will be interesting to see what books come from this new imprint, launched by this novel.

And finally, fellow Maisie Dobbs fans have a new novel to celebrate!  Among the Mad, which released in hardcover last week, is the sixth Maisie novel and finds her working with Downing Street to stop a threatened terrorist attack.  Dani at A Work in Progress interviewed author Jacqueline Winspear about the new novel and where she plans to take Maisie next.  I only wish I had read her interview before the weekend, so I could have told you before the deadline about her drawing for a free copy!  Maybe next time…

23. February 2009 by Mindy
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