The Langum Literary Trust, which awards two $1000 prizes each year for works of historical fiction, has blacklisted Random House due to the publisher’s decision not to release the Jewel of Medina.
The Langum Trust said that Random House’s decision not to print Jones’s novel represented “a threat to all literature”. “We cannot pretend that this type of cowardice will disappear without serious remonstrance,” it said in a statement. “We do this reluctantly, since our most recent prize in American historical fiction went to a Random House title. Nevertheless, this issue must be confronted.”
Last year’s recipient was a Random House book: Kurt Andersen’s Heyday.
Meanwhile, I have an ARC copy of The Jewel of Medina thanks to a marvelous Bitchery reader, and I’ll be reading it over the weekend, time permitting.
Thanks to Rebecca for the link.
I’m excited that an ARC has actually surfaced…can’t wait to hear in-depth about the story.
OMG! Sarah, you must tell us all the scoop, ASAP. You lucky girl!
I’m looking forward to hearing your comments on the ARC.
Doesn’t this blacklist hurt Random House’s authors far more directly than it hurts the publisher? Is this prize so prestigious that the embarrassment of being blacklisted is that big deal for them?
You will need to give us an indepth review of the book. I am looking forward to it.