Round-Up: The Poetry Book Society, 2016 YA Book Poetry Prize, and “The Other NBA”
From the closing of the Poetry Book Society to the 2016 YA Book Prize, here’s this week’s biggest literary news:
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The Poetry Book Society announced that it will be shutting its doors after over fifty years of service to the literary community. The PBS is widely known for supporting the sale of poetry: acting as a book club by selecting the best new poetry publications, organizing poetry tours, and awarding the T.S. Eliot Prize. The organization’s central activities, the T.S. Eliot Prize and the book club, will be taken over by the T.S. Eliot Foundation and Inpress, respectively. Despite the shift in control, the Society will maintain both its branding and its members.
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This week, the winner of the 2016 YA Book Prize was announced. Sarah Crossan’s novel One was unanimously selected by a panel of judges, which included members of the industry as well as teenagers. One is a free verse novel that follows a set of conjoined twins who attend public school for the first time. The YA Book Prize was started last year by The Bookseller.
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“The Other NBA,” a charity basketball game featuring teams of prominent writers and publishers, will take place on June 15. The first game, which was held last year, raised $6,000. This year, the event will raise funds for BookUp, a non-profit program providing reading resources for underprivileged youth. Team members include Mitchell S. Jackson, Téa Obreht, and Natalie Diaz. The game will be held at St. Francis College in Brooklyn.
