10 BOOK MARKS

PARTNERS IN CRIME

THE longlist for the McIlvanney Prize sees heavyweights Val McDermid and Ian Rankin competing with debut crime writers such as Helen Fields and Owen Mullen. The winner will be announced in September.

JUST PURR-FECT

Judith Kerr, the 94-year-old author of the iconic The Tiger Who Came To Tea, has had her latest book Katinka’s Tail snapped up by publisher HarperCollins.

HANDMAID’S HONOUR

Margaret Atwood, whose book The Handmaid’s Tale gave rise to the TV serial of the same name, wants to see those killed in the fight to protect free speech honoured.

POTTERING ABOUT

Pottermore has launched its Wizarding World Book Club online. The site will offer curated content specific to each Harry Potter book.

BRANSON’S BIOG

Sir Richard Branson is publishing a new autobiography with Virgin Books. Finding My Virginity will be released on October 5.

DAME GOOD READ

Dame Kelly Holmes’s first motivational book, Running Life: Achieving Emotional and Physical Wellbeing, will be published in the spring.

LIBRARY GIFT

Book Aid International is expanding its work to provide books in Rwanda. The library development charity sent an initial shipment of nearly 32,000 to the African country in June.

DOUBLE DELIGHT

Irish writer Sebastian Barry has won the £25,000 Walter Scott Prize for Historical Fiction for a second time.

WRITE MOVE

Emma Bache’s entertaining new guide to what our handwriting says about us, Reading Between The Lines, is to be published in September.

FACTS OF THE MATTER

A new non-fiction prize is being launched for unpublished writers. Portobello Books has come up with the award with literary agency C&W and retailer Foyles.