October Publishing Notes

The buzz: In India, film and literary artists rallied against a “colonial era” law making homosexuality a criminal offense. An open protest letter was signed by 100 influential artists, including Booker prizewinner Arundhati Roy and author Vikram Seth. The letter said the law had been used to “systematically persecute, blackmail, arrest and terrorise sexual minorities” and had spawned intolerance. Project Runway’s Tim Gunn’s first book, Tim Gunn: A Guide to Style, written with Parsons’ Kate Maloney, will be published by Abrams Image in the spring of 2007. The Private Diaries of Catherine Deneuve: Close Up and Personal will be published by Pegasus. HarperCollins recalled the print run of 26,500 books of The Conservative Soul by Andrew Sullivan, after Sullivan spotted a significant production error in the text: half of the fifth chapter had been inserted into the middle of the sixth chapter. The corrected printing is expected to arrive in bookstores October 10. Steve Berman has inked a four-book deal with Haworth: three horror novels and a collection of short stories. Brent Hartinger’s novel Geography Club was named the second-most banned book by the American Booksellers Association. The top spot goes to To Kill a Mockingbird. Other books on the list include Judy Blume’s Forever and Lois Lowry’s The Giver. Laura Albert, the woman who, under the name J T LeRoy, wrote the books Sarah and The Heart Is Deceitful Above All Things, is reported to be shopping a book proposal through her agent, weaving her personal story with the creation of her fictional alter ego. Former New Jersey governor James E. McGreevey’s memoir, The Confession, lands on The New York Times Bestseller List in the number 3 spot in the October 8, 2006 issue. Chris Crain has left his editorial positions with Window Media to relocate to Brazil with his partner. Crain remains one of the publishing company’s owners. The Advocate’s editor in chief Bruce Steele leaves the publication in October. Anne Stockwell will serve as acting editor. Sotheby’s in New York will auction more than 200 objects, including several Andy Warhol paintings, from the estate of David Whitney, the collector and curator who was the longtime companion of the architect Philip Johnson. Lorca Eran Todos (They Were All Lorca), a new play about Federico Garcia Lorca, a gay Spanish poet executed during the Spanish civil war, was canceled in Madrid after author and actor Pepe Rubianes received death threats from angry political groups. Peter Cameron’s novel, The City of Your Final Destination, has been optioned by Merchant Ivory Productions. James Ivory will direct from a script written by Ruth Prawer Jhabvala. Shooting is scheduled to begin in October of 2006 in Argentina. South Korea has selected King and the Clown, a gay-themed movie that became an unexpected domestic box-office hit to put forward as its candidate for an Academy Award for best foreign film. The story involves a male clown caught between the affections of a despotic king and the love of a fellow performer. Volver, the new Pedro Almodovar film starring Penelope Cruz, was named the best film of the year from the International Federation of Film Critics. Actress Zooey Deschanel will play legendary singer Janis Joplin in the biopic The Gospel According to Janis set to start filming in November. And Ellen DeGeneres has been picked to host next year’s Academy Awards.

Kudos: The National Book Foundation will honor poet Adrienne Rich with the medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters. Sarah Waters has made the Booker Prize shortlist with her novel The Night Watch. Dante Micheaux of New York City was the winner of the Fifth Annual Oscar Wilde Award for his poem “Bread Boy.” The poem is posted on Gival Press Web site and will appear in the anthology Poetic Voices Without Borders. Honorable mentions went to Teresa Stores, Julie R. Enszer, Ed Madden, and Jennifer Pruden Colligan.

Open calls: Editor Morty Diamond is looking for first person stories from trans and gender variant writers about the experiences of dating, sex, relationships, and finding love for a new anthology. Length should be between 1,500 and 3,000 words. Deadline is December 2006. Submissions can be sent to: newtransanthology@gmail.com. Editor Ellen Tevault is looking for submissions for Superqueeroes, an anthology to be published by Haworth. Deadline is February 1, 2007. Stories should be between 1500 and 6000 words. Mail stories to: Ellen Tevault, P.O. Box 199032, Indianapolis, IN 46219.