Le Journal

The award, run by Hachette UK and Libraro, aims to ‘sidestep the traditional barricades of the book industry’ and give readers a role in discovering new talentA new £50,000 writing prize that allows readers to select the shortlist from submitted manuscripts – and rewards them with cash prizes for their involvement – has been launched by the publishing platform Libraro, in partnership with Hachette UK.The Libraro prize aims to “sidestep the traditional barricades of the book industry”, according to organisers. Writers upload full manuscripts to the Libraro platform, where readers champion their favourite entries to create a shortlist of six books. Continue reading...

As the Booker prize-winning author prepares to publish his final novel at 80, we assess his finest workDuffy is the first in a series of crime novels about a bisexual private eye that Barnes published under the pseudonym Dan Kavanagh. It came out the same year as Barnes’s debut novel proper, Metroland, but where that took seven years to write, this took 10 days. Not that it shows: this “refreshingly nasty” (as Barnes’s friend Martin Amis put it) crime caper is beguilingly well written, with passages that display all of Barnes’s perception and wit. The plot of reverse blackmail and the shocking climax only add to the fun.Sample line “Two in the morning is when sounds travel for ever, when a sticky window makes a soft squeak and three Panda cars hear it from miles away.” Continue reading...

With Rob Minkoff, Allers directed 1994’s The Lion King, which remains the highest-grossing traditionally animated film of all timeRoger Allers, the Disney film-maker who co-directed The Lion King and worked on films including Aladdin, Beauty and the Beast and The Little Mermaid, has died aged 76.Allers’ colleague at the Walt Disney Company, Dave Bossert announced his death on social media on Sunday morning, remembering him as “an extraordinarily gifted artist and film-maker, a true pillar of the Disney Animation renaissance”. Continue reading...

Singer and actor who appeared in theatrical variety and worked on TV light entertainment programmes such as Candid Camera and The Leslie Crowther ShowSheila Bernette, who has died aged 94, had a long acting and singing career that began when she was a child. It embraced the West End, provincial theatre and summer seasons, as well as television, on which she appeared in light entertainment shows as a foil to comedy stars such as Leslie Crowther, Tommy Cooper, Dick Emery and Morecambe and Wise.With a love of variety, she also kept returning to the Players’ theatre club, London, to perform Victorian music-hall entertainment over five decades. Standing at just 5ft tall, she was quickly recognised for her vivacious personality and became one of a small band of the Players’ company chosen to showcase their repertoire at the Strollers theatre club in New York (1961-62), enchanting US audiences with a touch of old England. Continue reading...