Latest news

Follow this link to watch David Tennant, the voice of Darwin in the much anticipated The Pirates! movie, talk about playing the part, working with Aardman and the perils of falling in love with Queen Victoria. The Pirates! In An Adventure with Scientists is out on the 29th March and has everybody tweeting #thepirates.

A superb article in the Observer this week from Rob Penn, written in defence of the countryside following a recent campaign to encourage retirees to head for the city. A wonderful celebration of rural Britain and just what we need as we eagerly await the arrival of Spring. Click here to read.

We are pleased to announce the founding of the Janklow & Nesbit Bath Spa Prize, and deals with Random House and Headline for the 2011 winner. The prize, which is to be given annually, is awarded for the best work produced by a student on the Bath Spa MA in Novel Writing and comprises an award of ?1,500 and the offer of representation to the winning student. Our 2011 winner was Brian Kimberling, for his novel Snapper. The book is a series of dark and funny tales about the disastrous love affair between a man, a place, and its people, narrated by a freelance birdwatcher in the backwaters of Indiana. The deal was announced in this week?s Bookseller and Pantheon in America and Headline in the UK will both publish in Spring 2013 - follow this link to find out more. This year?s prize is being judged at the moment, and the winner will be decided before the end of March 2012.

David Bellos has spent his life working with words, often in languages other than his native English. A professor in the departments of French and Italian and comparative literature at Princeton, he is a translator of international renown whose new book, "Is That a Fish in Your Ear?" explores how people understand each other ? or not ? in various situations and settings. A recent write-up of his teaching on the Princeton University website begs the question: don't you wish your university seminars had been THIS good?

To coincide with the publication of James Treadwell's first novel, Advent, Nick Higham interviews him for the BBC's Meet the Author programme. Follow this link to watch.

Last night Kevin Fong took us to the ends of the earth in To Boldly Go, the second in a two part series for the BBC. Using himself as a test dummy, he explored the way the human body faces up against extreme altitudes and demonstrated just how high advances in technology might take us. Missed it? And if that wasn't enough, tune in tomorrow night to watch Adam Rutherford present Playing God as part of the BBC's Horizon series. Adam will be will opening the doors to the world of Synthetic biology; extreme breeding, spider-goats, assassin cells and computer-made life forms. Catch it on BBC 2 at 9.30pm, or follow this link to read his latest piece for the guardian on the same subject.

Start 2012 as you mean to go on with Oliver Burkeman's weekly advice column for the Guardian. This week, the unexpected potential 'techno-distraction' has to induce calm:This Column Will Change Your Life.

Dr Kevin Fong, Wellcome Trust Fellow, consultant anaesthetist and astrophysicist, is interviewed by Alok Jha on matters of the heart for this week's Guardian Science Weekly Pod-cast. Click here to listen in.

Need something to fill the long hours until the release of the Pirates! movie next March? Head to the Pirates! website to create your very own wanted poster and watch the latest trailer.

Orange shortlister, Xiaolu Guo, will join Nick Barnsley, director of the Edinburgh International Book Fair, on the judging panel for the 2012 Independent Foreign Fiction Prize. The award is unique in its recognition of both author and translator in international contemporary fiction, and the winner will receive a prize of ?10,000. Last years the prize went to RED APRIL by the Peruvian author Santiago Roncagliolo, translated from the Spanish by Edith Grossman.The 2012 Winner will be announced in April of next year.

Alex?s Adventures in Numberland has been selected as one of only six remaining books in competition for the Royal Society Winton Prize for science books. The judging panel, which includes writer, actor and TV presenter, Robert Llewellyn, commented: "This book is a complete revelation. A rich and diverse story of mathematics, peppered with anecdote and personalities, whirling round the globe and through history from Euclid to the supercomputer, it brings maths bursting to life in a way we never expected." Previous winners include Bill Bryson, Professor Stephen Hawking and Richard Holmes, who is also part of this years panel. The winner will be announced at a ceremony at the Royal Society on 17th November 2011

Ours Are the Streets,the fantastic first novel from Sunjeev Sahota, has been selected as book of the month for the Orange New Writers programme. Described by John Burnside as ?A moral work of real intelligence and power? this debut is one worth keeping a close eye on. Click here to be directed to the Orange New Writers Page.

Is That A Fish In Your Ear? by David Bellos is a wonderful, all-encompassing book about translation and the meaning of everything. Published this month, here?s a tantalising little film to whet your appetite?

A great turnout of J&N authors at this year?s Edinburgh Festival. Speaking today are Jasper Fforde, author of THE LAST DRAGONSLAYER and the brilliant THURSDAY NEXT series, and journalist Gavin Knight, whose prescient HOOD RAT, described by The Independent as ?Britain?s Gomorrah?, is an exploration of UK gang culture with the narrative drive of a thriller. Click here to read an extended interview with Gavin, or here to join the Guardian?s live webchat, hosted by Jasper, starting at 3pm today. Authors Sunjeev Sahota and Tim Radford will also be taking to the stage later on in the festival to discuss their latest books. Follow these links for bookings and further information: http://edinburghfestival.list.co.uk/article/36717-first-writes-sunjeev-sahota-author-of-ours-are-the-streets/ http://edinburghfestival.list.co.uk/event/230577-tim-radford/