Houghton Mifflin confirmed this morning that it is being acquired by the Irish-based software publisher Riverdeep. Reports have been circulating for about a month that a purchase was in the works. Under the structure of the deal, a newly formed company, HM Rivergroup, will acquire both HM and Riverdeep, forming a new company that will be named Houghton Mifflin Riverdeep Group. HM Rivergroup is paying $1.75 billion in cash for HM and will assume $1.61 billion in debt. The three equity groups that own HM bought the publisher from Vivendi in December 2002 for $1.7 billion.

“Riverdeep represents an excellent strategic fit with Houghton Mifflin, bringing its high-quality electronic courseware offerings to our core basal textbook and supplemental products business. This combination will differentiate us from our competitors and will enable us to participate as one of the leading players in the fastest-growing segment of the U.S. school education market,” said [Tony Lucki, chairman, president and CEO of HM]. The deal is expected to close before the end of 2006.

Link to the full Publishers Weekly article

Wendy Cooling has been awarded the Eleanor Farjeon award for a life spent promoting children’s literature. She ran the Children’s Book Foundation and National Chidren’s Book Week, and founded Bookstart, a national programme which gives free books to every child in the UK.

The Eleanor Farjeon award is given in recognition of an individual’s contribution to the world of children’s books; recent winners have included the children’s laureate Jacqueline Wilson, writers Philip Pullman and Malorie Blackman, and Julia Eccleshare, the Guardian’s children’s books editor.

Read the full Guardian Unlimited article here.

Students are encouraged to select a risk management strategy relative to their supervised program, analyze the risk, indicate tools used to minimize risk, and explain their application of these tools in an essay of no less than 1,000 words.

Ten national winning essays will be selected on the basis of content, adherence to the assigned topic, grammar, organization, originality and creativity. Each of the 10 winners and their advisers will travel to Washington, D.C., all expenses paid, for a special USDA Risk Management Agency/ FFA Day in April/May 2007. Students and advisers will meet with USDA officials and members of Congress for a special ceremony.

More information is available here.

Taking a page from Wikipedia, publishing giant Pearson, under its Wharton School Publishing imprint, has embarked on a new book publishing project with two innovative collaborators that could involve thousands, if not tens of thousands of authors and editors.

Full press release available here

The menu for this year’s Science Journalism Awards, served up by the American Association for the Advancement of Science, has something for everyone: light fare, such as lizard evolution for kids or the quest to build a better banana … classics with a twist, such as a look at how climate change is changing the American West … and heavy dishes such as the state of the search for Alzheimer’s cures and a look back at San Francisco’s killer earthquake of 1906. And the best thing is, all of these award-winning selections are available on the Web.

The winners are selected by an independent panel of scientific journalists, and honored at the annual AAAS meeting, scheduled next February in San Francisco. Financial support is provided by Johnson & Johnson Pharmaceutical Research and Development. Since 1945, 400 science journalists have received the awards - and I’ve had the honor of being one of the recipients as well as a judge and an emcee.

“Outstanding science writing is essential if the public is to better understand complex issues such as climate change or genetics,” Alan Leshner, the AAAS’ chief executive officer and executive publisher of the journal Science, said in Monday’s announcement. “The awards this year honor some superb work that is both informative and engaging.”

Full article and list of winners, Alan Boyle, Cosmic Log

 Turkish and Swedish scholars are setting out to research the history of ‘Runic writing,’ which is thought to have formed the base of the Latin and Cyrillic alphabets.

During the journey which will take three months, the researchers will delve into the mysteries of time in 25 countries; all on the route of the historical Silk Road.

Planning to begin their scientific journey in April 2007, the researchers will study in a wide range of countries such as Mongolia, Russia, Iceland, Norway, England, and Kazakhstan.

 

The project team will act on the thesis that the Silk Road advanced into northern Europe carrying writing along with it. They will initially and primarily examine Runic writing.

Full article, Muhenna Kahveci, Zaman Daily News

Orhan Pamuk, this year’s recipient of the Nobel Prize in Literature, spoke about his personal experiences as an author and the importance of freedom of expression at the kickoff of “Strange Times, My Dear, A Freedom-to-Write Literary Festival” Tuesday in a packed Salomon 101.

Pamuk, a Turkish author, was one of a handful of authors and literary activists participating in a roundtable discussion that preceded a conversation with Pamuk moderated by Robert Coover, adjunct professor of literary arts and director of the International Writers Project, which sponsored the event.

The festival, which runs until Friday, is sponsored by the Program in Literary Arts and the Watson Institute for International Studies and includes lectures, readings and an Iranian film festival.

Each year, the IWP awards a fellowship to one writer who is unable to practice free expression in his or her own country and sponsors a festival to increase awareness of the situation in the IWP Fellow’s homeland. This year’s fellow is Iranian novelist Shahryar Mandanipour.

Full Article, Hannah Furst, Brown Daily Herald, here

The American Press Institute website (www.americanpressinstitute.org) offers an astounding list of resources for writers.  Geared towards journalist, the list is a treasure trove of information gathering sources for all writers.  Containing everything from reference materials and handouts to works by Shakespeare and essay’s on the art and business of writing.  If it’s about writing, it’s listed.

Visit the official resource page here