Happy Saturday, readers! We hope you all had a great week! Let’s get into the news and see what happened in the world of books in this week’s Bookish News!
Bookish News
End of BookCon and BookExpo
ReedPop announced this week that it will be “retiring” the events BookCon and BookExpo. With the uncertainty of in-person events for the coming year, the organizing company has decided to “retire the current iteration of events as they explore new ways to meet the community’s needs through a fusion of in-person and virtual events.”
It’s no surprise that they are cancelling next year’s events, but it is interesting that they have decided to rework the events. Many companies this year seem to be rethinking how they handle in-person events and business, which is going to lead to a more virtual future. We ourselves never got to go to BookCon or BookExpo, which we are a little sad about. Regardless, we are excited to see what they end up doing in the future.
Passing of Ben Bova
Science Fiction author and editor, Ben Bova, passed this week at the age of 88 due to complications with COVID-19 and a stroke. This announcement came from his niece, Kathryn Brusco, on Sunday, November 29th:
Bova was a prolific Science Fiction author and editor and served as the president of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America. His legacy and work will be remembered throughout the genre and industry. Our thoughts at this time go out to his family.
Preserving Tolkien’s Home
Stars of the Lord of the Rings films have come together to try to buy J.R.R. Tolkien’s home in Oxford, England to preserve it. The stars, including Sir Ian McKellen, John Rhys-Davies, and Martin Freeman, have launched the fundraising campaign, Project Northmoor, in order to buy the author’s old home. The plan is to purchase the $4 million home in order to turn it into a literary center and museum dedicated to Tolkien’s work. Any money raised past the $4 million will go towards stretch goals such as renovating the home, and even building a hobbit house! We are glad to see so many people working to preserve Tolkien’s legacy in such a cool way.
Not Quite Bookish News
Elliot Page Comes Out
This week actor Elliot Page announced that he is a trans man in a statement on Twitter:
We are so proud of Elliot and are really happy to see the community embracing his story. Variety has reported that Netflix plans to continue casting the star in their series The Umbrella Academy, and is even making sure to go through and change Page’s name on the catalogue of titles he was previously involved in.
Warner Bros. to Release Future Films Simultaneously on HBOMax
WarnerMedia announced on Thursday that it plans to release all Warner Bros. Pictures Group movies for 2021 on HBOMax as well as in theaters. With theaters being one of the industries hit the hardest by the pandemic, it comes at no surprise that they plan to try and offer their movies elsewhere. This news follows the initial announcement of the new Wonder Woman 1984 being released in both theaters and on HBOMax later this year.
Warner Bros. Pictures Group’s 2021 expected* release slate currently includes The Little Things, Judas and the Black Messiah, Tom & Jerry, Godzilla vs. Kong, Mortal Kombat, Those Who Wish Me Dead, The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It, In The Heights, Space Jam: A New Legacy, The Suicide Squad, Reminiscence, Malignant, Dune, The Many Saints of Newark, King Richard, Cry Macho and Matrix 4.
That’s it for our Bookish News this week! Tell us what you thought of this week’s bookish news. Let us know if you think there’s something we should add to next week’s post either here or message us on Twitter! Make sure to stay safe, and happy reading!