Untitled Document

News/Autumn 2010

A NEW PULITZER FOR SHADID

Agency author Anthony Shadid, no stranger to awards for his books and newspaper reporting, has won his second Pulitzer Prize. Anthony won the 2010 Pulitzer Prize for International Reporting, the same category in which he had won in 2004. This year's prize citation praised his rich, beautifully written series [of stories] on Iraq as the United States departs and its people and leaders struggle to deal with the legacy of war . . . " The stories appeared in The Washington Post, for which Anthony reported before becoming a foreign correspondent of The New York Times last fall. The Oklahoma-born Shadid's next book, a non-fiction narrative set in his family's ancestral hometown in southern Lebanon and exploring larger issues of identity, will be published next year by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. In addition to his previous Pulitzer Prize, Anthony Shadid has won (among many other awards) the 2005 Los Angeles Times Book Prize for his most recent book, Night Draws Near, which is also on the Agency's list. Night Draws Near was also a finalist for that year's National Book Critics Circle Award.

Other Agency authors awarded prizes recently have included John Scalzi (the 2009 Hugo Award for Best Related Book for Your Hate Mail Will Be Graded); Return of the Condor author John Moir (Grand Prize in Writer's Digest magazine's 78^th annual writing competition for an article on how lead poisoning in condors points to similar dangers for humans); Chicago Tribune reporter Mark Caro (a Gourmand Award for The Foie Gras Wars); and California writer-journalist Vivienne Sosnowski, who won a Gourmand Award, as well, for her bestselling history of Prohibition in the state's wine country, When the Rivers Ran Red.

AN ANNOUNCEMENT FROM ROBERT SHEPARD

Effective September 1, 2010, I've decided to take a temporary break from accepting book proposals from authors who are not current clients of the Agency. This hiatus in no way effects my relationship with my existing clients; indeed, I'm proud of their productivity and look forward to working with my current authors on all of their new projects going forward. But I have as much incoming material as I can handle right now, and have decided it's only fair to restrict my reading so that I can devote myself, as always, to the Agency's current community. I look forward to eventually resuming the flow of projects from new authors as soon as I feel ready.

Now, needless to say, it's also possible that the rare opportunity will present itself that I just can't resist. So if you feel like querying me despite this "moratorium," I will still take a look at your message or letter. Please keep your query brief, however (the equivalent of no more than a single typed, double-spaced page) and do not send a proposal unless I specifically request it. As always, material sent by regular mail will not be answered unless you enclose a return envelope that already holds the proper postage. Please see the Contacting the Agency page for more details.