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News stories from the book world in April 2004

April 2004

Books as second-hand consumer items

26 April 2004

The rapid growth of book clubs and successful promotions such as The Big Read and Richard and Judy have stimulated book purchasing and library borrowing.  Read more

Boom in creative writing courses

19 April 2004

Just like the States (see News Review 22 July 2002) the UK is going through a huge and sudden growth in courses in creative writing. There's an unending demand for writing courses. In just twelve years the number of universities offering postgraduate degree courses in creative writing has increased from eight to 85.  Read more

Unofficial Laureate of the Sleepover Generation

12 April 2004

Uniquely beloved by teenage girls, Jacqueline Wilson is the extraordinary children’s writer who has recently supplanted Catherine Cookson as the most borrowed author in Britain’s libraries. The author of nearly 70 books, her sales exceed 15 million copies worldwide (not counting the US) and Philippa Dickinson, Publisher of Random House Children’s Books in the UK, says: 'She is unstoppabl  Read more

'A thumping good read'

5 April 2004

It's not often that you can say a book may have changed the course of history, but we might yet be witnessing exactly that. Richard A Clarke's Against all Enemies has had a devastating effect on President Bush's credibility. Partly this is a question of timing - it just happened that the book has been published immediately after what the Spaniards are calling the Madrid massacre.  Read more