Authors in the news

A number of articles caught my eye as I was reading the online news this week.

Dickens family seek to overturn writer's dying wish for no memorials (From The Independent)
Author Charles Dickens left strict instructions in his will that he be remembered for his work only. "...no monument memorial or testimonial whatever". Next year will be 140 years since his death and his family are wondering if it's time to change their stance over a memorial of some sort.

Shakespeare goes digital (From Reuters)
"A U.S. and British library plan to reproduce online all 75 editions of William Shakespeare's plays printed in the quarto format before the year 1641.
The Bodleian Library in Oxford and Folger Shakespeare Library in Washington DC have joined forces to download their collections, building on the work of the British Library which digitized its collection of quarto editions in 2004."

Hutt Valley teacher gets global book deal (From Stuff)
Publishing house Quercus has bought the rights to distribute Bernard Beckett's sci-fi thriller "Genesis" around the world.

Match it For Pratchett! Raising £500,000 for Alzheimer's research (via Boingboing)
Terry Pratchett has a rare form of Alzheimers. He's donated half a million pounds to Alzheimer's research. The "Match it for Pratchett" campaign aims to donate the same and make it an even million. (Okay, technically not this week but still interesting author news. )