News

2017

December: GGK has announced that he has entered a development agreement with the production company to produce The Fionavar Tapestry as a television series. See his full Facebook post with further information HERE.

November: GGK will be the guest of honour at Utopiales in Nantes, France from November 1-6, after which he’ll be touring and signing in France for a week.
https://www.utopiales.org/edition-2017/presentation/

Paris: La Dimension Fantastique on the 7th

Bordeaux: Libraire Mollat on the 8th

August: GGK will be a guest of the When Worlds Collide convention/conference in Calgary. There will also be public events at the library on Thursday night and at the convention hotel Friday afternoon. Information about the convention can be found HERE and the library event HERE.

2016

May 11: GGK will launch Children of Earth and Sky at the Toronto Reference Library, Appel Salon. Doors open 6:30 PM. Tickets free, but need to be booked:  https://www.eventbrite.ca/e/guy-gavriel-kay-tickets-21726361131

Other tour dates and events can be seen by clicking the icon on the right side of the page.

2015

July 15: The cover and jacket copy of GGK’s upcoming novel Children of Earth and Sky have been released. See them both in GGK’s journal entry here.

April 9: GGK revealed today that his new book will be released in the spring of 2016. It is called Children of Earth and Sky.

2014

October 9: The Fionavar Tapestry, Tigana, and the poems of Beyond This Dark House have joined all GGK’s other titles as ebooks in the United States.

September 20: The Sunburst Award Society has announced GGK as the winner of the 2014 Copper Cylinder Award for Best Adult Novel. You can read more abou it here.

August 25: GGK’s US editor reports that Tigana & The Fionavar Tapestry have been converted to ebook and are now being “reviewed”, which means they will likely be available very soon. A Song For Arbonne will follow as soon as a rights issue there is sorted. All titles ARE currently ebooks in Canada and UK.

June 30: The Governor General of Canada’s office has announced that Guy Gavriel Kay has been named a Member of the Order of Canada, the country’s highest civilian honour. Read some of GGK’s thoughts on the honour here.

June 16: River of Stars has made the shortlist for The Sunburst Awards.

May 7: River of Stars has been nominated as best fantasy novel for the 2014 Locus Awards.

May 1: New GGK writings! In support of the Pixel Project resisting worldwide Violence Against Women, GGK has offered two ‘Drabbles’ (100 word stories) for their ‘Celebrity Male Role Model Campaign’. One is set after the end of Lord of Emperors, the other before the start of The Summer Tree. Readers are invited to check the website and support the campaign. Spread the word – and donate to read two new pieces!

April 30: River of Stars has been nominated for an Aurora Award as best Canadian speculative fiction novel.

March 23: Under Heaven will be released in France by L’Atalante as ‘Les Chevaux Célestes’ or, ‘Heavenly Horses’ – on June 19.

February 25: Russian rights to River of Stars have been sold to GGK’s current publisher, Astrel. Their edition of Under Heaven is currently on sale, and a reprint of The Fionavar Tapestry is slated for later in 2014. This latest sale means that all of GGK’s novels will have been translated into Russian.

February 19: Guy Gavriel Kay and his agents have agreed to terms with Algoritam, his longstanding Croatian publisher, for River of Stars. Algoritam has published, to date, all of the novels and GGK has toured Croatia four times for them.

February 4: River of Stars has been nominated for an Evergreen Award. This is the Ontario Library Association’s award. Their description: ‘The Evergreen Award…is comprised of the best titles in Canadian fiction and non-fiction for adults.’ (They do nominations and awards in various children’s categories, too). The nominations are done by a committee of librarians, and the voting is done by library patrons, urged to read and discuss all titles, alone or in book groups.

November 1: Lions of Al-Rassan has been released in Brazil, with Tigana to follow in November.

October 17: GGK’s once and future publisher in France, L’Atalante, has blogged confirmation that their edition of Under Heaven will be either June or August of 2014.

July 11: Contracts have been signed for Macedonia (the Sarantium books) and terms agreed to with Indonesia for Under Heaven and River of Stars. Both of these are new markets for GGK’s work. Russia has now released Under Heaven, and the latest reprints of The Fionavar Tapestry there will appear in November.

May 20: Under Heaven was voted as Best Fantasy of the year at the 18th annual Academy Awards in the Czech Republic, for science fiction, fantasy and horror. It was announced at the book fair, Book World Prague.

May 4: Getting a signed copy of a GGK just got even easier, as you can now either call or email Book City in Toronto to make arrangments. Details are in the Buying Books section.

April 13: Rights in China to Under Heaven and River of Stars have been sold to Chongqing Publishing House. Chongqing is one of the leading publishers in mainland. Their author list includes George R.R. Martin and Philippa Gregory. They are anticipating that Kay’s works will appeal to both fantasy readers and to a wider market with their Chinese-inspired themes and settings.

March 25: Win a signed copy of River of Stars by posting to Twitter a photograph of the novel. See details on the “50 Shades of Kay” contest here: http://www.brightweavings.com/journal/2013/03/fifty-shades-of-kay-the-contest/

March 11: The charity auction for the first-off-the-press edition of RIVER OF STARS ended yesterday afternoon with the final bid shooting well past expectations, ending at $1025 CDN. GGK has a Tour Journal reporting a matching offer.

March 7: Tickets are available today for the April 4th woldwide launch of River of Stars. Details are available on GGK’s Tour Journal.

March 6: Under Heaven is now available in France and The Sarantime Mosaic has been released in Macedonia (a new market for GGK).

March 5: Library Journal gives River of Stars a starred review in their issue appearing next week.

March 1: The very first edition of River of Stars is up for auction, with proceeds are going to Indigo’s “Love of Rading” charity. See more detail in GGK’s Tour Journal. See the auction on eBay here.

February 21: The audio version of River of Stars, read by Simon Vance, will be on sale April 2 – same day as the book and e-book.

February 7: GGK has made an early signed and personalized ARC of River of Stars available by auction this week for a good cause. Details are at http://grimoakpress.com/auctions-2/ and bidding takes place off the link there. GGK also has written about Duane Wilkins and the auction in his Tour Journal today.

January 28: World-renowned pipa player Liu Fang will be in Toronto in February to perform a solo pipa number at the Book Lover’s Ball in honour of River of Stars. Details, and links to the event and Liu Fang’s music in GGK’s journal post on the topic. If you’d like a chance to win two tickets to attend, the Toronto Public Library Foundation is sponsoring an essay contest.

January 24: HarperCollins UK will publish River of Stars on July 18 – but will lead with the e-book edition on April 2 to coincide with Canada and U.S. release. More details available on GGK’s tour journal.

2013

December 6: Penguin Canada and Roc/NAL in the States have launched a joint Facebook project. If a set number of people Share their announcement, they’ll post/reveal sections of River of Stars. Chapter 1 has already been released and you can access it here. Once the current photo has been shared 500 times, the first half of chapter 2 will be released as well.

Update: The entire second chapter has now also been released.

November 25: Beyond This Dark House is now available as an e-book in Canada and the The United States. The Fionavar Tapestry, Tigana, and A Song For Arbonne ought to be available shortly in the United States in e-book form as well (they are already available in Canada).

November 8: Guy Gavriel Kay will be one of the Guests of Honour at the 2014 World Fantasy Convention, taking place in Washington, D.C.: http://www.worldfantasy2014.org/.

October 11: GGK has today launched his latest Tour Journal. He’s done this for each of the last three novels, and now comes one for River of Stars. He uses them to loop readers on events leading up to and after the release of each book. The River of Stars Journal, in a new WordPress format, can be found by clicking here.

September 18: The publication date for Under Heaven in Spain (Los Caballos Celestiales) is this week.

September 4: NovelList has now made their guide to Under Heaven available to all readers for a period of time on their promotional website. (Normally you need an account or access through a library.) The questions and answers are interesting, and GGK has privately endorsed their recommendation (for other books to read) of the too-little-known Barry Hughart, whose book is, he says, genuinely charming. http://www.ebscohost.com/novelist/novelist-special/book-discussion-guide-under-heaven-by-guy-gavriel-kay

August 25: Alire, GGK’s long time Quebec publisher, will be releasing their French language edition of UNDER HEAVEN next month in their territory.

July 16: Roc in NY and Penguin Canada have now revealed the cover for River of Stars. Both publishers will be using this image. It has been designed to echo the much-loved green horse of Under Heaven while also suggesting a very different time period and imagery. GGK’s comment: “I genuinely love this cover, and am really happy to be able to share it. Authors often complain about their book covers. Allow me to be different – I think my publishers have done a spectacularly creative job. Hope readers agree.” See the cover by clicking here.

July 13: The Czech Republic edition from Argo Press of Under Heaven is now online, with release slated for August. See the cover and more here: http://www.argo.cz/knihy/161827/pod-nebesy/

July 12: The Spanish edition of Under Heaven has now been posted to various book selling websites there ahead of its release. The title will be the same as in China: Heavenly Horses (Los Caballos Celestiales). It can be seen here on the publisher website, and will be out in September. The book is part of a three title launch of a new imprint for RBO, with Ursula Le Guin and J.G. Ballard. All three covers have the same general design.

July 4: The Sarantine Mosaic and Lions of Al-Rassan are now available at audible.com in their collection of GGK’s audiobooks. The Sarantium books are read by Berny Clark, and Euan Morton (who also did Arbonne, including singing the songs) does Lions this time around. At this point all titles are available as audio books.

June 19: Both amazon.com and amazon.ca report the publication date for the new GGK book, River of Stars, as April 2, 2013!

June 19: Today is official publication date in Canada for the reissues of The Fionavar Tapestry. Some bookstores have already reported having stock, and both amazon.ca and indigo.com are now selling the three books.

May 24: New book news! GGK’s next novel will be entitled River of Stars. It is expected to be released in early 2013. A video of GGK discussing the novel and title can be seen by clicking here.

May 13: GGK and his agents have announced a development agreement for Under Heaven with celebrated Chinese actress Zhang Ziyi (“Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon”, “Hero”, “Memoirs of a Geisha”) and her production partners. Zhang Ziyi is attached to star and produce. This is an early-stage agreement, there is a long way to go to develop a film, but it is exciting news and GGK has described her as ‘dream casting’ for Wei Song. Read the English press release here, or in Chinese here.

May 11: BrightWeavings is now on Pinterest! View the collection of images (book coveers, author sightings, art and more) at: The Worlds of GGK

May 9: Publication news: Under Heaven has now been released in China. The most popular online book buying website has it here with (apparently!) some very good reviews.

April 19: GGK’s Chinese publishers, Wanrong, have revealed their cover for Under Heaven (titled Heavenly Horses in China). It will be out at the end of April. You can see the cover here.

April 18: GGK reports that Euan Morton (who also did A Song for Arbonne) has been in studio since last week recording Lions for audible.com and today Berny Clark will begin recording the audio version of Sailing to Sarantium (not in same studio!) Release details will be here when we have them.

April 5: The Chinese language release date for Under Heaven (under the title Heavenly Horses) from Wanrong Publishers has been announced. It will be on sale in China at the end of April.

March 26: This June HarperCollins Canada will be repackaging The Fionavar Tapestry. They are using the Janny Wurts/Don Maitz covers, though with a different treatment from Roc’s in the US. You can take a peek by clicking here. The omnibus edition will still be available.

March 22: The new Signet edition of The Song of Roland has been released and includes an afterword by GGK

March 10: Guy Gavriel Kay’s new novel is once more inspired by Chinese history, this time during the Song Dynasty, almost four centuries after the story told in his bestselling Under Heaven. The dazzling elements of the Song – cultural brilliance, vicious political rivalries, warfare against nomadic peoples, court mandarins versus the military – are rich ground for Kay’s unique blending of fantasy and themes of history. Vivid among a large cast, a young man with a dream of regaining the empire’s lost ‘rivers and mountains’ and a brilliant woman trying to shape a space for herself outside the ‘inner quarters’, where women are expected to live out their lives, confront the challenges and dangers of a world in turmoil. The Song Dynasty’s legacy is prominent in the way Westerners imagine Chinese history to this day and Kay weaves a story that captivates on both an epic scale and within the intimate lives of his characters.

March 7: GGK announces: “We’ve agreed to terms with Roc in New York, my current publisher, on the sale of the in-progress novel to them. (It has already been sold to Viking in Canada.) All going well, it will be out next year, details and dates to be released later.”

2012

December 9: Translation news — offers have been accepted for Under Heaven from both Italy and Spain. Details as to release dates will be posted when they emerge. In addition, a renewed license for Portugal (and Brazil) has just been granted for Tigana. Lions is also currently with the same publisher, Saida de Emergencia. The Estonian edition of Tigana from Varrak, with a handsome cover, is on sale there now. It is GGK’s first title in that country.

November 30: GGK has signed the contract for a renewed license for FIONAVAR in Poland, with Zysk i Ska Publishers.

November 22: GGK has agreed to terms with Audible for audio editions worldwide of The Lions of Al-Rassan and The Sarantine Mosaic.

November 22: Contracts have been formally signed this week with Russia (Astrel) for Under Heaven and Fionavar reprints, with Turkey (Pegasus) for Ysabel and Under Heaven, and with Quebec (Alire) for Under Heaven and extensions of all earlier titles. Publication dates will be announced when they are lined up.

November 7: Under Heaven has been longlisted today for the 2012 IMPAC/Dublin Prize, one of the richest literary prizes in the world. Nominations come from 45 countries, including 34 in translation into English. It is a long longlist, but represents a major statement, one more blurring of the borders between genre and literary fiction. http://www.impacdublinaward.ie/2012/longlist.htm

September 22: A long negotiation between Amazon and Penguin Canada has now been concluded. Kindle editions of the last three novels are now up for Canadian accounts, and the earlier ones should soon follow.

September 15: Click HERE to read the press release issued by the Sunburst Award Society announcing Under Heaven as the winner of it’s 2011 adult fiction award.

September 14: Under Heaven has won Canada’s Sunburst Award for excellence in the literature of the fantastic. It was awarded the prize in the adult fiction category.

Aug 10: On September 16, GGK is being honoured as a ‘Celebrated Alumnus’ of the Faculty of Arts at the University of Manitoba in a ceremony during the “Arts Celebrating Arts” part of Homecoming Week. GGK has a Bachelor of Arts in Philosophy from that university in his home town of Winnipeg.

August 4: Under Heaven is now on sale in Greece from Anubis Publications, GGK’s long-time publishers there.

August 3: Terms have been agreed to by GGK and Editions Alire for Quebec French language rights to Under Heaven – for release next year. Rights in France are still being sorted out. For Quebec, the translation will again be done by Elisabeth Vonarburg.

Contract terms have now been concluded with Astrel Publishers for the Russian edition of Under Heaven along with reprint rights for The Fionavar Tapestry. Release dates will be announced here when they are established.

July 30: Under Heaven has been nominated for the 2011 World Fantasy Award for Best Novel. See the list of nominees here.

July 14: Would you like a free set of GGK’s novels? Online bookseller, The Book Depository, which ships free to over 90 countries, has announced they are giving away a set – click here for details, contest ends in a week!

July 14: Through the Chinese publishers of Under Heaven, Wanrong, GGK now has a page on weibo, China’s equivalent of Twitter. The posts will mostly be in both English and Chinese. Under Heaven will appear in September there, under the title Heavenly Horses.

July 7: GGK has accepted an offer from Pegasus Publishing for Turkish rights to Ysabel and Under Heaven. These will be his first titles in Turkish. Details on release dates will be announced when they are firmed up.

July 5: GGK has accepted an invitation from a convention and his publishers and will be speaking and signing in Croatia in August to coincide with the recent release of Ysabel in that country. It’ll be his 4th promotional appearance in Croatia on behalf of his publishing house, Algoritam. He’ll be in Dubrovnik, Split, Zadar and Sibenik, before arriving at the Liburnicon Convention in Opatija on the weekend of August 19th.

June 28: Under Heaven has just been nominated for the Sunburst Award, presented annually for “Excellence in Canadian Literature of the Fantastic.” The award will be announced in September. See the full nomination lists in Adult and YA are here.

June 7: Walrus Magazine has archived a piece written for them awhile back by GGK, part of a feature on books and summer travel: http://tinyurl.com/64ul782 (For non-Canadians, Peter Mansbridge is the news anchor who does the late night news on CBC!)

May 17: A good week for awards nominations! A third has just been announced. Under Heaven has been nominated for the Mythopoeic Society’s best fantasy award novel. The Society honours the work of Tolkien, C.S. Lewis and the other Inklings in their conferences and publications.

May 15: Under Heaven has been nominated for Canada’s Aurora Award as best speculative fiction novel. The winners in all categories will be announced in October.

May 11: Under Heaven is a finalist for the 2011 Locus Award for best Fantasy novel: Click here for details.

April 25: The paperback edition of Under Heaven will be released in the United States May 3 and is already available in Canada and the UK. It is at #9 this week on the Toronto Star’s national bestseller list (for paperbacks) and at #4 on the Globe and Mail’s list for Canadian books (both hardcover and paperback).

March 9: GGK has agreed to write an Afterword for the Signet Classics reprinting of the great 12th century French epic The Song of Roland. The new edition will be published in September. More details (and a cover) as they emerge.

February 12: GGK is among a group of writers donating essays and stories to an anthology in support of PEN Canada, which is part of the international group supporting writers forced into silence or persecuted around the world. The book is out on February 15 and the first advance review is here.

Janurary 22: On Feb. 3rd The Writers’ Trust of Canada will be auctioning a privately made colour printing of the original painting for the cover of TIGANA, made by the artist, Mel Odom as a memento for GGK. It is signed by both the artist and the author (this is a live auction, but absentee bids are accepted): Click here for details.

January 13:
–The paperback edition of Under Heaven, complete with a new cover, will be out in Canada in April and the U.S. in May. The Chinese translation of the book is also complete and will be released this May.

–The American Library Association has picked Under Heaven as the best fantasy novel of 2010, naming it to their 2011 Reading List. Click here for details.

—Under Heaven has also made Fantasy Literature’s best of the year list for both the printed book itself and Simon Vance’s reading of the audio version. Read the details here.

–In its year-end catalog sent to members, the Science Fiction Book Club announced UNDER HEAVEN as its Editors’ Pick Book of the Year.

–GGK’s backlist is being reprinted Feb 3 in the UK by HarperCollins Voyager, with new cover art. Their edition of Under Heaven will be realeased the same day.

—Under Heaven has been chosen as one of the Washington Post‘s ‘Best Fiction and Poetry of 2010’ picks.

—The Globe & Mail lists Under Heaven among the top book of 2010.

2011

November 17: The publication of the Chinese edition of Under Heaven is set for May or June of 2011, from Wanrong Publishers. Tigana, Lions of Al-Rassan, and A Song for Arbonne are already released in China, by SFW.

November 11: The French edition of The Last Light of the Sun is now available in paperback. You can see the cover here.

November 5: The Romantic Times has nominated Under Heaven for Best Fantasy Novel of 2010.

July 22: The U.S. reissue of Sailing to Sarantium as a trade paperback is this September. You can see the cover art for it in the art gallery.

July 4: As with most of the other novels, Under Heaven is now available in audio form. It is read by Simon Vance and can be purchased from audible.com here.

March 6: Paul Frehner has created a musical piece inspired by Guy Kay’s The Sarantine Mosaic, which will make its premier March 15, 7:30 PM, in Pollack Hall, 555 rue Sherbrooke Ouest, Montreal. Some details of the concert can be found here. Paul Frehner says of his piece:

In Sarantine Polyphony I wrote three movements inspired by different events and characters in the novels. The movement titles are The Zubir, Shirin’s Dance and The Sleepless Ones. The music is not narrative in nature but rather evocative of the imagery I received from the place and character settings in the story. For instance, in The Zubir I was trying to capture the immensity of the presence of the bison god as he emerged from the mist.

Melodically, in the piece, I use at times an invented type of folkloric writing that alludes somewhat to early Byzantine instrumental music, but the overall effect is more modern.

March 4: Penguin Group Canada has launched their official Guy Gavriel Kay website, and includes news, information, and media related to the upcoming Under Heaven novel. Take a look!

2010

November 25: The two volumes of the Sarantine Mosaic have been acquired by Roc in the USA for relaunching and rejacketing in late 2010, probably two months apart in September and November.

The Chinese edition of TIGANA will be published in early 2010.

November 11: The upcoming Summer 2010 Penguin Canada catalogue will feature Under Heaven on the cover. Within the catalogue will be a two page spread showcasing the backlist titles, complete with a new look. All these images can be seen here.

November 6: Two of the covers for GGK’s upcoming novel, Under Heaven, can now be seen. Take a look at the US/Canadian version here and the UK version here.

October 27: Take a peek at this fun article about the 25th anniversary of the publication of The Summer Tree, and the cover artwork which was created for it by Martin Springett.

August 31: Below is some more information about the World Scholar’s Cup, of which The Lions of Al-Rassan has been chosen to make up part of the curriculum.

Founded in 2006, the World Scholar’s Cup is a non-profit team academic competition with thousands of participants in over 30 countries. Teams collaborate to learn a special themed curriculum each year, studying subjects from science and history to film and the arts. They then compete in four events: Debate, Writing, a multiple choice Challenge, and a live-action Scholar’s Bowl. Tournaments take place online and in person around the world. Participants learn teamwork and new skills while becoming part of an international community. Explore this year’s theme, A World Divided (featuring the Economics of Wealth and Poverty, Great Conflicts in Science, and Guy Gavriel Kay’s The Lions of Al-Rassan) and learn more about the program at http://www.scholarscup.org.

August 6: The following release has been issued by Penguin Group (Canada):

The world could bring you poison in a jeweled cup, or surprising gifts. Sometimes you didn’t know which of them it was…

Penguin Group (Canada) is pleased to announce the new novel from World Fantasy Award Winner and international bestseller Guy Gavriel Kay

UNDER HEAVEN will be published in April 2010, and takes place in a world inspired by the glory and power of Tang Dynasty China in the 8th century, a world in which history and the fantastic meld into something both memorable and emotionally compelling.

In the novel, Shen Tai is the son of a general who led the forces of imperial Kitai in the empire’s last great war against its western enemies, twenty years before. Forty thousand men, on both sides, were slain by a remote mountain lake. General Shen Gao himself has died recently, having spoken to his son in later years about his sadness in the matter of this terrible battle.

To honour his father’s memory, Tai spends two years in official mourning alone at the battle site by the blue waters of Kuala Nor. Each day he digs graves in hard ground to bury the bones of the dead. At night he can hear the ghosts moan and stir, terrifying voices of anger and lament. Sometimes he realizes that a given voice has ceased its crying, and he knows that is one he has laid to rest.

The dead by the lake are equally Kitan and their Taguran foes; there is no way to tell the bones apart, and he buries them all with honour.

It is during a routine supply visit led by a Taguran officer who has reluctantly come to befriend him that Tai learns that others, much more powerful, have taken note of his vigil. The White Jade Princess Cheng-wan, 17th daughter of the Emperor of Kitai, presents him with two hundred and fifty Sardian horses. They are being given in royal recognition of his courage and piety, and the honour he has done the dead.

You gave a man one of the famed Sardian horses to reward him greatly. You gave him four or five to exalt him above his fellows, propel him towards rank, and earn him jealousy, possibly mortal jealousy. Two hundred and fifty is an unthinkable gift, a gift to overwhelm an emperor.

Tai is in deep waters. He needs to get himself back to court and his own emperor, alive. Riding the first of the Sardian horses, and bringing news of the rest, he starts east towards the glittering, dangerous capital of Kitai, and the Ta-Ming Palace – and gathers his wits for a return from solitude by a mountain lake to his own forever-altered life.

—

About the Author

Guy Gavriel Kay is the author of ten novels and a volume of poetry. His eleventh work of fiction, Under Heaven, will be published by Viking Canada in April 2010, and by Penguin US and HarperCollins UK in May 2010.

Kay’s fiction has sold over 3 million copies and been published in more than 25 languages around the world. He is the winner of the 2008 World Fantasy Award for Ysabel, which has been optioned for feature film release by Maryke McEwen of Kinetic Productions, the Gemini-winning producer of Street Legal and The Diary of Evelyn Lau and Jeanne Strømberg and Alan Hausegger of StrømHaus Productions, who created the film adaptation of Linda Svendson’s Marine Life starring Cybill Shepherd.

Kay’s novel The Lions of Al-Rassan has also been optioned for feature film and is being developed by director Edward Zwick (The Last Samurai, Blood Diamond) and Cathy Schulman (Crash) of Mandalay Pictures.

Kay is a recipient of the International Goliardos Prize for his contributions to the literature of the fantastic. At the outset of his career, he was retained by the estate of J.R.R. Tolkien to assist in the editorial construction of Tolkien’s posthumously published, The Silmarillion.

July 31: GGK has a new Dutch Publisher: Uitgeverij De Vliegende Hollander (The Flying Dutchman). They are currently translating YSABEL.

The Fionavar Tapestry is now complete in Croatian, from Algoritam. They have now published all of GGK’s novels, all covers by same artist – Igor Kordey. The two new covers will be up on brightweavings as soon as we get high-res jpegs.

The handsomely produced Portuguese edition of LIONS (along with a review) can be seen here. The publisher is Saida de Emergencia.

GGK has reached an agreement to sell rights to YSABEL to Media Metropolis Kft, in Hungary … this is the first Hungarian translation of any of his works.

July 27: Guy Kay recently posted some very exciting news to the forums, concerning some more details of his upcoming book. He says:

“After discussions and emails with publishers, it seems they are ready to prepare press releases and online catalogue announcements of the new novel, which means it’ll likely show up on amazon and elsewhere very soon. I’ve always told Deborah I’d try to have brightweavings be the first source for major news.

The new novel is called UNDER HEAVEN. It is a long, single-volume historical fantasy inspired by the extraordinary Tang Dynasty, essentially 8th century China.

It will appear in the English-language markets in April and May of 2010.

When the press release is sent out I’ll make a point of getting it to Deborah, too. It’ll have a few more details.

I appreciate the patience and goodwill of all the denizens, and readers around the world. I know I don’t produce novels that swiftly. I’ll hope readers decide this one was worth the wait.”

July 21:The Lions of Al-Rassan has been selected by the International Academic Foundation to be part of the official curriculum for the World Scholar’s Cup for students in 30 countries. Take a peek at their website to find out more about their organization.

The audio versions of A Song for Arbonne, The Lions of Al-Rassan, Tigana, and Ysabel are now available (or soon will be) on various audio book sites. Simon Vance will be the reader for the upcoming audio version of The Fionavar Tapestry.

The Spanish edition of The Lions of Al-Rassan is now out. The cover art is not yet in the art gallery section, but you can see a picture of it here, among other places.

The Czech Republic publisher, Argo, has now released The Summer Tree and will be completing the trilogy shortly. They are using the three John Howe covers, which can be seen here.

July 20: We have several exciting things to announce. Firstly, Guy Kay has announced that the new novel is drafted, and has been sent out to editors and agents. The expected publication date for English-language markets is the spring of 2010.

Also, you can now get all your Guy Gavriel Kay news and updates via Twitter. Take a peek.

Finally, click here to get details on Guy Kay’s schedule for Worldcon this August in Montreal.

May 18: Tigana, read by Simon Vance, is now available on audible.com and elsewhere online for download. Last Light of the Sun is wrapped, read by Holter Graham, and should be showing up for download soon. A Song for Arbonne is also done, and should appear next, read by Euan Morton (who sang the songs, as well), with The Summer Tree set to go into studio next week, again with Simon Vance.

May 18: The Lions of Al-Rassan recently made it to the shortlist for the Best Fantasy Book of the year, by the Czech Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Horror. The award was announced Saturday at the Prague Book Fair, and Lions finished as runner-up.

The nominees were:
-Duncan, Hal: Vellum: The Book of All Hours
-Gaiman, Neil: The Graveyard Book
-Kay, Guy Gavriel: The Lions of Al-Rassan
-Pratchett, Terry: Making Money
-Sapkowski, Andrzej: The Last Wish

The winner was Sapkowski’s The Last Wish.

May 11: Guy Kay will be participating on a panel at the Luminato Festival, which will be taking place in Toronto on June 10th. Here is the release:

“As part of the Luminato Festival in Toronto, a one-hour discussion about genre fiction will take place on Wednesday, June 10th between 12:30 and 1:30 pm. Participants on the panel are Joseph Boyden, Stephen Marche, and Guy Gavriel Kay, with Walrus Magazine managing editor Jared Bland as the moderator. The event is free and open to the public, and there will be a Q&A with the audience at the end of the panel.

The event will take place at the “Roots” flagship store in downtown Toronto, 100 Bloor Street West.”

April 14: Some very exciting news! The following is an excerpt from a recent press release:

Toronto, Ontario – Maryke McEwen of Kinetic Productions and Jeanne Strømberg and Alan Hausegger of StrømHaus Productions are pleased to announce that they have optioned the feature film rights to Ysabel, Canadian author Guy Gavriel Kay’s critically-acclaimed novel.

Kinetic Productions Inc. is an independent film and television production company owned by Maryke McEwen, who has produced more than 300 hours of award-winning television. McEwen’s credits include Scorn, an MOW for CBC, which premiered at the Vancouver Film Festival and garnered a Gemini for Best Television Movie; The Diary of Evelyn Lau, featuring Sandra Oh in her first screen appearance and the long-running CBC series, Street Legal.

StrømHaus Productions Ltd. specializes in literary adaptations for the feature film market and is co-owned by Alan Hausegger and Jeanne Strømberg, who have over 25 years of film and television experience. Their credits include Marine Life, a film adaptation of the highly acclaimed collection of short stories by Linda Svendsen.

The deal was negotiated by Debbie Wood of Westwood Creative Artists.

February 5: Tigana has been selected by Penguin Group (Canada) to be one of 15 contempory classics which will be released in a reworking of their traditional Celebrations livery from the 1930’s and 1940’s. See the Penguin Group website for the full list.

“As someone old enough (alas!) to remember, and honour, the worldwide cachet of the originals, it gives me real pleasure to have Tigana appear in Penguin’s classic orange and white as part of this celebration. It feels like a link to enduring fiction, Penguin Canada’s own statement about lineage and tradition.” Guy Gavriel Kay

Anyone interested in a signed copy of this limited edition–or many other in print Canadian editions–can contact Book City. Click here for details.

January 13: Ysabel, as read by Kate Reading, is now available as an unabridged audiobook from Penguin.com. It will likely show up on audible.com and other sites in due course. Simon Vance has been selected to read Tigana, which is next in line.

2009

November 21: American publisher Roc has reissued Tigana in trade paperback form, complete with original artwork.

November 2: Ysabel wins the 2008 World Fantasy Award!

August 6: Ysabel has been nominated for best novel for the World Fantasy Award 2008. The winner will be announced and the award will be presented at the awards banquet at this year’s convention in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. The convention will be held October 30 – November 2 at the Hyatt Regency Calgary.

June 16: North American Audio rights to Ysabel have been sold to Patti Pirooz at Penguin Audio. Six of Kay’s backlist titles: The Summer Tree, The Wandering Fire, The Darkest Road, The Last Light of the Sun, Tigana, and A Song for Arbonne, were also sold to Penguin Audio, by Alanna Ramirez on behalf of John Silbersack at Trident Media Group, and Westwood Creative Artists.

June 6: Ysabel has been selected as a finalist for the 2008 Mythopoeic Fantasy Award for Adult Literature. The winners of this year’s awards will be announced at the banquet during Mythcon 39, to be held in New Britain, Connecticut, from August 15-18, 2008.

http://www.mythsoc.org/mythcon39.html

The Mythopoeic Fantasy Award for Adult Literature is given to the fantasy novel, multi-volume, or single-author story collection for adults published during the previous year that best exemplifies the spirit of the Inklings. The complete list of this year’s finalists in all categories, along with a press release in PDF format, will be available soon on the Society web site: http://www.mythsoc.org/awards/

January 2008: At the end of December, Ysabel was named in the year’s best books lists in the Globe and Mail, the National Post and Library Journal. It features also in a variety of genre-based best-of-the-year lists.

2008

November 26: This is way behind (GGK takes the blame) and will not be complete but here are a few updates. Ysabel is now out in paperback in Canada and will be in the US in early 2008. It is also just out in French in Quebec from Alire. The status is France is: still in negotiations, complicated by a recent change in agents over there. It has been bought (contracts signed) in Russia by Sekatchev and is already out in Poland (working very fast) from Mag. Mag have also now bought A Song for Arbonne which means GGK’s complete works of fiction are available there now. Laguna in Serbia have purchased Tigana, their 3rd title, after beginning with the Mosaic pair. A Song For Arbonne will be re-issued in the US by Roc with a new cover, in 2008. GGK’s agents in the UK, Curtis Brown, are severing his backlist ties with Simon and Schuster which will mean a complex period for all titles, until the new house is sorted out. The Last Light of the Sun will appear in Israel early in 2008 from Graff. Ysabel has been nominated (by the librarians’ association) for the White Pine Award, in Canada: it is voted on by students in Grades 10-12, and awarded in the spring.

September 18: Ysabel will be published in trade paperback format in Canada in November, and in the USA in February 2008. It will also be published in Quebec, in French, in November. For those interested, the Penguin catalogue is online and Ysabel details can be found on page 46.

Also, the September issue of Locus has an interview with GGK, and he’s gracing the front cover!

January 24: To accompany the publication of Ysabel in Canada, Penguin have launched a poster campaign on bus shelters etc. For the curious who haven’t seen any posters, or aren’t near enough to go looking for them, this is what it looks like! There was also a big ad in the Globe and Mail, and for those who missed that, you can see what it looked like here.

January 19: Just to let you all know that the winning bid for the first copy of Ysabel off the presses was U.S.$485! Congratulations to the winner!

January 8: To celebrate the launch of Ysabel, Penguin announced today that the first book off the press, autographed by the author, will be auctioned on Ebay.com. Signed and verified by the publisher, this first copy includes a product identification slip and letter from the printing press identifying the book as the first copy printed in Canada. All proceeds from the auction will be donated to Indigo Books & Music, Inc.’s Love of Reading Fund. The fund directly supports high-needs elementary school literacy programs across Canada. The auction ends on the 18th January. To place a bid, click here!

2007

December 25: As part of GGK’s book tour when Ysabel is released, he will be visiting The Signed Page and signing copies of Ysabel. If people want an American edition of the book, signed, they can go to the Signed Page website and pre-order a copy, and can order either a simple signed book or actually have it personalized. You’ve got until February 9th to get your orders in. All the details you need are on the website – you’ll need a paypal account, preferably.

December 19: Pat of Pat’s fantasy hotlist, at http://www.fantasyhotlist.blogspot.com, has announced a competition for one lucky person to win the entire GGK backlist. Rules are simple; just send an email to reviews@(no-spam)gryphonwood.net with the header “KAY.” Remember to remove the “no spam” thingy. All the email needs to contain is your full mailing address (that’s snail mail!), and any screen name for any message boards that you frequent, if you do frequent any. Lastly, multiple entries will disqualify whoever sends them. Good luck!

December 4: Penguin Canada have launched www.ysabel.ca to promote GGK’s new book, to be released in early 2007.

November 2: Chartoff Productions and Ravinett Productions announced today that they have entered into an agreement with author Guy Gavriel Kay to have him adapt his bestselling novel, The Last Light of the Sun for the screen. Kay will serve as a producer and as screenwriter on the project, which will be overseen by Chartoff and Ravinett. For the full press release, click here.

October 12: GGK will be in St Petersburg, Russia from November 25-27 and in Moscow from 28-30, at the invitation of the Canadian Embassy and the Non/Fiction book fair taking place in Moscow. There will be signings and interviews in both cities on behalf of his Russian publishers, Sekatchev, and details will be posted as they emerge.

June 15: Warner Brothers have renewed their option on The Lions of Al-Rassan. A first draft script has been submitted and is being reviewed and revised (a process that can take a very long time and many subsequent drafts). There have been NO casting decisions or even formal discussions. It is extremely early for that. Rumours are only rumours.

June 14: At Book Expo Canada, information about GGK’s next book was made public. You can read all about it here (and read the prologue and some snippets of info).

February 3: The January 20th edition of The Bookseller had this to say about the UK re-release of Fionavar:

January 15: Some publication and contracts news: Voyager have just released their paperback reprints of Fionavar with the original Martin Springett covers in a new design format. Lions has also been bought by Mag in Poland, and by Edicios Fio de Navalha in Portugal and by Minsumsa for Korea. (The Korean edition of Tigana, with an introduction by GGK written for that market, should be out very shortly.) The Mosaic‘s newest market is Serbia: to Laguna. Sekatchev also bought Arbonne for Russia.

More updates as they come in. GGK asked me to take a moment to acknowledge here the efforts, over eight years now, of Nicole Winstanley, foreign rights director at Westwood Creative Artists. Nicole is moving from the agency to Penguin Canada next month as a senior editor. All of the foreign language announcements you’ve seen here on brightweavings, over the years, have been a consequence of her energy and skill.

2006

November 7: Nicole Winstanley of Westwood Creative Artists has updated and summarized the translation editions currently forthcoming for Last Light:

Croatia: Algoritam
France: Le Pre Aux Clercs
French Canada: Alire
Germany: Piper
Greece: Compupress
Israel: Graff
Poland: MAG
Russia: Sekatchev
Sweden: Fantasyforlaget

October 9: The Lions of Al-Rassan has been nominated for the Geffen Award in the translated fantasy books category. The Geffen Award is presented to distinguished works in the genre by The Israeli Society for Science Fiction and Fantasy, during the annual ICon (18-21 Oct 2005, Tel Aviv).

September 8: The most recent of a number of foreign sales and editions have now been reported by Nicole Winstanley, the foreign rights agent at Westwood Creative Artists.

We’re a little behind here, and will try to catch up, but for now: Last Light has been sold to Israel (Graff) and Sweden (Fantasyforlaget) following on earlier sales in (among others) Germany, France, Greece, Croatia, Russia. Last Light is now out in its various paperback editions in the US, UK (they have reprinted already), and Canada. Alire have now released their Quebec edition under the title Le Dernier Rayon du Soleil.

Lions of Al-Rassan has been sold to MAG in Poland, Saidadeemergencia in Portugal, and Minumsa in Lorea. The Minumsa edition of Tigana is appearing any time now with a foreword written by GGK for that edition. Fionavar is being reprinted in Sweden under new license by Fantasyforlaget, and for the 3rd time in Spain by Timun Mas. If anyone has, or has seen covers of the different books in various markets not yet represented here in the Art section (Bulgaria, Serbia, Portugal…) do let me know, if you can.

July 14: I am very pleased to announce that The Last Light of the Sun has been selected as a finalist for the Canadian Sunburst Award 2005. The fifth annual sunburst award will be presented to the winner on Wednesday, October 5, 2005 as part of the prestigious harbourfront reading series in Toronto. The other finalists are The Memory Artists by Jeffrey Moore, Airborn by Kenneth Oppel, Air by Geoff Ryman, and The Logogryph by Thomas Wharton.

In other news, paperbacks of Last Light appeared in the US and UK at the end of June (the US version is a trade paperback, not mass market), and at the same time the newly relaunched trade paperback of Lions was published in the States (cover here).

May 29: In publications news, Penguin Canada have now published their new mass market editions of all the historical fantasies, coinciding with the paperback release of The Last Light of the Sun. The covers are variants of the trade paperbacks, designed by Cathy McLean. I’ve put a jpeg of the The Last Light of the Sun cover up in the art gallery. The British and American mass market editions of Last Light are also out this spring. The U.K. cover is new and I have that up as well.

In rights news, Nicole Winstanley, subsidiary rights director at Westwood Creative Artists, has placed The Last Light of the Sun with Piper in Germany, Le Pre aux Clercs in France, and Algoritam in Croatia. Winstanley placed the French-Canadian rights with Alire.

In other news, Readersread.com announced their ‘best books of 2004’ list, and quelle surprise, The Last Light of the Sun featured on the list!

January 20: NEWSFLASH: News I’ve been waiting months to let you know, folks… The Lions of Al Rassan is destined for the big screen. Read the press release that was issued today!

January 14: Vote for your favourite book of 2004 at SFSite….

January 13: Last Light of the Sun features in January Magazine‘s list of best fiction of 2004.

2005

December 27: The Last Light of the Sun featured on the Washington Post’s Year’s Best Fiction list of 2004. You can see the full list here.

September 25: Amazon Canada’s list of the top 50 ‘essential’ Canadian books includes The Last Light of the Sun listed at number 40. Click here for the full list.

September 23: The Last LIght of the Sun is now available as an electronic download for your Palm – you can buy it here.

May 31: The Last Light of the Sun appears today on the Toronto Star bestseller list for the 12th week. That’s GGK’s longest stay yet on the list. The book is on the way to being his strongest selling Canadian hardcover title, by a good deal. In the United States there have now been 5 printings. Various foreign rights sales are close to final and will be announced here shortly.

May 7: A special offer for Bright Weavings visitors from Locus magazine. Order the April issue of Locus, which includes a long interview with Guy Gavriel Kay and get it postage free (save $2.00) or get it completely free with a subscription! To see the front cover of the April edition, click here. To see the first page of the interview, click here. And to take advantage of the special offer, click through here.

March 31: GGK appears on the front cover of the April edition of Locus Magazine, a lengthy interview with him inside.

It might also be of interest to fans to see a copy of a Penguin ad for The Last Light of the Sun that was placed in The Globe and Mail March 27th. It includes snippets of praise for the book from lots of reviews.

February 18: Details of GGK’s March reading tour for the launch of LLoTS now on the readings page.

February 10: The February 9 issue of Publishers’ Weekly, the most important trade magazine in the book industry, has a starred review of The Last Light of the Sun. Starred reviews are rare, influential, highly coveted. Copyright law prevents a full reprinting here but extracts are allowed, so (no spoilers): “Wonderfully imaginative historical fantasy … the pieces come together to weave a dazzling tapestry. Solid research, filtered through vibrant prose, serves to convey a sense of how people really lived and died …”

February 5: Penguin Canada reports copies of The Last Light of the Sun are now in the warehouse and will begin shipping across the country on Friday. Sightings can be expected in bookstores by next weekend – Valentine’s Day. American timing from ROC ought to be quite close to this, with the UK following about a month behind.

2004

October 21: Publication dates for The Last Light of the Sun are as follows: March 1, Canada, March 2, USA, April 4, UK.

October 21: Some major news from Canada. HarperCollins Canada have announced (and it is now in their spring catalogue) a ‘Republishing’ (not just the usual reprinting) of The Fionavar Tapestry. The Tapestry has always been in print, in various editions, but this winter will see a marketing campaign built around new trade paperback editions of all three books, with new covers using icons from Martin Springett’s original art on a weaving background derived from a painting by Andy Patton (who is also on this site, here). Cover images up now in the art gallery. The books will have a Foreword jointly written by Janeen Webb of Australia and Dena Bain Taylor of Canada (who are both part of the academic panel here at BW) and there will also be an Afterword by GGK. Other plans are falling into place in connection with all of this, and I’ll have details here as I receive them. Publication date is February 2004. This is a purely Canadian edition, but books will be available through amazon.ca, or by telephoning Book City in Toronto for signed copies.

September 16: Those of you who frequent the forums will already know that GGK did his first reading from the new novel at Torcon, and therefore, the cat is out of the bag as to its source of inspiration. He called The Last Light of the Sun his ‘Northern novel’ and it is his ‘take’ in his usual manner on the Vikings, Anglo-Saxons and Welsh, loosely in and around the time of Alfred the Great. Let the anticipation grow…

July 27: Something you’ve all been waiting for… I am pleased to announce that the title for the new novel, to be released some time in Spring ’04, will be The Last Light of the Sun.

June 19: Russian publishers Sekatchev have signed a contract to publish The Sarantine Mosaic. The French mass market paperback of Tigana is now out from J’ai Lu, using the Atalante cover.

March 31: Amazon.ca has the publication date of Beyond this Dark House down as April 4th. Any of those not wishing to order via Book City and get an autographed copy and want to order via amazon, can use this direct link to the right page. And if you do, I’ll get a little percentage, so thank you.

March 11: GGK will be doing a Canadian reading tour after the publication of Beyond this Dark House: Check the readings page for details.

February 26: HarperCollins U.S. (EOS) has just reported the 5th reprint of Sailing to Sarantium.

February 18: Penguin Canada will be releasing their trade paperback editions of Sailing to Sarantium and Lord of Emperors in April. This will bring the ‘Mosaic’ diptych in line with their other trade paperbacks. Cover design again by Cathy MacLean, revised versions of the existing covers for the two books. Versions of these will be on the site as soon as I get them.

February 9: The covers created by Janny Wurts and Don Maitz for the new trade editions of The Fionavar Tapestry are now available in jigsaw form! It’s one big puzzle of a thousand pieces, incorporating all three covers into one picture (which is how it was originally painted). It’s 16 x 34 inches and it’s available from SunsOut puzzles for $14.50. To see a picture of it or order it, go to Sunsout – this link takes you directly to the correct page. Enjoy!

January 26: It can now be reported that copies of Beyond this Dark House are to arrive in the Penguin Canada warehouse on March 28th for immediate shipping. GGK will be doing readings and appearances in Toronto, Vancouver, Edmonton and Winnipeg, with two or three other possibilities still in discussion. Dates and venues will be posted here when finalized. The book will be available to international readers at www.amazon.ca and www.chapters.indigo.ca as well as by telephone for autographed copies from Book City in Toronto, as established earlier for BW denizens (see here for details).

2003

December 12: GGK has signed a deal with his Russian publishers Sekatchev to release The Lions of Al-Rassan there.

November 4: GGK has completed Beyond this Dark House and handed it in to Penguin Canada.

October 31: The French language Alire edition of Sarantium is at number eight on the bestseller list in Quebec.

October 3: GGK will be doing media interviews in Montreal and Quebec City the week of October 6th, in connection with the debut of the Alire edition of The Sarantine Mosaic (covers on site here) and their relaunch of The Fionavar Tapestry. He’ll also be in Montreal a month later for the Salon du Livre on November 16th and 17th, which may be of interest to the Francophones here.

August 14: I am very happy to announce that in April of 2003 Penguin Books Canada will be releasing BEYOND THIS DARK HOUSE: POEMS BY GUY GAVRIEL KAY. This is, of course, NOT the novel that GGK is currently working on, which is still progressing, but something separate; a collection of some of the poetry GGK has written over the past twenty years. GGK’s first published work, recognition, and awards, came in this form, and he has continued to write poetry even as the novels have appeared. Many of the works are legend-based, evoking the Greeks, Celts, early vegetation myth cycles, Arthuriana, some of them spinning original legends. There are love poems, elegies, some romantic pieces, others cutting against or across the ‘romantic’ ideal.

Publishing outside Canada is still being sorted through, but the book will be available to BW denizens (signed) through the good offices of Book City in Toronto – as I explained on the site here. I’ll have the gorgeous Cathy MacLean-designed cover up on the website as soon as I can.

July 19: A new trade paperback of A Song for Arbonne will be released by Roc in the US in November, although it will probably hit shelves by the end of October. You can see the cover here. There is also a reissue due in the UK in September – of Tigana, A Song for Arbonne and The Lions of Al-Rassan, also with new covers, based on the Canadian designs by Cathy MacLean.

June 15th: Many BW denizens have been discussing a mini-gathering at Torcon3, next year’s World Science Fiction Convention in Toronto. Larry Hancock, the Treasurer of Torcon 3, reports that the current registration price of $145 US is going up, most likely to $165 US, on July 1, with another increase (as is customary) about 6 months after. Information and registration details can be found at www.torcon3.on.ca or by emailing Larry directly – he was good enough to offer this – at hancock@istar.ca (tell him you are from brightweavings!).

April 11th: The official launch of the Croatian edition of A Song for Arbonne, published by Algoritam (cover: here) will take place in Zagreb on April 16th. GGK will be present, and will spend five days in Croatia doing media and appearances in several cities.

February 5th: EOS, GGK’s U.S. publishers, have just ordered a reprint of The Lions of Al-Rassan. This is the 10th run for the book there.

January 29th: Both Sailing to Sarantium and Lord of Emperors have reached the bestseller list in Croatia.

January 23rd: A message direct from GGK to Bright Weavings denizens…

As of now, in fact, anyone wishing to purchase a signed copy of one of the in-print Canadian editions can call Book City at 416.469.9997 and give them either a VISA or Mastercard number to pay for the book and shipping costs to wherever you are. (They’ll tell you the costs.) The staff at the store will hold the book for GGK to sign and personalize (be sure to spell the name carefully for them!) and then ship it to you. There are limitations to this, obviously. Those of you wanting existing copies signed will have to try to catch up with GGK at a conference or reading somewhere – I’ll usually post when and where he’s doing public appearances. The other limitation is – to repeat – that this applies to the in-print Canadian editions. These are the trade paperbacks of all the books up to the Mosaic. The Sarantium books are both mass market paperbacks now (same cover design as the hardbacks), and apparently will be for another 6-12 months, when they’ll be redone in trade paper, to match up with the Canadian editions for the other historical fantasies. The designs for all these editions can be found here on Brightweavings, if you want a look.

January 16th: More details on GGK’s Ad Astra appearances now in Readings & Screenings

January 7th 2002: Tigana has recently been published in Israel. Cover showing in the art gallery.

2002

December 11th 2001: Reprint editions of Tigana and A Song for Arbonne are out in Holland, by Meulenhoff, which is now a sub-imprint of the original publisher, De Boekerij. The title of Arbonne was changed from Een Lied Voor Arbonne to Een Lofzang Voor Arbonne because apparently Lofzang is a better, more evocative word for ‘song’ as it means, literally, ‘Song of Praise.’

December 2nd 2001: Earthlight has now acquired the rights to Tigana in the UK, to go with all titles subsequent to Fionavar. It will be relaunched in 2002 … and they are redoing ALL their GGK covers in a new look … feeling dissatisfied with the ‘arches’ look currently available. Details as soon as I have them.

October 28th 2001 Lots more contracts signed for new markets for GGK’s books, with Taiwan (Hengsing) and Korea (Golden Bough) for Tigana, Brazil (Livros de Brasil) for Fionavar, and Bulgaria (Bard Press) for The Lions of Al-Rassan. Paperback contracts have also been agreed to with with Meulenhoff in Holland for Tigana and A Song for Arbonne.

October 24th 2001 The Finnish edition of The Summer Tree is now out, using the Wurts/Maitz cover and translated by Leena Peltonen. (We have a link from the Scholarship section of the site to an essay on GGK by Peltonen in Finnish).

October 23rd 2001 Croatia is publishing both books of The Sarantine Mosaic. The books are being launched in November/December. We have a copy of the cover for Sailing to Sarantium on the site, with the cover for Lord to follow shortly.

October 22nd 2001 GGK’s Greek publishers are collaborating with the biggest bookstore chain in Athens, Eleftheroudakis, to put on a Kay week between November 17th and 25th – ideally placed for Christmas shopping. The main event, which will be promoted in newspapers and book magazines, will be held in their five-floor main store, with a dedicated window, posters and pamphlets.

September 7th 2001 The date for the new Roc edition of A Song for Arbonne has been confirmed; it will be released in December 2002.

August 20th, 2001 GGK has now confirmed that (along with all the other Sunburst Award nominees) he will be appearing at the Winnipeg International Writers Festival, September 28-30. The award ceremony is on the Saturday afternoon, and he’ll be doing a reading on Sunday night. To find out more about the festival in general, visit the festival website.

August 6th, 2001 The final ballot for the 2001 World Fantasy Awards, covering publications in 2000, has been released, and Lord of Emperors is on the list. The other finalists are Declare, by Tim Powers, Galveston, by Sean Stewart, The Grand Ellipse by Paula Volsky, The Amber Spyglass by Philip Pullman and Perdido Street Station by China Mieville. Winners will be announced at the World Fantasy Convention in Montreal, November 1 – 4, 2001. Judges for this year’s awards are Steven Erikson, Paula Guran, Diana Wynne Jones, Graham Joyce, and Jonathan Strahan.

July 22, 2001 Lord of Emperors has reached the short-list for the Sunburst Award. This is a new award given to the finest novel-length Canadian literature of the fantastic published during a particular year. Read the official press release.

July 17, 2001 The first volume (of four) of the German edition of The Sarantine Mosaic has just appeared from Heyne Verlag. The cover (see it here) will be familiar to some: it is the same as the American cover of book 1 of the four volume treatment in the States of Mary Gentle’s Ash. This is, apparently, not uncommon – foreign language publishers often buy ‘second use’ rights to the work of major cover artists.

Sailing to Sarantium has just been reprinted in the U.S. for the 4th time.

A Song For Arbonne is now out in a UK reprint, from S&S/Earthlight. The cover (see it here) is designed to be a part of the unified look that will include The Lions of Al-Rassan (cover here, out next month) and the two volumes of the Mosaic.

July 6, 2001 Terri Windling, co-editor (with Ellen Datlow) of The Year’s Best Fantasy and Horror has listed Lord of Emperors on her excellent website as one of her ‘Recommended New Works’ for the year 2000. The comment is:

“This novel is the second, concluding volume of Guy Kay’s “The Sarantine Mosaic” (following Sailing to Sarantium), and it’s even better than the first. These books read like panoramic historical novels, but the history is the wholly invented history of the city of Sarantium — a city of art and alchemy, political intrigue and philosophy, private feuds and impending war. There’s plenty of magic, action, and suspense if what you’re looking for is a page-turner; but there are also complex characters, and layer upon layer of nuanced text. Kay is a fiercely intelligent writer, using the tropes of fantasy to explore the nature of human relationships, large and small, and the power of art.”

May 24, 2001 GGK’s The Sarantine Mosaic has been selected as a finalist in the 2001 Mythopoeic Fantasy Awards for Fantasy Literature. Visit the Mythopoeic Society website for more details.

May 23rd, 2001 A small, interesting bit: Danish reprint rights to Fionavar have just been purchased (the original editions came out in Denmark long ago, from Per Kofod) by a large bookclub, that plans to release the trilogy as a single-volume omnibus to coincide deliberately with the release of the first part of the Lord of the Rings film late this year.This seems to be an early indicator of how that film may cause ripple effects (good and bad) throughout the fantasy genre.

April 21st, 2001 Lord of Emperors is now fully distributed in paperback throughout Canada, the US, and the UK. Copies should reach Australia and other English-language countries shortly. The UK cover represents an entirely new ‘look’ and the reprint of Sailing to Sarantium, coming soon, will match up with that style, and with A Song for Arbonne, and Lions of Al-Rassan which – I have now learned – will appear this summer. (See March 17th note.)

Sailing to Sarantium is now out in hardcover in France from Buchet & Chastel. Cover image as soon as I can get it.

April 10th, 2001. Lord of Emperors has now showed up on four national paperback bestseller lists in Canada, ranking 5th and 6th on the two most recent.

March 28, 2001. ROC USA are relaunching The Fionavar Tapestry in trade paperback. In honour of the relaunch, the books will appear with new artwork – by Don Maitz and Janny Wurts. Maitz and Wurts have never before collaborated professionally, and this marks the first time in a decade that Wurts has done covers for any books but her own. Bright Weavings is honoured to be the first place to showcase the covers. Not only that, but Don Maitz and Janny Wurts have issued a press release about their Fionavar artwork. Click through to the art gallery to see the covers and read the press release.

March 28, 2001. The Bright Weavings newsletter naming competition is closed, and a winner has been picked. If you aren’t subscribed to the newsletter, check out the winning entry in the newsletter archive on the site.

March 27, 2001. Algoritam, GGK’s current Croatian publisher, has contracted to publish The Sarantine Mosaic.

March 18, 2001. Martin Springett has done another print run of his poster of his cover of The Wandering Fire. That means for all of you who inquired into ordering a full set of the posters, they’re now available. For fastest response, I’d suggest emailing Martin again and ordering them. You can see the posters in the art gallery section.

March 17, 2001. English-language copies of A Song for Arbonne are hard to come by just now, except in Canada, but not for a bad reason. Both ROC in the States, and Simon & Schuster/Earthlight in the U.K. are reissuing the book this year. ROC is letting their mass market edition slide out of print (standard procedure) before launching a trade paperback – to match their current Tigana and forthcoming versions of the Tapestry. In England, Earthlight have acquired the rights to Arbonne and The Lions of Al-Rassan and are bringing both out this year, with covers in a style that will synchronize with their new cover for Lord of Emperors. Exact dates when I learn them.

March 5, 2001. SFSite has the results in for both its contributors poll and its readers poll for the best book of 2000. GGK has done well in both polls; Lord of Emperors was voted in at #3 in the contributors poll, and #2 in the readers poll. (Clicking on the poll will take you to the relevant page on SFSite).

Bright Weavings now has a newsletter, which you can subscribe to here. To mark the launch of the newsletter, we’re having a competition – to name it! Entries have to be in by the 19th of March, that’s two weeks from today. You can send in as many suggestions as you like. The winner will get a Galadan poster signed by both Martin Springett and GGK, and also a set of Martin’s Fionavar bookmarks. I’ll be the final judge, but GGK has promised to comment and advise.

January 29, 2001. The Spanish edition of Sailing to Sarantium (entitled Los Mosaicos de Sarantium) has now been published by Plaza & Janés, in a very handsome hardcover with an adaptation of Cathy MacLean’s Canadian design. Lord of Emperors is set for early 2002.

Paperback editions of Lord of Emperors in all English language markets are slated to be released in February and March. The American and Canadian covers are adaptations of their hardcovers, the British edition will feature entirely new cover art, a look designed to link the Sarantium books to forthcoming reprintings of Lions and Arbonne from Earthlight/S&S. Images here as soon as I can get them (click here for the new Lord of Emperors cover).

The ROC reprint in the USA of The Summer Tree is slated for April with dramatic new artwork (and with a story behind it – details soon, with images!). The other two Fionavar volumes will follow shortly afterwards.

Russian rights have now been sold for The Fionavar Tapestry – release planned for late 2001.

2001

December 16, 2000. A new language and country for translation rights: Bulgarian rights to The Lions of Al-Rassan were sold earlier this month. There are also concluded negotiations for Greek rights to Lions and The Sarantine Mosaic which means that Kay’s complete works will be available in Greek.

November 15, 2000. The paperback edition of Lord of Emperors is currently being prepared for printing. All editions were the same copy for the hardback, so if anyone spotted any typos or mistakes in their hardback copies, please send them in to me so that I can send them on to the publishers. The deadline is December 1st. Thank you!!

October 20, 2000. GGK will be appearing as a Guest of Honour at the International Goliardos Festival of Fantastic Literature from October 24-30 in Mexico City, Puebla and Tlaxcala.

August 28, 2000. U.S. trade paperback editions of the three volumes of The Fionavar Tapestry are currently being prepared. This is a chance for all you loyal fans to actually help in the preparation; if any of you are aware of any typos/mistakes in the Roc U.S. edition of Fionavar, send them in to me here, and I will make sure they are sent on to the publishers, and will be corrected in the new editions.

August 27, 2000. GGK will be reading at the Eden Mills Book Festival on September 10th, just outside Toronto, for those of you near enough to benefit!

July 21, 2000. Copies of the Canadian trade paperback edition of The Lions of Al-Rassan by Penguin Books have arrived in the warehouse and are shipping. This edition, following on the beautiful design concepts of the reprints of Tigana and A Song for Arbonne (by Cathy Maclean) can be seen here.

Contracts have just been signed for a Finnish edition of The Fionavar Tapestry: which represents a new translation market. Translations are to be done by Leena Peltonen – whose essay on GGK’s work (in Finnish!) is linked to from the site (in the scholarship section). We hope to get a translation of her essay on the site soon.

Polish contracts for The Sarantine Mosaic have just been finalized with Zysk i S-ka, GGK’s current publishers in that country. Tigana and The Fionavar Tapestry are already released in Poland.

The Spanish paperback reprints of The Fionavar Tapestry (for years the books have only been available in Spain in hardcover) are now published by Timun Mas, using Martin Springett’s original art for the trilogy – as they did for their hardcover edition.

July 18, 2000. ROC Books are planning trade paperback reprints of the three volumes of The Fionavar Tapestry for next year – the same format as their anniversary edition of Tigana. Exact dates and details as I get them, but I’m told there’s a major announcement to come relating to the cover art. If there’s a press release I’ll try to post it here.

June 22nd, 2000. GGK has been invited to be one of the six keynote speakers at the ‘Reflections on an Ethical Society Conference’ to be held at the University of Toronto’s Convocation Hall on November 4, 2000. He’ll be delivering an address on ‘Ethics and Fiction.’ If possible, I’ll post it here after the conference. The venue is particularly apposite, given the opening scenes of The Summer Tree.

June 6th, 2000. The French translation of Sailing to Sarantium has been delivered to Editions Alire in Quebec and to Buchet & Chastel in France. The book will appear late this year or early next (exact details and cover plans when they are confirmed). Elisabeth Vonarburg, (a celebrated, award-winning author in her own right) did the translation and is now working on Lord of Emperors.

May 27th, 2000. Penguin Canada have just run another advertisement in the national edition of the Globe and Mail, to coincide with their third printing of Lord of Emperors. Click here to see a copy of the ad.

May 17th, 2000. Tigana has been published in Russian. See the cover here. The Russian fantasy/SF magazine ESLI is planning an article about the book in their September issue.

May 2000. GGK appears on the front cover of Locus Magazine’s May edition under the title ‘Lord of Fantasy,’ an entirely suitable take on Lord of Emperors. The magazine features an interview done with GGK at the World Fantasy Convention in Providence, November ’99.

April 21st-24th, 2000. GGK is appearing as Guest of Honour at Britain’s annual science-fiction and fantasy convention, Eastercon. This year Eastercon takes place in Glasgow.

March 26th, 2000. Lord of Emperors reaches number 2 on Canadian bestseller lists.

March 6th-9th, 2000. A special first book promotion for Lord of Emperors is taking place in Canada. The book will be signed by GGK, the production director and the printer, with a certificate attesting that it was the worldwide first book… to be auctioned by Chapters on their online site. Proceeds go to an organisation that works to increase adult literacy.
The final and successful bid for the book was for $376.

March 6th, 2000. The second and final book of The Sarantine Mosaic, called Lord of Emperors, is published in Canada, the US and the UK. In Canada, it debuts on Chapters bestselling list at number 5 in hardback fiction.

February, 2000. GGK reaches a new market. The Summer Tree is translated into Hebrew, and published in Israel. The publisher intends to publish all of GGK’s books in Hebrew.

2000