News - Regional

Tobias Wolff Wins Story Prize Tobias Wolff was named the winner of the Story Prize for his collection Our Story Begins (Knopf) at a ceremony at New York's New School Tishman Auditorium on Wednesday night, March 4. In his acceptance speech, Wolff praised the other two finalists Jhumpa Lahiri (Unaccustomed Earth, Knopf) and Joe Meno (Demons in the Spring, Akashic Books). The event featured all three authors reading from their collections and discussing their work with Larry Dark, director of The Story Prize.

GLIBA Awards Six Buy Local Grants The Great Lakes Independent Booksellers Association (GLIBA) has announced the recipients of Buy Local grants ranging from $100 to $500 and underwritten by the sponsorship of Bookazine. The six recipients are:

Booksellers from all regions of the country are invited to visit the Hospitality Suite hosted by the Mountains & Plains Independent Booksellers Association at the ABA Winter Institute host hotel, the Salt Lake City Marriott Downtown.

More than a year ago, when Borders announced plans to renovate an historic funeral home for a location in The Big Easy, Tom Lowenburg of Octavia Books and Garden District Book Shop's Britton Trice rallied fellow indie booksellers -- all members of the New Orleans Gulf-South Booksellers As

The 2008 Southern California Independent Booksellers Association (SCIBA) Authors Feast & Trade Show, which was held Saturday, October 18, in Los Angeles, wowed booksellers with a mix of education, authors, and community. "It was great," said Adrienne Newell of Warwick's in La Jolla, California.

The Bay Area's bookselling home team was out in force throughout three days of busy programming at the recent Northern California Independent Booksellers Association trade show at the Oakland Convention Center and Oakland City Center Marriott.

The Great Lakes Booksellers Association 19th Annual Trade Show, which was held from Friday, October 3, through Sunday, October 5, in Dearborn, Michigan, earned an enthusiastic thumbs-up from booksellers. The big news at this year's show included the official launch of the association's new name -- the Great Lakes Independent Booksellers Association (GLIBA) -- and a new logo.

Though the gas shortage in the South somewhat dampened attendance, the 2008 Southern Independent Booksellers Alliance (SIBA) Fall Trade Show, which was held from Friday, September 26, through Sunday, September 28, at the Marriott Renaissance and the Arthur R. Outlaw Mobile Convention Center in Mobile, Alabama, earned high praise from booksellers who spoke to Bookselling This Week.

The 28th Midwest Booksellers Association (MBA) Trade Show was a "wonderful mix of education, booksellers, authors, and reps," said MBA President Sarah Bagby of Watermark Books in Wichita, Kansas. "There were lots of opportunities for booksellers to meet with colleagues, authors, and sales reps, and to get excited about fall offerings as they go into the Christmas season.

This year's Mountains & Plains Independent Booksellers Association (MPIBA) Trade Show, held from September 17 - 20 at the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Colorado Springs, earned positive reviews from booksellers who spoke to BTW. "This was the second MPIBA show that I've attended," said Vicki Burger of Wind City Books in Casper, Wyoming.