Breaking news from Book Expo: Selzer wins another award!

Seems like only yesterday we were announcing that Richard Selzer's Knife Song Korea won an Independent Publisher Book Award (in fact, it was just last week). Just moments ago, we received word from our people at Book Expo that it's also been awarded the 2009 Editor's Choice Award for Fiction by Foreword Magazine! Congratulations are once again in order for Richard.

Selzer Novel Wins Award

The 2010 Independent Publisher Book Awards were recently awarded, and Knife Song Korea has tied for silver in the category of Literary Fiction. Congratulations to author Richard Selzer and to all of the other award winners!

Check out the full list of award winners.

Critics' Pick for 2009: Knife Song Korea

Congratulations are in order for Richard Selzer, whose novel Knife Song Korea was named one of the California Literary Review's Critics' Picks for Best Books of 2009. Here's a snippet of the glowing review:

“...a number of novella’s are among the classics of U.S. literature: Hemingway’s The Old Man and the Sea, Steinbeck’s classic Of Mice and Men, and Philip Roth’s Goodbye, Columbus to name just three. Knife Song Korea may come to join that distinguished collection. It is a lapidary work of exceptional artistry as well as a valuable addition to the body of notable works by physician-writers.” — California Literary Review

Check out the Review's full list of top books for 2009 (you'll find Knife Song Korea on the fiction list, just below Thomas Pynchon's Inherent Vice), then read the entire book review.

Interview with Troy native and author Richard Selzer

The Albany Times Union recently ran an interview with Troy, NY native and SUNY Press author Richard Selzer.

In his letters, Selzer refers to his native city as "my beloved Troy," and still considers himself a Trojan even though he has lived in New Haven, Conn., for 50 years. A retired surgeon and professor of surgery at Yale, the author published his first book of essays about medicine in 1973. Locally, he may be best-known for his 1992 memoir, "Down From Troy", in which he draws the city in luscious glory.

Selzer's two new books include the novel Knife Song Korea, which details a tumultuous year in the life of a young surgeon during the Korean War, and Letters to a Best Friend, a collection of correspondence between he and writer, actor, painter, and filmmaker Peter Josyph.

Spring into...Fall?

So we're finally enjoying some consistently mild and sunny spring weather in Albany, and that can only mean one thing here at the Press...time to start focusing on the upcoming fall '09 titles. Yup, we're working hard on the fall catalog, which should drop by the first week of May. After that, we'll be working on getting the deluxe, interactive online edition uploaded to our website for your viewing pleasure as well.

So think spring...but also keep an eye out for information on our books for the upcoming fall season, including Robert Moss's novel, The Firekeeper, Richard Selzer's "lost" novel, Knife Song Korea, and a book on that little concert they put together down in Woodstock all those years ago. We hear it was a big deal.