#romanceclass2025, Filipino nominees for the Hans Christian Andersen award and the Silent Book Contest, and a new Virginia Woolf book in this week’s edition.
RomaneClass2025 applications
I thought I included this in last week’s post but turns out I didn’t! Anyway, if you’re interested in taking part in RomanceClass, a 2025 class has just been opened, with applications open until April 20. The class starts on May 2. Check out the Instagram post above for some of the requirements!
US copyright lawsuits against OpenAI combined
The Guardian reports that cases against OpenAI filed by authors like Ta-Nehisi Coates and Michael Chabon in California will now be consolidated with a separate lawsuit filed in New York by authors like Jonathan Franzen, Jodi Picoult, and the New York Times.
I won’t even pretend to have knowledge about the intricacies of the case so I’d rather you guys check out the article in The Guardian. I do know that OpenAI wanted this consolidation to happen so I am a little apprehensive about this decision. If the AI company is happy, we probably won’t be.
Filipino Hans Christian Andersen medal nominees
Illustrator Beth Parrocha and author Eugene Evasco has been nominated in the illustrator and author categories of the Hans Christian Andersen awards, with Parrocha posting about it on her Facebook account.
The Hans Christian Andersen awards was first established in 1956 and recognizes one author and one illustrator for their “lasting contribution to children’s literature”.
Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award winner
Speaking of awards, the Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award recently named French author Marion Brunet its 2025 recipient at the Bologna Children’s Book Fair, according to Publishers Weekly.
Jury chair Boel Westin described Marion Brunet as “a brilliant describer of young people’s lives in an increasingly materialistic and threatening world.” Westin also said that Brunet’s work “cuts to the heart of our time.”
The Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award started in 2002 by the Swedish government to “promote every child’s right to great stories.” Astrid Lindgren was the author of the Pippi Longstocking books and was herself a recipient of the Hans Christian Andersen award.
Pinoy finalists at the Silent Book Contest at the Bologna Children’s Book Fair
Even more award news from the Bologna Children’s Book Fair: two Filipinos are finalists for the Silent Book Contest (SBC) – Gianni De Conno Award XII Edition. The two finalists are Bealuz Villavicencio and Dandin Espina for the books Pancia della balena and Rocky Boy’s Sunday, respectively.
The Silent Book Contest was started in 2018 by Italian illustrator Gianni De Conno to recognize an “original illustrated and unpublished book project that has been created and produced exclusively through narration by illustrated images.” The winner will receive €4,000 or P251,400 based on current exchange rates as advance for copyright with publishing agreement.
Princeton University Press to publish Virginia Woolf’s early stories
Friends of mine from college know that I devoured Virginia Woolf and that I would make frequent trips to the Fully Booked in BGC because it was the only store that sold the Penguin Popular Classics editions whose covers I liked. And now it looks like there is going to be a new Virginia Woolf book coming out!
The Princeton University Press is publishing The Life of Violet: Three Early Stories by Virginia Woolf. On its website, the Princeton University Press called the book a blend of “fantasy, fairy tale, and satire” that “transports readers into a magical world”.
The publisher also explained that the three interconnected stories in the book are part of a draft that Virginia wrote back in 1907 when she was just 25 years old. However, Woolf scholar Urmila Seshagiri discovered a final, revised typescript of the stories in 2022 and that typescript is the one that will be coming out on October 7 this year.
Ron Does Stuff 
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