News and Commentary

Perspectives, project news, and editorial commentary from the Layman Publishing Partners team.

From the Editorial Desk

Matthew J. Bruccoli and Richard Layman together

Company NewsAugust 21, 2026

Richard Layman’s Tribute to Company Founder Matthew J. Bruccoli

Matthew J. Bruccoli would have been 95 today had he lived, and I miss him. I first entered Bruccoli’s world in the corner offices on the fourth floor…

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Industry RecognitionAugust 12, 2026

Richard Layman Honored with Prestigious Governor’s Award from South Carolina Humanities

Layman Publishing Partners president Richard Layman was announced as a recipient of the Governor’s Award in the Humanities at a press conference hosted by South Carolina Humanities on…

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Cover of Flaubert’s Parrot by Julian Barnes

Editorial CommentaryAugust 5, 2026

Julian Barnes and the Personal Value of Literature

Following the donation of his Julian Barnes collection to the University of South Carolina, Layman Publishing Partners President Richard Layman reflects on what Barnes and his work mean to him.

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Manuscript page with writing in Cyrillic and a drawing

Project UpdatesMay 22, 2026

Writing during Wartime: Ukrainian and Belarusian Writers in the DLB

Layman Publishing Partners is proud to announce the publication of the latest installment of the award-winning Dictionary of Literary Biography (DLB) series, now part of the Gale Literature Resource Center. The content, which is the…

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An overhead view of the reading room of the Library of Congress

Editorial CommentaryFebruary 17, 2026

Richard Layman at the Library of Congress

Twenty-one years ago, Richard Layman spoke at the Library of Congress to commemorate the 75th anniversary of the publication of Dashiell Hammett’s novel The Maltese Falcon, which first appeared on Valentine’s Day 1930. As he…

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Annual Catalog Publishing Project - Wristwatch Catalog

Project UpdatesMay 1, 2025

Project Spotlight: Wristwatch Annual

Editor Marton Radkai shares his experience working with Layman Publishing Partners.

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Industry NewsApril 18, 2025

Get Your Tickets!

Prepare yourselves for Thomas Pynchon’s new novel, Shadow Ticket, and P. T. Anderson’s adaptation of Vineland by consulting related entries in our literary criticism series.

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Company NewsApril 15, 2025

South Carolina Academy of Authors

Layman Publishing Partners co-sponsored the 2025 Mims-Talmadge Literary Advocacy Award ceremony, recognizing Linda Ketron’s contributions to South Carolina’s literary arts.

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portrait of robert burns featured in documentary series

Project UpdatesMarch 19, 2025

Praise for Robert Burns: A Documentary Volume

Sample the kudos for Patrick Scott’s Robert Burns: A Documentary Volume in the Dictionary of Literary Biography series, featuring rare manuscripts and historical documents.

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Project UpdatesMarch 1, 2022

American Decades: 2010-2019

A description of the latest volume in this comprehensive award-winning reference encyclopedia covering cultural, political, and social developments of the 2010s for Gale’s American Decades series.

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Editorial CommentaryJuly 21, 2021

Destination: Moon

An observation on the prescience of Robert A. Heinlein’s science fiction, specifically the parallels between “Requiem” and The Man Who Sold the Moon, and today’s billionaires’ space race.

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