The Brooklyn-based not-for-profit literary press, Archipelago Books, has been awarded this year's Miriam Bass prize. The honor, awarded by the AAP, is for "creativity in independent publishing." Archipelago will receive the award at a ceremony at BookExpo on May 29 in Los.Angeles, during the AAP Smaller and Independent Publishers Annual Meeting. Co-sponsored by Rowman & Littlefield and NBN, the award carries with it a $5,000 cash prize.

The literary press, chosen by a committee of people working in the industry, was selected for its commitment to publishing quality literature such as Elias Khoury's Gate of the Sun (names a New York Times Notbale Book of 2006). The press also published two finalists for the 2006 and 2007 NBCC's in the Poetry category.

Speaking to the selection of Archipelago, Jed Lyons, president of Rowman & Littlefield and CEO of NBN, said the press joins the ranks of past winners, like Soft Skull Press and Akashic Books, that "share the common bond of literary excellence and creativity."

The AAP has also released the speaker roster for this year's annual small and independent annual meeting. The opening keynote, entitled How to Successfully Navigate the Life-Cycles of an Independent Publishing House, will feature Morgan Entrekin of Grove, George Gibson of Walker, and Counterpoint's Charlie Winton. A second panel, Meet the Distributors, will include Julie Schaper of Consortium, NBN's Neil Levin, Marc Suchomel of IPG, Janet McDonald of Ingram and Susan Reich of PGW. Other sessions will include Successful Startups; Succesful Growth; Marketing When You Don't Have a Budget; Print on Demand; and Going Green. The full program, which is $195 for AAP members and includes a complimentary pass to BEA is at www.publishers.org.