Italian author wins Spanish prize

Madrid, Spain — Italy’s Claudio Magris, a multifaceted writer who has focused on central and eastern European themes, has been awarded Spain’s Prince of Asturias Prize for Letters.

In a statement Friday, the jury praised the 65-year-old Magris, saying “his writing embodies the best humanist tradition and represents the cosmopolitan image of European literature at the beginning of the 21st century.”

Magris’ books include “The Hapsburg Myth in Modern Austrian Literature,” “Inferences on a Sabre,” “Microcosms” and “Danube.”

Hilton coming to ‘Late Show’

New York — Paris Hilton will make her long-awaited first appearance on the “Late Show with David Letterman” on Monday, CBS announced.

Hilton was to have been a guest on Nov. 26, but scrapped all planned media appearances promoting her Fox TV series, “The Simple Life.”

At the time, Hilton’s spokesman said no slight to Letterman was intended. He added that she wanted to keep a lower profile because of the attention she’d received from her ubiquitous Internet sex video.

Costner revels in baseball glory

West Hollywood, Calif. — Actor Kevin Costner says he would be glad to make another baseball movie.

He also believes that disgraced Chicago White Sox star Shoeless Joe Jackson should be in the Baseball Hall of Fame.

Costner was on hand Wednesday at the DVD release party for the 15th- anniversary edition of “Field of Dreams.” Universal Studios dressed a West Hollywood baseball field with cornstalks and bleachers and projected the film on an outdoor screen for a crowd that included Costner’s co-stars Amy Madigan and Timothy Busfield.

Jackson was banned from baseball for life after his team was found to have thrown the 1919 World Series. Jackson knew about the scheme, but said he refused the money and actually played some of the best games of his career during the series.