Every day Poets & Writers Magazine scans the headlines—from publishing reports to academic announcements to literary dispatches for all the news that creative writers need to know. Here are today's stories:
On this, the centennial International Women's Day, the Guardian ponders what has become of women of fortitude in adult literature. After all, there's no shortage of real-life heroines—today marks the release of Warrior Women: Three Thousand Years of Courage and Heroism, a volume exploring the embattled lives of women from Joan of Arc to the female snipers of the Red Army; the Guardian has a slideshow.
Meanwhile, Charlotte Brontë's perennial heroine Jane Eyre will take the screen once
more in a new film adaptation starring Mia Wasikowska, in theaters this Friday. (New York Times)
Before film illuminated the intricacies of what the Millions calls our "visual grammar," writers were playing with jump-cuts, juxtaposition, and other cinematic techniques.
Charlie Sheen reads from his 1990 poetry collection, which is, according to Carolyn Kellogg of Jacket Copy—no shocker here—not that good.
Activist Erin Brockovich has written what she calls a "cause novel" about a character similar to herself, hoping the story will inspire latent environmentalists. (CNN)
The Illinois city of Bolingbrook opened its "library of the future" yesterday, modernized with self-checkout, Wi-Fi, and an automated book sorter, among other features the institution hopes will appeal to teenagers and young professionals. (Chicago Tribune)
Libraries in the United Kingdom may get an overhaul too, with a push—from a Maryland-based firm—to turn the facilities into "multifunctional spaces" where book borrowing is offered alongside sold coffee and bookshops. (Independent)
While Lifehacker reminds readers to take care of their personal libraries, one staffer at the New Yorker's Book Bench offers a rundown of his book-preservation violations—giving an unwieldy spine "a good, hard crack," anyone?
