E-books Outsell Print on Christmas, Seattle Named Most Literate City, and More

by
Adrian Versteegh
12.29.09

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:

According to an Amazon press release, Kindle downloads beat out total print sales for the first time on Christmas Day (Mashable).

“Noughtyisms”: Word-collector Adam Jacot de Boinod has compiled a list of the decade’s best neologisms (Guardian).

In a potentially policy-changing reversal, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has agreed to fund interim public library services while rebuilding is underway in flood-ravaged Cedar Rapids, Iowa (Library Journal).

William Lucey III will take over as publisher of Rhode Island’s Newport Daily News when Albert Sherman Jr. retires this week (Associated Press).

Academics, editors, and lawyers are set to conduct a comprehensive review of Britain’s controversial libel laws (Guardian).

After closing more than two years ago, four libraries in Josephine County, Oregon, have been reopened—although at reduced hours—by a local nonprofit organization (Library Journal).

In the seventh annual study of its kind by Central Connecticut State University, Seattle has edged out Washington, D.C., Minneapolis, and Pittsburgh as the country’s most literate city (USA Today).

International literature blog Three Percent has released its 2009 translation statistics.