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:
A coalition of leading international writers, journalists, and publishers are pressing the government of Iran to release at least sixty writers currently imprisoned in the country for "holding a mirror to the actions of the Iranian government." (Press Release)
In a related development, Goodreads, a book review and social networking site that boasts over one hundred thousand Iranian members, was blocked last week by Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's regime.
The Indian government issued an order for all radio stations in the country to organize on-air poetry readings. (Hindu)
A seventeen-year-old German author is still in the running for a major prize in the country despite overt plagiarism in her debut novel, setting off a heated debate over whether "mixing and matching," a central conceit in the book, is a legitimate form because "there's no such thing as originality anyway, just authenticity." (New York Times)
Three years after a similar "massive rent hike" nearly sent the bookstore into foreclosure, England's only gay bookshop faces major financial trouble again after the Camden Council imposed a 25 percent rent increase on the Marchmont Street retailer. (Camden New Journal)
Simon & Schuster Digital launched a useful new Web site with a range of resources and information for agents, booksellers, media, and other industry professionals.
In what will hopefully be the first of many missives to surface in the wake of the author's death, eleven surprising, revealing letters from J. D. Salinger to the book jacket artist for Catcher in the Rye are now available to the public at Morgan Library and Museum in New York City. (New York Times)
The oldest privately owned Encyclopedia Britannica in Britain, an eighteen-volume set from 1797, was recently discovered and contains many fascinating entries such as the distinction between a "fool" and a "madman." (Telegraph)
The author of the original Sweet Valley High, the best-selling franchise launched in 1983, announced she is writing a sequel that will follow the original cast of characters, including blond twins Elizabeth and Jessica, into their thirties. (Guardian)
