Narrative Magazine Coins a New Genre, Another Chinese Writer Banned From Travel, and More

by Staff
4.21.10

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:

For the second time in recent weeks, a Chinese author and PEN member was prevented by the Chinese government from attending an international conference in Europe. (Press Release)

Book publishers will be turning to BookExpo America and the Frankfurt Book Fair to hold meetings with industry colleagues who couldn't attend the London Book Fair because of the giant ash cloud. (Bookseller)

The New Yorker ran a piece exploring the potential impact of the iPad on the book publishing industry. In somewhat related news, a guy in Colorado lost a finger in an iPad mugging. (AWL)

Narrative Magazine has embraced the digital revolution by coining a new genre—the iStory, a short dramatic narrative up to 150 words, fiction or nonfiction—and developing an iPhone app that will allow readers to access "the magazine's complete contents for free at the touch of a button."   

A new musical featuring the poetry of Langston Hughes put to song is now running at Urban Stages in New York City. (New York Times)

A City Lights bookstore employee, hired sight-unseen by Lawrence Ferlinghetti in 1970, celebrated forty years of working at the legendary bookshop. (San Francisco Chronicle)

John Adams had a library with more than three thousand volumes and Thomas Jefferson's massive collection became "the backbone of the Library of Congress." The Washington Post takes a look at the role books have played in shaping presidential policy, including Barack Obama's. 

Check this out: In 2006, the Toronto Star made the rounds of the city's coffee shops interviewing aspiring writers about their works-in-progress. Four years later, the group has five books and a Governor General's literary award, one of Canada's most prestigious prizes, to show for their labors.