Poet Lucille Clifton Dies, Google Prepares to Make Concessions to Publishers, and More

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:

Lucille Clifton, the enduringly popular and award-winning poet, died Saturday at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Maryland at the age of seventy-three after a long battle with cancer. (Baltimore Sun)  

Following the recent iPad unveiling and Amazon-Macmillan e-book pricing dispute, reports indicate that Google may be prepared to make major concessions to book publishers on e-book sales percentages, according to the Times. Library Journal offers an excellent breakdown of the lastest developments in the Google Book Search Settlement proceedings. 

National Public Radio's second annual Three Minute Fiction contest launched this weekend.

Faber & Faber is one publishing house excited to embrace the digital revolution in book publishing. (Sydney Morning Herald)

Apple's iBook store titles are expected to come with "digital handcuffs," the same anti-piracy software that the music industry fought to have removed from iTunes merchandise last year. (Los Angeles Times)

The twentieth annual Abu Dhabi International Book Fair kicks off the first week in March in the United Arab Emirates.

British consumers are not particularly interested in the iPad, according to a recent survey. (Bookseller)

The city of Saint Paul launched the third annual sidewalk poetry contest this past weekend. (New York Times)

Two recent films have spotlighted the otherwise secretive and obscure profession of ghostwriting. (Telegraph)