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:
Authors are joining Macmillan's fight with Amazon by removing links to the online retailer from their Web sites and calling on readers to boycott the company, the Guardian [2] reported, while Macmillan titles removed from Amazon's site are current bestsellers on the sites of Barnes & Noble and Borders, according to TechCrunch [3]. Macmillan received an "amazing standing ovation" at an American Booksellers Assocation meeting for its efforts against the Web giant's e-book pricing policies. (Bookseller [4])
Brooklyn, New York, appointed a new poet laureate yesterday. (Broadway World [5])
Borders' largest shareholder said Tuesday that the bookstore chain may ultimately merge with Barnes & Noble. (Publishers Weekly [6])
Amazon acquired a start-up company that specializes in touch-screen technology, indicating that it may have plans to upgrade the Kindle device to compete head-on with Apple's iPad. (New York Times [7])
Midwives in the U.K. are using poetry to help women in labor. (News Wales [8])
A British writer is combining quantum mechanics and sheep to create random poems. (BBC [9])
The Bookseller's annual prize for the oddest book title of the year has seen a record number of submissions. (Independent [10])
The Sunday Times Oxford Literary Festival [11], boasting an all-star line-up and eight days of readings, lectures, and debates, kicks off next month at Christ Church college, which, remarkably, has educated thirteen of England's prime ministers.