World's Oddest Book Title Winner, Obama Goes Book Shopping, 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:

Crocheting Adventures with Hyperbolic Planes beat out Collectible Spoons of the Third Reich for this year's world's oddest book title prize. (Guardian [2])

President Obama made a suprise visit to Prairie Lights bookstore in Iowa City yesterday, perusing the nonfiction section and chatting up customers before making a few purchases. One keen participant remarked, "It's not everyday a president stops by." (New York Times [3]) Watch the video on YouTube [4].

After meetings between parents and district officials, a controversial book of poems will not be banned from the libraries of the North Fond du Lac School District after a parent complained over the subject matter and language in the book. (Fond du Lac Reporter [5])

Geoffrey Hill was announced as the first major candidate for the Oxford poetry chair, a choice that was immediately met with controversy. (Independent [6]) 

PC World [7] is reporting that Apple's iBooks pricing may match Amazon's after all.

Former British poet laureate Andrew Motion revealed plans to write a sequel to Treasure Island. (Guardian [8]) 

The shortlist for the Lost Man Booker Prize has been announced. (Yahoo [9])

Vanity Fair [10] created an "interactive field guide" to illustrate how ten young authors furthered their own hopes of literary stardom by "carving out a place in the tangled, incestuous web of the publishing world."  

A New York Times [11] cartoonist sent up the recent literary monster mash-up craze.