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:
Barnes & Noble founder and chairman Leonard Riggio bought a million shares of the company in preparation for a "likely proxy battle against financier Ron Burkle." (Publishers Weekly [2])
The Kurt Vonnegut Memorial Library is scheduled to open in downtown Indianapolis this fall. (Atlanta Journal-Constitution [3])
David James Duncan's 1983 novel, The River Why, has been adapted into a film [4].
Eighty-eight-year-old actress Betty White has signed a two-book deal with G. P. Putnam's Sons. (Star [5])
The new edition of the Oxford English Dictionary was published today. Here are a few of the approximately two thousand words and phrases making debuts: vuvuzela, geo-engineering, toxic debt, staycation, and cheeseball. (Guardian [6])
Speaking of linguistics, here's a peek at the new Insider Guide's Australian slang dictionary, featuring gems such as franger, hoon, and squizz. (Sydney Morning Herald [7])
In a roundup of poetry-themed apps for smartphones, the New York Times [8] proclaims that the devices "are arguably the best thing to hit poetry since the printing press."
This autumn, Durham University in the United Kingdom will be offering a course on all things Harry Potter. (Guardian [9])
The Poetry Foundation's Harriet Blog [10] and C-Ville News (here [11] and here [12]) have the latest information on the events surrounding the recent suicide of Kevin Morrissey, managing editor of Virginia Quarterly Review.