Women Afghan Poets Risking All, Marjorie Perloff on the State of Poetry, 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:

Appearing in the New York Times magazine this past weekend, author Eliza Griswold investigates why women in Afghanistan risk their lives in pursuit of poetry [2]. (Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting)

The civil lawsuit against Three Cups of Tea author Greg Mortenson that alleged he fabricated portions [3] of his bestselling book has been dismissed. (StarTribune)

With May Day Occupy Wall Street protests active [4]across New York City and elsewhere, the Atlantic looks at what Herman Melville's famous story, "Bartleby, the Scrivener: A Tale of Wall Street," can teach us.

And when Martians landed in Margaret Atwood's yard, she enlisted the help of another work by Melville to explain the concept of America [5]. (New York Times)

The Anderson family, which owns a majority stake in publicly-held Books-A-Million, has made a move to take the company private by offering to purchase all outstanding shares [6]. (Publishers Weekly)

With the popularity of e-books rising, the Millions examine the environmental cost [7].

The Guardian has spotted the trend of self-published authors gathering to form collectives under a single banner [8].

In case you missed Pulitzer-prize winning poet Tracy K. Smith [9] this past weekend, she spoke with Studio 360.

Meanwhile, on the most recent episode of the Business, Kim Masters spoke with producer Eli Roth and Hemlock Grove author Brian McGreevy [10] about adapting McGreevy's novel into an original series for Netflix.

Critic Marjorie Perloff looks at the state of contemporary poetry, and asks, "What happens to poetry when everybody is a poet? [11]" (Boston Review)

Novelist Thomas Beller was locked out of his Facebook account [12] (if, in fact, Mr. Beller is who he says he is). (New Yorker)