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:
“Nobody’s going to say that today in Pakistan, sixteen million mothers kissed their kids goodnight, five million musicians practiced their musical instruments, and 833,000 people fell in love for the first time. They’re going to say that today in Pakistan somebody killed five other people with a bomb.” Exit West author Mohsin Hamid talks about optimism versus pessimism, writing about first love, and the universality of the refugee and migrant experience. (Nation)
The Midwestern book chain Book World Inc. is closing all forty-five of its outlets and laying off more than three hundred booksellers by January 15. The Appleton, Wisconsin–based company is closing due to poor sales in the past year, and executives cited the rise of e-commerce as contributing to their decision. (Publishers Weekly)
A study shows that reviews for film trilogies tend to go down with each installment, while the reviews for book trilogies tend to go up with each new book. (Guardian)
Hilde Lysiak, the ten-year-old reporter from Selinsgrove, Pennsylvania, who made headlines in April 2016 when she reported on a local homicide, is now the subject of a series of children’s books, Hilde Cracks the Case, published by Scholastic. (New York Times)
UNESCO has designated Seattle a City of Literature, making it the second city in America (after Iowa City) to receive the designation. (Seattle Times)
Poet Maggie Smith talks with the Rumpus about having her poem “Good Bones” go viral, writing about motherhood and postpartum depression, and putting together an optimistic book.
Before there were shelfies, there were chaekgori, eighteenth-century Korean paintings of bookshelves holding books and other possessions. The paintings were meant to display the shelf-owner’s intellect and social class. (Hyperallergic)
Largehearted Boy recommends literary websites to read in 2017, including ROAR, Little Atoms, and Extra Crispy.