Egan Named PEN America President, Alexie Responds to Sexual Harassment Accusations, and More

by
Staff
3.1.18

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:

Writer Sherman Alexie has written a response to the anonymous accusations that he sexually harassed women, which recently surfaced on social media and in the comments to a School Library Journal blog post about sexual harassment in the children’s literature industry. (Seattle Times)

Novelist Jennifer Egan has been named president of PEN America, succeeding writer Andrew Solomon in the role. PEN America also announced the completion of its consolidation with the California-based PEN Center USA.

Raymond Danowski, the man who collected more than 75,000 volumes of poetry, died in February at age seventy-four. In 2004 Danowski donated the collection, believed to be the largest private library of twentieth-century poetry in English, to Emory University. (New York Times)

In honor of World Book Day in the United Kingdom, the Guardian rounds up five libraries around the world that have stayed open despite the odds, including the Kabul Public Library in Afghanistan and the Roseau Public Library in Dominica.

“No writing is a waste of time. You can always write better, and any writing you do is going to teach you how to write. You just have to dive in. You have to be unafraid. The language is ours. What a great freedom.” Claire Messud, along with writers Paul Yoon, Laura van den Berg, and Jamaica Kincaid, offer writing advice. (Harvard Crimson)

Hachette Audio has announced a series of vinyl audiobooks, including its first record, David Foster Wallace’s This Is Water, which was released earlier this week.

After working on Marvel’s Black Panther series, Ta-Nehisi Coates announced he will take on writing another beloved Marvel comic: Captain America. (Atlantic)

Atlas Obscura looks at the history of the Exeter Book, which despite being a tenth-century Old English manuscript containing some of the world’s earliest English poetry, has been used as a coaster and a cutting board.