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:
Poet Elizabeth Alexander has been elected to the Pulitzer Prize board, which selects the winners of the annual prizes in the categories of journalism, literature, drama, and music. Alexander is the author of six books of poetry and a memoir, The Light of the World, which was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize this year. (ABC News)
A new translation of the King James Bible aims to bring the millennial set to the gospel. Released on Sunday via a new app, Bible Emoji: Scripture 4 Millennials contains all sixty-six books of the King James Bible translated with Emojis and Internet slang. The app’s creator (no pun intended) remains anonymous. (RT)
Salman Rushdie believes children should be taught the “lost art” of memorizing poetry. He may be on to something: Several studies have shown the life-enhancing benefits of learning poems by heart. (Guardian)
At the New Yorker, fiction writer Zadie Smith discusses her short story “Two Men Arrive in a Village,” which appears in the magazine’s Summer Fiction Issue. Smith’s fifth novel, Swing Time, will be published this fall.
The Broadway adaptation of Bret Easton Ellis’s novel American Psycho is set to close this weekend, barely a month after it opened. The adaptation received mixed reviews and failed to gain box office traction. (New York Times)
Fiction writer Amber Sparks considers the stereotypes of the short story form, and why short story writers are often pressured to write novels in order to receive accolades and acclaim. (Electric Literature)
“I have an obsession, I suppose, with trying to get the language right.” National Book Award–winning author Louise Erdrich discusses her fifteenth novel, LaRose, out now from HarperCollins. (Rumpus)
