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:
The Lannan Foundation has announced the recipients of its 2017 awards and fellowships, given to writers who “demonstrate potential for continued outstanding work.” The recipients include poets Shane McCrae and Mai Der Vang and fiction writer Roy Scranton.
“Who are the people that challenge you? That push you to be better: better artist, better parent, better friend, better human being on this planet. Hang on to them. Make stuff with them; a magazine or a movie or a band.” Essayist Megan Stielstra talks about finding your writing community, the value of the personal essay, and her latest collection, The Wrong Way to Save Your Life. (Rumpus)
“When Roxane sees you, it is recognition from someone who helps you see yourself.” Harper’s Bazaar profiles Roxane Gay.
Jane Friedman offers tips for making an author website: why you should have one, what platform to use, and what information to include.
Victor LaValle on the robocaller, Ottessa Moshfegh on Googling images of dead people, Junot Díaz on watching television in Santo Domingo: At the New Yorker, writers weigh in on modern technology.
Writer Jacques Pauw is facing criminal charges from South Africa’s state security agency for his book, The President’s Keepers, which exposes the “darkest secret at the heart of Jacob Zuma’s compromised government.” (Guardian)
Poet Tommy Pico talks about resisting categorization, why he went from being a pre-med student to a poet, and writing book-length poems. (High Country News)
Open Culture asks: Why did Leonardo da Vinci write backwards? Walter Isaacson’s biography of the famous Renaissance man will come out later this week.
