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:
Guadeloupean writer Maryse Condé has won the New Academy Prize in Literature. More than a hundred Swedish cultural figures launched the award as an alternative to the Nobel Prize in Literature, which was cancelled this year due to a sexual harassment scandal. (Reuters)
“I’m a realistic person, a practical person, but when I write fiction I go to weird, secret places in myself. What I am doing is an exploration of myself—inside myself…. You go to a different place, where it’s very dangerous and scary, and it’s important to know the way back.” Haruki Murakami talks with the New York Times about his new novel, Killing Commendatore.
“To begin, give yourself permission to write a bad book.” Barbara Kingsolver offers five writing tips. (Publishers Weekly)
Read more about Kingsolver’s new book, Unsheltered, in her conversation with Richard Powers, featured in the Nov/Dec issue of Poets & Writers Magazine.
Writer Stephen Elliott has filed a lawsuit against Moira Donegan, the creator of the “Shitty Media Men” list, claiming that the list’s allegations against him are false. He is asking for $1.5 million in damages. (Jezebel)
Margaret Atwood writes in praise of Neil Gaiman and book The Graveyard Book. (GuardianI)
Translator Anna Deeny Morales talks about the importance of translating women, translation as a form of empathy, and the relationship between music and poetry. (NEA Art Works Blog)
The writers of the TV shows The Deuce, Maniac, and Westworld describe how they went from being novelists to TV writers. (Vanity Fair)
Beowulf Sheehan talks about photographing famous writers and his new book, AUTHOR, which features photographs of two hundred writers, journalists, playwrights, poets, and historians. (Paris Review Daily)
