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 National Book Critics Circle Awards were announced last night, and all six of the winners are women. Joan Silber won in fiction for her novel Improvement, Xiaolu Guo won in memoir for Nine Continents: A Memoir In and Out of China, and Layli Long Soldier won in poetry for her collection, WHEREAS. (G&A: The Contest Blog)
Read more about Soldier in Poets & Writers Magazine’s fourteenth annual look at debut poets, “The Whole Self” by Dana Isokawa.
In other award news, the National Book Foundation has opened submissions for its 2018 prizes and announced the judges. (Publishers Weekly)
“After much talk with my communities and kin I have come to the conclusion that I must withdraw my name and stories from this wonderful nomination because it is not my space to occupy—occupation being a story I know all too well…. I dream of the day when award cultures, especially settler queer award institutions, etch out space for 2SQ capacities and oratories.” 2SQ (Two-Spirit, queer Indigenous) poet Joshua Whitehead has withdrawn his nomination for a Lambda Literary Award in trans poetry. (TIA House)
Art dealer Sean Kelly has donated his collection of James Joyce material to the Morgan Library. The collection includes four first editions of Ulysses, a rare recording of Joyce reading his work, and hundreds of other items and documents. (ArtNews)
Jonathan Cape, an imprint of Penguin Random House UK, will publish Kristen Roupenian’s New Yorker story and viral sensation, “Cat Person,” as a standalone paperback in May. Jonathan Cape will also publish Roupenian’s debut story collection, You Know You Want This, in February 2019. (Bookseller)
Eileen Myles talks with Guernica about their fascination with etymology, the death of their mother, and writing their latest memoir, Afterglow: A Dog Memoir.
Tayari Jones, Meg Wolitzer, Leni Zumas, and eight other women writers share the books they read when they’re angry. (Shondaland)
“I know my writing is working if I feel like I’m on a tightrope—I will either pull it off or fall off and it could go either way.” Novelist Katherine Faw talks about her writing process. (Creative Independent)
