Every day Poets & Writers Magazine scans the headlines—publishing reports, literary dispatches, academic announcements, and more—for all the news that creative writers need to know. Here are today’s stories.
“When you live in a city like New York, a book can be even more than a story at your fingertips. It can also be a respite, an escape, a sanctuary, a diversion, and a travel companion.” Anika Burgess shares photos from the archives of the New York Times that capture varied scenes of New Yorkers reading throughout the twentieth century.
A new eighteen-month traineeship program devised by Penguin Random House U.K., dubbed the Next Editors Programme, seeks to enable more people of color to secure commissioning editor positions. Four trainees will be brought on at Ebury, Penguin Press, Penguin Random House Children’s, and Transworld, where they will receive training, mentorship, and hands-on work experience. Candidates who are “Black, Asian, or from minority ethnic backgrounds” with at least three years of work experience, regardless of industry, may apply. (Bookseller)
At the end of the year Knopf will bid farewell to Paul Bogaards—the imprint’s executive vice president, publishing and marketing, and deputy publisher—who is retiring. In Bogaards’s absence, Todd Doughty has been tapped to lead a newly centralized publicity group that will bring together the teams dedicated to Doubleday, Knopf, and Pantheon-Schocken. (Shelf Awareness)
Elias Rodriques finds insight on “the slipperiness of identity” in Nella Larsen’s Passing and in Rebecca Hall’s recent film adaptation of the novel. “Is Thompson’s character passing at this moment or not? This is the kind of uncertainty that Hall’s film is steeped in.” (Nation)
“I like a sentence that takes you into it, and then won’t let you out.” Rachel Yoder, the author of Nightbitch, describes writing as a musical and spiritual act. (Creative Independent)
Jane Wong reflects on connecting with her family and family history through the writing of her latest poetry collection, How to Not Be Afraid of Everything. “I want to honor them through deep listening and the only way I know how to do that is through poetry.” (BOMB)
Book Riot has compiled a short introduction to the history and breadth of poet laureate positions in the United States.