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.
Reagan Arthur has been appointed vice president and publisher of Alfred A. Knopf, Pantheon, and Schocken. She joins Knopf after nearly twenty years at Little, Brown, most recently as senior vice president and publisher. Arthur will be the fourth person to oversee Knopf, succeeding Sonny Mehta, who died in December last year at age seventy-seven. Penguin Random House CEO Madeline McIntosh notes Mehta identified Arthur as his first choice for the role. And in more news for the company, Maya Mavjee has been hired as president and publisher for the broader Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group. She is returning to Penguin Random House after less than one year serving as president of publishing strategy at Macmillan. (Publishers Weekly)
The National Book Foundation (NBF) has announced a lineup of nineteen events in thirteen states for the Spring 2020 season of NBF Presents, a series dedicated to bringing National Book Award-honored authors to communities around the country.
Allison Wallis writes about the challenge of finding accessible writing retreats as a writer with a disability. Checking in with her peers, she brainstorms and outlines accessibility reforms to put into action. “My hope is that this essay can encourage much-needed dialogue between disabled writers and writing retreats.” (Electric Literature)
In a press release, Poetry Northwest announced Keetje Kuipers has been promoted to editor after three years as senior editor of the magazine. She takes the baton from coeditors Aaron Barrell and Erin Malone. Malone has resigned to pursue other writing projects, while Barrell will stay at the magazine as managing editor.
Riverhead Books is launching a new podcast. In Marlon and Jake Read Dead People, Marlon James and his editor, Jake Morrissey, will discuss the work of various dead authors: Charles Dickens, Jackie Collins, Roderick Thorp, and many more. (New York Times)
“Writing a book about minimalism opens you up to a lot of easy jokes.” Kyle Chayka muses on the challenge of writing about minimalist art. How does one put down words and observations on the page without shattering “the delicate emptiness” one seeks to describe? (Paris Review Daily)
Liz Moore talks to the Guardian about her recent novel, Long Bright River, and the shifting landscape of addiction narratives in America.
Isabella Hammad answers the Book Marks Questionnaire. Her favorite book to give as a gift: The Kingdom by Emmanuel Carrère.
