Roxane Gay on a Better Literary Conversation, Cheryl Strayed’s Long-Lost Half-Sister, and More

by
Evan Smith Rakoff
9.10.13

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:

For the next two weeks, Roxane Gay will guest blog for the Nation—yesterday’s post highlights the slight amount of book review coverage slated to writers of color, and also discusses Jesmyn Ward’s memoir Men We Reaped. (Jesmyn Ward is profiled in the September/October issue of Poets & Writers Magazine.)

Bestselling author Jennifer Weiner discusses her efforts to encourage the New York Times to increase its coverage of commercial fiction. (Salon)

The United States government has granted $150,000 to help maintain the Harriet Beecher Stowe Center in Connecticut. (Big Story)

As part of its American Icons series, the most recent episode of Studio 360 featured Richard Wright’s powerful novel Native Son.

And on Weekend Edition, author Cheryl Strayed revealed how her bestselling memoir Wild introduced her to a half-sister—who made the discovery after checking out Strayed’s book from a library.

Open Culture rounded up seven short stories listed as favorites by famed author Jorge Luis Borges—freely available online.

Taking part in the Hogarth Shakespeare project, Margaret Atwood will write a prose version of Shakespeare’s The Tempest, and Howard Jacobson will tackle The Merchant of Venice. (Telegraph)

Harper Lee has settled with her former agent Samuel Pinkus over the rights to To Kill a Mockingbird. (New York Daily News)