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.
“In a formidable and awe-inspiring body of work, which includes fiction, memoir, and poetry, Cisneros brings us astounding and lyrical voices from burning, maligned, devastated, as well as reassembled houses, and nations.” PEN America and the Vladimir Nabokov Literary Foundation have named Sandra Cisneros winner of the PEN/Nabokov Award for Achievement in International Literature. (Los Angeles Times)
At the New Yorker, Ian Parker investigates the trail of deceptions behind the meteoric rise of suspense author Dan Mallory, otherwise known as A. J. Finn. “I knew I’d get this call,” said one interviewee, a senior editor at a New York publishing company. “I didn’t know if it would be you or the F.B.I.”
The New York Times previews major international titles coming out this year, including A Cry in the Snow, a poetry collection by Romanian writer Stella Vinitchi Radulescu; and Muslim, a novel by French author Zahia Rahmani.
“You have invited this author to witness this conversation. This author cannot break the bounds of decorum and participate in it, so we’re supposed to pretend we can’t see it, basically.” Novelist Rebecca Makkai joins Lauren Groff and Carmen Maria Machado in begging readers to observe Twitter etiquette: Don’t tag authors in bad reviews. (Slate)
The town of Wellesley, Massachusetts, has rescinded a signage violation issued to resident Dan Chiasson. The poet and New Yorker contributor will be permitted to keep the twelve foot “Impeach Trump” banner above his home. (Boston Globe)
The British Library has digitized its “Private Case” collection of sexually explicit books. The “obscene titles,” which date back to 1658, are now available online as part of the academic resource Gale’s Archives of Sexuality and Gender. (Guardian)
Barnes & Noble has announced that fantasy writer Christopher Paolini will be the first author hosted in its new residency program. The ten-month program includes a book tour and appearances at eleven Barnes & Noble stores. (Publishers Weekly)
At Atlas Obscura, Wikitongues cofounder Daniel Bogre Udell shares samples of the more than four hundred languages the nonprofit project has documented in the last five years, such as Lemerig (a language with only two remaining speakers), and Texas German.