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:
Today is National Poem In Your Pocket Day. Visit the Academy of American Poets Web site to find ideas on how to celebrate as well as downloadable pocket-sized poems to print and share.
Scott Turow, author of Presumed Innocent and its forthcoming sequel, has been elected president of the Author's Guild, succeeding Roy Blount Jr. Judy Blume was elected vice president. (New York Times) And check out the new issue of Poets & Writers Magazine for a profile of Turow.
Award-winning author Tayari Jones canceled a speaking engagement at a writers conference in Arizona to protest the state's new anti-immigration law. Jones joined religious leaders, politicians, and activists in calling for an outright boycott of Arizona, likening the state's proof of citizenship requirement to "the antebellum mandate that black people produce 'free papers' proving themselves not to be slaves." (Guardian)
Salman Rushdie, Margaret Atwood, Walter Mosley, and more than five hundred other PEN luminaries gathered last night to honor Nay Phone Latt with the 2010 PEN/Goldsmith Freedom to Write Award. In his remarks, PEN American Center president Kwame Anthony Appiah spoke directly to the imprisoned Burmese blogger. “This voice from America is one of the voices of a global community of writers who know about you, care about you, who are thinking about you. So do not lose faith. We’re here for you, and we won’t forget you.” (Press Release)
Yann Martel's 2001 Booker Prize-winning Life of Pi may be adapted into a 3-D feature film by acclaimed director Ang Lee. (indieWIRE)
The literary magazine n+1 launched a cool new Web site to complement its print edition, "which remains the center of gravity for the n+1 project as a whole."
The second annual Chapbook Festival takes place at the Center for Humanities in New York City next week with a bookfair, workshops on producing chapbooks, and readings.
Macworld perused Apple's new iBook store from the perspective of an avid reader and found a key element missing: serendipity.
The New York Review of Books has a fascinating account from Charles Simic on his experience as poet laureate.
