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:
The British government has abolished the Public Lending Right, an administrative body that oversaw payments to authors "each time their books are borrowed from public libraries"—wait, British authors get royalties from library borrowing?—but the actual author payments are unaffected and their administration will be transferred to another government entity. (Guardian)
The book that won the Man Booker Prize this week was not entered into the competition by its publisher; it was requested by the judges themselves. (Telegraph)
Indonesia has struck down a book-banning law that for four decades allowed the attorney general's office to "unilaterally prohibit publication or distribution of books deemed 'offensive' or a 'threat to public order.'" (Washington Post)
The National Book Award short list has been announced and there's already some controversy over a much-ballyhooed tome not nominated in the fiction category. (Salon)
Tune in to The Novel: Live to see a live stream of thirty-six authors attempting to complete a novel in six days "under the watchful eyes of Fairy God-author Nancy Pearl" at Richard Hugo House in Seattle. The Live Author Cam will air from 10:00 AM to 10:00 PM (PST) through Saturday.
An Australian charity found a rare first edition of George Orwell's 1984 at the bottom of a donation bin that could "fetch several thousand dollars at auction over the weekend." (Telegraph)
James Franco has been buying up the film rights to various memoirs and literary works. Meanwhile his debut short story collection is due out October 19. (Jacket Copy)
Can we create a National Digital Library? (New York Review of Books)
