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.
The Rumpus has inducted a new leadership team to replace former owner and editor in chief Marisa Siegel, who is staying on as an editor-at-large, but focusing on her new job as senior acquisitions editor for Northwestern University Press. Features editor Alysia Li Ying Sawchyn has been promoted to editor at chief, while Alyson Sinclair has joined the publication as owner and publisher. The Rumpus also recently debuted a new logo.
In a wide-ranging profile, D. T. Max of the New Yorker offers a window into Hanya Yanagihara’s life as an editor and novelist. The pair discuss everything from Yanagihara’s childhood to her latest novel, To Paradise. “I don’t know what this is about, really, but I feel that writer is not something that I am, it is something that I do. And it’s something that I do in private,” Yanagihara tells him.
Neil MacGregor, the historian and former director of both the National Gallery and British Museum, has been announced as the chair of the judging panel for this year’s Booker Prize. The four other judges joining MacGregor are Shahidha Bari, Helen Castor, M. John Harrison, and Alain Mabanckou. (Kirkus)
“I’m too much of a sybarite to restrict myself to classics. Instead, I’d opt for books that through their prose, ideas or storytelling, trigger in me a deep sense of contentment and well-being.” Critic Michael Dirda considers which books he’d take on an off-the-grid retreat. (Washington Post)
“By writing this book, I don’t think I captured the entire scope of the Latinx experience, but I do hope it is one a young queer kid can use as a guide.” Edgar Gomez shares their ambition for their debut memoir, High-Risk Homosexual. (Entertainment Weekly)
“No day was ever the same, and the unpredictability of how a shift panned out parallels the unpredictability of life.” Audrey Alunan reflects on learning to claim the designation of writer while working as a waiter. (Don’t Write Alone)
Little Free Library, the nonprofit behind more than 138,000 book-sharing boxes worldwide, has a new logo. (Publishers Weekly)
“Every reader has a story about their favorite store, be it a local institution or a cozy little place they stumbled into on holiday.” Kerri Maher recommends nine bookstores around the world. (Literary Hub)
