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:
Publishers are threatening to prevent libraries in the U.K. from accessing e-books after readers in other countries started signing up for library accounts and virtually borrowing titles from as far away as China. (Guardian)
The Writers' Union of Canada has backed author Rohinton Mistry, who saw his novel Such a Long Journey banned by University of Mumbai after protests from an extremist group, calling it "unacceptable" that the widely taught book has been removed and appealing for the decision to be overturned. (Winnipeg Free Press)
Jonathan Franzen met the president at the White House on Monday, calling the visit "delightful." (ABC News)
The state of Texas has served Amazon with a bill for $269 million in uncollected sales tax, but the online retail giant plans to dispute it. (Publishers Weekly) Meanwhile in North Carolina, Amazon just won a federal case against that state over a request "to turn over detailed records on nearly 50 million purchases to North Carolina tax collectors." (CNET)
Will Barnes & Noble be unveiling a full-color Nook at a press conference later today? The Tech Herald thinks so.
Two books by Sherman Alexie—one novel for teens, one collection of stories and poems for adults—have been chosen for the 2011 One Book, One Philadelphia project. (Philadelphia Inquirer)
Film director Wes Anderson wrote fiction as an undergrad at the University of Texas at Austin, and his alma mater's literary journal just reproduced one of those stories—with a very Rushmorian vibe—for your reading pleasure. (Analecta)
What is the Internet doing to our brains, and more specifically to our ability to read deeply and to write? (Millions)
