Why Zadie Smith Isn’t on Social Media, Lillian Ross Has Died, and More

by
Staff
9.21.17

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:

Lillian Ross, one of the “legends of journalism,” has died at age ninety-nine. Ross was a pioneer of literary journalism and wrote more than five hundred pieces for the New Yorker including profiles of cultural figures such as Ernest Hemingway, Clint Eastwood, and Lin-Manuel Miranda. (New Yorker)

“I do think you should be able to retain the right to be wrong. I’m wrong almost all the time. It’s OK to be wrong. It really is OK, you just have to sit in the feeling and deal with it.” At an event in New York City earlier this week, Zadie Smith talked about avoiding social media to protect her right to think freely without fear of immediate backlash. (Huffington Post)

Hurricane Irma has mostly destroyed Shel Silverstein’s former home in Key West, Florida. The poet and children’s book author died in 1999. (Palm Beach Post)

“She is a writer who is ruthless in seeing clearly, no matter the cost.” Dana Spiotta profiles Joan Didion in advance of the October release of Joan Didion: The Center Will Not Hold, a documentary about the famous writer. (Vogue)

Novelist Celeste Ng shares her reading tastes and quirks, such as being able to reference a Calvin & Hobbes comic strip for almost every situation to rereading The Count of Monte Cristo to understand the complexity of morality. (New York Times)

Hillary Clinton’s memoir, What Happened, has sold more than three hundred thousand copies since its release last week. (Washington Post)

PEN Center USA has announced the winners of its 2017 awards, including the lifetime achievement award, which will go to Margaret Atwood. (Entertainment Weekly)

Speaking of lifetime achievement, the National Book Foundation has announced that it will award the 2017 Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters to fiction writer Annie Proulx.

The Guardian celebrates the eightieth anniversary of the publication of J. R. R. Tolkien’s The Hobbit. “But while The Hobbit was undeniably written as a children’s book, it is far more than a mere prequel and its significance in modern literature, and fantasy in particular, cannot be overstated.”