Yeats Anniversary Celebrations, NYPL Stolen Books Investigation, and More

by
Staff
4.28.15

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:

Celebrations for the 150th anniversary of Irish poet William Butler Yeats’s birth have begun. The Nobel Prize–winning poet was born on June 13, 1865, and more than forty countries are hosting readings, concerts, film screenings, and other events this year to honor the occasion. (Guardian)

New York resident Margaret Tanchuck is currently undergoing a grand jury investigation over appraising several rare books that were taken from the New York Public Library between 1988 and 1991. An eighteenth-century Benjamin Franklin manuscript and five Bibles are among the rare items Tanchuck discovered in her deceased father’s jewelry store on Long Island. (Los Angeles Times)

The second round of applications are being accepted for the Write a House residency, in which a writer receives a permanent two-bedroom house in Detroit, Michigan.  Casey Rocheteau of Brooklyn, New York, won the inaugural home in September 2014.

Master craftsman Nobuo Okano has been repairing damaged books for thirty-three years. Watch the meticulous technique of a book conservator at Colossal.

“The essay needn’t be faithful to the path of the thinking, but the form can reveal how thinking happens.” Poet Elisa Gabbert writes for the Smart Set about the art and formal possibilities of paragraphs. Gabbert is also starting an advice column for writers at Electric Literature.

The Book Industry Charitable Foundation (BINC) is seeking fifty new donors for its Campaign to Sustain program, which supports booksellers who are suffering financial hardships from medical expenses, domestic violence, and other personal issues.  (GalleyCat)

Toronto-based e-book retailer Kobo will begin publishing original books this summer. The first Kobo title is Kevin Donavan’s biography of Jian Ghomeshi, Jian Ghomeshi: Secret Life, which will be released in June. (Publishers Weekly)