Daily News

Every day the editors of Poets & Writers Magazine scan the headlines—publishing reports, literary dispatches, academic announcements, and more—for all the news that creative writers need to know.

3.18.24

Publishers Weekly shares a conversation with Lauren Groff at Winter Institute, the American Booksellers Association’s annual conference, which Groff attended in February to prepare for the opening of the Lynx, an independent bookstore she and her husband, Clay Kallman, will open in Gainesville, Florida, next month. “Groff hopes that, with an inventory that emphasizes books by BIPOC and LGBTQ+ authors that deal with such issues as race, gender identity, and sexuality, the Lynx ‘will reverberate outwards, and be a beacon of hope’” at a time when efforts to ban or limit access to books has reached a fever pitch nationwide, particularly in Florida.

3.18.24

Workers at a Barnes & Noble on the Upper West Side of New York City have voted to unionize, reports Publishers Weekly. The Upper West Side store is the sixth Barnes & Noble nationwide to join the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union.

3.18.24

The American Booksellers Association (ABA) and Small Business Rising, a group that represents independent businesses, have dubbed March 20 “SBA: Dump Amazon! Day” The occasion is meant to pressure the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) to dump Amazon as a sponsor of the administration’s National Small Business Week, which will be held April 28–May 4. “Amazon’s co-sponsorship is little more than a disingenuous PR stunt, allowing it to whitewash its anticompetitive behavior and all the harm it is doing to small business,” says a statement by the ABA.

Week of March 11th, 2024
3.15.24

The New York Times sends a dispatch from the London Book Fair: “For those who weren’t there to close deals, the fair offered the opportunity to map out the minutely graded power structure of the publishing industry.”

3.15.24

Kristen Arnett, Naomi Klein, Hisham Matar, Lorrie Moore, Kayla Upadhyaya, and other writers will not participate in this year’s PEN World Voices Festival due to PEN America’s stance on the crisis in Gaza. In an open letter the authors write: “Palestine’s poets, scholars, novelists and journalists and essayists have risked everything, including their lives and the lives of their families, to share their words with the world. Yet PEN America appears unwilling to stand with them firmly against the powers that have oppressed and dispossessed them for the last 75 years."

3.15.24

Palestinian American author Susan Abulhawa spoke with Democracy Now! about her recent visit to Gaza, during which she brought food and other needed materials and managed to conduct a writing workshop. “You know, we talk so much about the physical needs, because it’s immense—you know, water, food, shelter. But there’s the psychological, the intellectual needs,” says Abulhawa, who is the executive director of Palestine Writes, “the only North American literature festival dedicated to celebrating and promoting cultural productions of Palestinian writers and artists.”

3.14.24

On Literary Hub Maris Kreizman offers a critique of a new publishing company called Authors Equity, which will reportedly rely on a staff of freelancers: “Rather than offering book workers the stability and benefits of full-time employment, Authors Equity will rely on the gig economy to get the job done. ... [T]hese kinds of cost-cutting measures also very rarely make the finished output better,” writes Kreizman.

3.14.24

The American Library Association has released data on book-banning efforts in 2023, reporting that the number of unique titles challenged in public and school libraries increased 65 percent since 2022. That sets a new record: Last year’s “efforts to censor 4,240 unique book titles…tops the previous high from 2022, when 2,571 unique titles were targeted for censorship.” Read about how librarians and others have been resisting book banning in the current issue of Poets & Writers Magazine.

3.13.24

The winners of the inaugural Libby Book Awards have been announced; among them are James McBride’s The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store for Best Adult Fiction and Rebecca Makkai’s I Have Some Questions for You for Best Audiobook. The awards in seventeen categories are judged by seventeen hundred librarians worldwide.

3.13.24

Black Lawrence Press of New York will publish the winners of the Philip Levine Prize for Poetry from Fresno State University in California, which offers $2,000 and publication of a poetry collection; Black Lawrence’s first title in the series will be S Is For by William Archila, chosen by Douglas Kearney for the 2023 award. Winners of the Philip Levine Prize for Poetry were previously published by Anhinga Press of Florida. 

3.13.24

In the Atlantic author Phil Klay lambastes Guernica for retracting an essay it published by a Jewish woman living in Israel that many interpreted as insensitive to the ongoing crisis in Gaza, which reportedly has killed more than thirty thousand Palestinians, including more than thirteen thousand children. In January the International Criminal Court ruled that it was “plausible” that Israel’s retaliatory war against Gaza after Hamas’s October 7 attack, which killed twelve hundred Israelis, was tantamount to genocide.

3.12.24

More than a dozen staff members of Guernica have resigned after the literary magazine published an essay by a Jewish writer living in Israel, with one editor calling it a “genocide apologia,” reports the Los Angeles Times. Guernica has since retracted the essay and reportedly removed it from its website. A Jewish writer who has published in the journal said the essay merely “presents an Israeli as human.” Guernica’s editors have also “received complaints that their magazine lacked a complexity of voices.”

3.12.24

The longlist of thirteen nominees for this year’s International Booker Prize—which awards novels and story collections translated into English and published in the U.K. and/or Ireland—have been announced. Check out what the prize judges, including U.S. writers Natalie Diaz and Aaron Robertson, have to say about their selections here.

3.12.24

Chinese fiction writer Mo Yan, who won the Nobel Prize in 2012, is being sued by a blogger in China who claims Yan’s books “smeared the ruling Communist Party’s reputation,” violating a 2018 law meant to combat “historical nihilism” in the country, writes the Associated Press.

3.12.24

Contemporary Russian literature is in the midst of a renaissance, according to the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, with many authors—particularly women—under the age of thirty-five publishing diverse works in response to post-Soviet politics. 

3.12.24

Libraries are struggling to keep up with the demand for e-books, which for libraries are much more expensive than hard copies of books, reports the Associated Press.

3.11.24

Publishers Weekly interviews Anjali Singh, who has launched her own agency, Anjali Singh Literary. Most recently an agent with Ayesha Pande Literary, Singh has also served as the editorial director of Other Press and as an editor with Simon & Schuster, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, and Vintage Books.

3.11.24

The fashion industry has taken a literary turn recently, with books inspiring clothing collections, interior design, and more. Author Simon Chilvers’ discusses the trend on a podcast from the Financial Times.

3.11.24

A NASA spacecraft, which in October is set to travel to Jupiter’s moon Europa, will carry an engraving of a handwritten poem by U.S. Poet Laureate Ada Limón called “In Praise of Mystery: A Poem for Europa.”

Week of March 4th, 2024
3.8.24

The finalists for the 2024 PEN/Faulkner Award for fiction were announced this week: Jamel Brinkley for Witness (Farrar, Straus and Giroux), Henry Hoke for Open Throat (MCD), Claire Jimenez for What Happened to Ruthy Ramirez (Farrar, Straus and Giroux), Alice McDermott for Absolution (Farrar, Straus and Giroux), and Colin Winnette for Users (Soft Skull).

3.8.24

Fitzcarraldo Editions, an independent U.K. press specializing in fiction and longform essays, will begin publishing poetry collections, with Diane Seuss as one of its inaugural poets, reports the Bookseller.

3.8.24

An exhibition of literary posters—which advertised magazines, journals, books, and other literature near the turn of the twentieth century—opened this week at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City. Fine Books & Collections magazine writes about this “vibrant genre at the vanguard of modern commercial art and graphic design.”

3.7.24

José Luis Montero will serve as Hugo House’s acting executive director while the Seattle literary center searches for a permanent leader following the departure of director Diana Delgado, effective April 1. Montero is on Hugo House’s board of directors and “has served in a variety of roles in the Seattle literary community,” says a statement sent by e-mail yesterday from Hugo House board president Gary Luke. 

3.7.24

AL.com takes readers “inside the blistering battle over Alabama libraries,” at least nine of which have been involved in heated book-banning controversies. “A survey by the state library service found that residents challenged more than 100 books,” and librarians have been moving young adult books to the adult section, which by some measures counts as censorship; “[a]t least one library removed an LGBTQ book in the adult section from its shelves altogether.”

3.7.24

This year’s Oscar-nominated films feature not only fictional characters but made-up books those characters wrote, read, or kept on a shelf. The Washington Post contemplates which of those imaginary volumes deserves an Oscar: Boner, Light and Magic in the Ancient World, or another of several invented titles. 

3.6.24

Drag star RuPaul opened an online bookstore this week called Allstora, which promises to increase profits for authors while offering an inclusive space in opposition to book-banning efforts that have targeted queer writers and writers of color. But the store sparked controversy due to its sale of titles by conservative authors and even editions of Mein Kampf, writes Vulture.

3.6.24

The Associated Press reports on Ada Limón’s signature project as U.S. poet laureate. Called You Are Here, the project includes an anthology of place-based poetry and a tour of seven national parks. Check out Poets & Writers Magazine’s Anthologist column to read about the anthology, You Are Here: Poetry in the Natural World.

3.6.24

Gabriel García Márquez told one of his sons that he wanted the last novel he worked on before his death, in 2014, “to be destroyed.” But that book, Until August, will be published this month, raising “questions about how literary estates and publishers should navigate posthumous releases that contradict a writer’s directives,” writes the New York Times.

3.6.24

Sunset interviews Annabelle Chang, a high school senior who opened the first young adult bookstore in the United States, called Annabelle’s Book Club LA. “It’s really important to read what you’re excited about, what you’re interested in, and what makes you want to stay up until two in the morning finishing it,” says Chang.

3.5.24

There are more than five hundred Silent Book Club chapters in fifty countries, and Philadelphia is home to one of them, reports the Philadelphia Inquirer. The Philly chapter meets monthly at a café, where people gather to read silently for sixty minutes that are akin to an “introvert happy hour.”

3.5.24

A startup publisher called Authors Equity, which includes backers formerly with Big Five publishers, will do away with book advances and offer authors “the lion’s share” of profits made from their books, reports the New York Times.

3.5.24

Generative AI, a category which includes the language-producing ChatGPT, is top of mind for business leaders, who are mostly “bullish” about the technology and expect to double their use of it this year, reports Publishers Weekly.

3.4.24

For anyone who doubted the wisdom of poet Stephanie Burt’s Harvard University English class on Taylor Swift, behold: Swift is literally related to Emily Dickinson, reports Today.

3.4.24

Diversity in publishing has been steadily increasing, according to Lee & Low Books’ Diversity Baseline Survey: Last year, 72.5 percent of publishing, review journal, and literary agency staff identified as White/Caucasian, down from 76 percent in 2019 and 79 percent in 2015, according to the survey.

3.4.24

The slightly different color of a rereleased cult-favorite ink by a German pen manufacturer has spurred a “drama in the fountain pen community,” reports the New York Times.

Week of February 26th, 2024
3.1.24

Little Free Library is partnering with the Free Library of Philadelphia for the Little Free(dom) Library initiative, which will collect and circulate books that have been the target of book bans, including The Undefeated by Kwame Alexander, All Boys Aren’t Blue by George M. Johnson, and others. Anyone can take a book from the Little Free(dom) libraries at one of fourteen locations in the City of Brotherly Love, writes Visit Philadelphia.

3.1.24

Spotify, which launched audiobooks on its podcast and music platform last year, is offering a special option for audiobooks enthusiasts who are less interested in other kinds of listening. Audiobooks Access Tier is slightly less expensive than the Premium option that gives access to audiobooks in addition to music and podcasts, writes Publishers Weekly.

3.1.24

The rise of knockoff books—or titles posing as the work of recognized authors but apparently generated by AI—continues to undermine writers, reports the Washington Post. The fakes are common on Amazon, and many authors and publishers wonder “why such a powerful tech company seems to be having such a hard time getting a handle on the problem.” But a solution may be on the horizon, says a columnist at Publishers Weekly.

2.29.24

Wired unpacks the strange economics of fan fiction, untangling who gets to profit off the derivative work and why. The article focuses on one fan fiction story in particular—Manacled, a cross between the Harry Potter franchise and The Handmaid’s Tale—whose author just signed a publishing deal with Del Rey.

2.29.24

The New York Times takes a tour through the Museo Bodoniano in Parma, Italy, where patrons receive an education in the eighteenth century typographer and creator of the eponymous Bodoni typeface that graces many book covers.

2.29.24

Northern Europeans are increasingly reading English versions of books rather than titles translated into national languages, changing the market for foreign rights and translators, writes the Bookseller, a U.K. publication about the book business.

2.29.24

The Equity Directory is a new online resource offering a listing of BIPOC literary agents, writes Publishers Weekly. The free directory will be maintained by volunteers with Literary Agents of Change.

2.28.24

Merriam-Webster recently declared that it is just fine to end a sentence with a preposition, sparking a grammatical controversy for the ages, reports NPR.

2.28.24

Atria Books is launching an imprint called Primero Sueño Press, which will publish books of fiction and nonfiction by Latinx authors in both English and Spanish, reports Publishers Weekly. The imprint will be led by Michelle Herrera Mulligan, who joined Atria in 2018 and has published titles by Reyna Grande, Gabrielle Lyon, Vanessa Marin, Chiquis Rivera, and other authors.

2.28.24

On the occasion of Mary Dearborn’s new biography, Carson McCullers: A Life, Maggie Doherty looks at the life and writing of the beloved author of The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter. “If seemingly everyone agreed that McCullers was a child, they indulged her because she was a genius,” Doherty writes in the New Yorker.

2.28.24

For the Atlantic, Vann R. Newkirk II asks teachers about their favorite books, and about what teaching Black history feels like in a time of book bans.

2.27.24

Literary magazine Creative Nonfiction is partnering with Narratively, an online storytelling platform, according to a blog post by Lee Gutkind, Creative Nonfiction’s editor. The partnership involves a new essay series and other collaborations in the works.

2.27.24

The New York Times profiles Aaron Lansky, who created the Yiddish Book Center in Amherst, Massachusetts, now home to 1.5 million Yiddish books that may have otherwise been lost. Lansky has announced his retirement as the Center’s president, effective June 2025.

2.27.24

Small Press Distribution (SPD) is moving ahead with its SPD Next plan, which the nonprofit book distributor touts as a way to cut costs while increasing services for its clientele of four hundred independent publishers, reports Publishers Weekly. SPD has moved 300,000 books to space owned by Ingram Content Group and Publishers Storage and Shipping (PSS). The partnership with Ingram and PSS will also give SPD’s clients access to “print-on-demand, e-book, and audiobook distribution” services.

2.26.24

The poet Lyn Hejinian has died, according to the University of California in Berkeley, where she was Professor and John F. Hotchkis Chair Emerita. The university called her “one of the most significant poets of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries” and “the soul of the Berkeley English department” for two decades.

2.26.24

The poet Elizabeth Arnold has died, according to Flood Editions, the publisher of her books Wave House (2023), Skeleton Coast (2017), Life (2014), Effacement (2010), and Civilization (2006). Arnold taught for many years in the MFA program in creative writing at the University of Maryland in College Park and uncovered a lost novel by Mina Loy, Insel, which she edited for Black Sparrow Press in 1991. Listen to a 2022 virtual reading and discussion with Arnold in Poets & Writers Theater.

2.26.24

Book clubs are increasingly popular, particularly with Millennial and Gen Z readers, reports CNN. The growth “reflects a renewed interest in events and experiences in-person following the isolation of the pandemic, as well as growing fatigue with endless time on screens.”

2.26.24

Forbes interviews four publishing experts to consider the proverbial question: “Can you make a living as an author?”