Jump to navigation Skip to content
A breakdown of the potential antitrust lawsuit aimed at Apple and large publishers; Fifty Shades of Grey, a best-selling erotic novel published by a small press in Australia, launched a seven-figure bidding war among the major publishers; poet Charles Bernstein writes that PennSound has made available over one hundred recordings of 1990s-era readings at the Ear Inn in New York City; and other news.
The New York Times has more on the Justice Department's potential lawsuit against Apple and several publishers over e-book pricing; Chris Hughes, a cofounder of Facebook, is the new owner of the venerable magazine the New Republic; Reese Witherspoon has purchased the film rights to Cheryl Strayed's memoir, Wild; and other news.
The United States Justice Department intends to sue Apple and five of the largest publishers; WNYC features Frank O’Hara’s 1964 collection Lunch Poems; the staff blog of the Los Angeles Review of Books looks at the work of Víctor Terán, a poet attempting to save his endangered Isthmus Zapotec language; and other news.
To mark the birthday of John Updike, Random House will reissue some of the author's books, and make Updike's entire backlist available as e-books; Richard Russo and Andre Dubus III discuss the difficulties of writing memoir, an audio walking tour of poetry associated with New York City's East Village neighborhood has been created, narrated by Jim Jarmusch; and other news.
Evan Hughes writes of the friendship between Saul Bellow and Jack Ludwig, and the betrayal that resulted in an award-winning novel; the Guardian examines the growing popularity of erotica among women writers; author Darin Strauss weighs The Sopranos against Six Feet Under; and other news.
Tibetan poet Tsering Woeser was prevented by Chinese police from attending an awards ceremony in her honor in Beijing, and is now under house arrest; Slate has launched a monthly book review; an opera based on Ann Patchett's novel Bel Canto has been commissioned by Lyric Opera of Chicago, and other news.
Publication statistics for 2011 have been compiled and released by VIDA: Women in Literary Arts; the Paris Review Daily looks at the twenty-five year friendship between Vladimir Nabokov and Edmund Wilson; Filmmaker Scott Teems remembers his friend and collaborator, the novelist William Gay; and other news.
The Big Think examines how new generations of readers respond to J. D. Salinger's infamous Holden Caulfield; the Examiner reports of a shake-up at the Columbia College Chicago writing program; Dinty W. Moore weighs in on the controversy surrounding John D’Agata; and other news.
Alexander Nazaryan details the dustup over a recent Jonathan Franzen essay on Edith Wharton; the Guardian examines how online readers band together to catch plagiarists; Maria Bustillos writes of the remarkable and surprising literary career of actress Ally Sheedy; and other news.
The Hollywood Reporter examines what happens when book publishers take control of film production; the significance of John Berryman’s The Dream Songs; Laura Miller weighs in on the death of chick lit; and other news.
Novelist Patricia O’Brien was having a difficult time landing a publisher for her sixth book, until she chose the pseudonym Kate Alcott; Little, Brown will publish a novel intended for adults by J. K. Rowling; the Millions asks, "Where do you write?" and provides intimate details of the work spaces of its writers; and other news.
Legendary Grove Press publisher Barney Rosset has passed away at the age of ninety; novelist Chuck Wendig offers twenty-five tips for aspiring writers; Tin House offers a tongue-in-cheek field guide to the upcoming AWP conference; and other news.
David Foster Wallace at fifty; novelist Ann Patchett spoke with Stephen Colbert about why she opened an independent bookstore; the London Review of Books looks at the international popularity of Homer; and other news.
HarperCollins secured the rights to publish Amanda Knox's memoir for a reported four million dollars; novelist Martha Southgate shares her thoughts on the life and death of Whitney Houston; an editor overheard a conversation on the subway, and the publication of a debut novel was set in motion; and more.
The historic Hotel Chelsea in New York City, made famous by diverse literary figures such as Patti Smith and O. Henry, is now the center of a dispute between its new owners and its long-time tenants; seventeen publishers have banded together to fight European e-book piracy; the San Diego Union-Tribune reports on the sales decline of chick lit; and other news.
The Rumpus revealed the author of its Dear Sugar advice column is novelist Cheryl Strayed; the Millions investigates the evolving payment models used by literary magazines; Jesse Eisenberg details how NBA basketball standout Jeremy Lin has helped him through tough times; and other news.
The collected love letters between the poets Robert and Elizabeth Barrett Browning have been digitized and made freely available online; in the wake of Chris Brown's performance at the recent Grammy Awards, Roxane Gay addresses his diehard fans; GalleyCat explains how to stay positive in the face of rejection; and other news.
Amazon takes a jab at Apple's iPad in a new advertisement; the history, appeal, and common disdain of listening to audio books; the competitive nature of landing a job with one of the "big six" publishing houses; and other news.
A growing number of bookstores are joining Barnes & Noble's boycott of Amazon Publishing; Syrian author Khaled Khalifa writes of the current situation in his home country; Jason Diamond shares the hazards of moving from part-time barista to full-time writer; and other news.
The Chicago Police Department has begun a voluntary writing workshop for officers; Melissa Febos interviews poet and professional dog trainer Susie DeFord about the pros and cons of self-publishing; ten suggested pairings of local craft beers with independent bookshops; and other news.
Amazon may be in the process of opening a brick-and-mortar store; the moving Chrysler commercial featuring Clint Eastwood that aired during the Super Bowl was co-written by poet Matthew Dickman; the Brooklyn Public Library looks at evidence that perhaps Herman Melvile met Edgar Allan Poe; and other news.
The New Yorker examines the plagiarism scandal of Q. R. Markham; Abdulrahman Zeitoun, the hero of Zeitoun by Dave Eggers, was arrested last year for domestic abuse; Open Culture lists a compendium of writing rules from famous authors; and other news.
Melville House wonders when publishers will speak out about Amazon; New York City's Algonquin Hotel announced that when it reopens this spring after a renovation, the famed Oak Room will be gone; E. B. White answers a charge levied by the ASPCA; and more
Nobel prize-winning poet Wislawa Szymborska, as well as Surrealist artist and poet Dorothea Tanning, passed away yesterday in their respective countries; novelist Paul Auster has engaged in a war of words with Tayyip Erdogan, the prime minister of Turkey; Open Letters Monthly examines the hidden life of Virginia Woolf's institutionalized half-sister, Laura Makepeace Stephen; and other news.
GalleyCat reports adult hardcover sales were down in November; Oxford professor of poetry Geoffrey Hill offers choice words for the United Kingdom's poet laureate Carol Ann Duffy; Sherman Alexie responds to a ban of ethnic studies in Tucson classrooms; and other news.
