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Thirty-six years after his death, John Steinbeck—the Nobel Prize–winning author of American classics like The Grapes of Wrath and East of Eden—is the focus of the largest-ever centenary celebration for a single author. Born in Salinas, California, on February 27, 1902, Steinbeck is being remembered with a yearlong program of over 175 events in 39 states.
The New York Times began publishing original poetry in the Book Review on February 17. New York City poet Nathanial Bellows's "Harm's Woods" was the first entry in what will be a regular feature of the Sunday edition of the newspaper.
On February 2, over 170 writers, editors, agents, and publishers from five continents attended a two-day writers conference in Geneva, Switzerland—an intensive weekend of workshops, readings, panel discussions, and networking.
Nominees for the annual National Book Critics Circle Awards were announced on January 28.
Michael P. Hammond, the chairman of the National Endowment for the Arts, died on January 29 of what appeared to be natural causes. He was 69. Hammond had officially assumed his duties as chairman on January 22.
The big just got bigger in the book distribution industry.
Historian Stephen Ambrose has had a lot of explaining to do lately. The bestselling author is accused of copying passages from a source without attribution in four of his more than 20 published books.
Beginning next fall, creative writers will be able to workshop their way to graduate degrees at Georgia College & State University, the liberal arts college in Milledgeville, Georgia.
Roses are red
Violets are blue
Hallmark bought
Maya Angelou.
A number of literary magazines—APR, Fence, McSweeney's, Open City, Pearl, Pleiades, and Verse—have in recent years pursued book publishing ventures, usually ones that include an annual book contest. Putting an electronic twist on that trend is the bimonthly online literary magazine Slope. This spring, founding editor Ethan Paquin is making the jump from Web journal to print press by launching Slope Editions, which will publish two or three books of poetry annually.
