Oprah’s Book Club Pick, Lammys Announced, and More
Critics disagree on thriller by Bill Clinton and James Patterson; Michiko Kakutani’s forthcoming book on truth and Trump; Audie Award winners; and other news.
Genre: Poetry
The Book of Frank
Caption:
“Frank grew crows for hands / it was a difficult childhood...” In this video, CAConrad reads a series of poems from The Book of Frank (Wave Books, 2010) for a 2013 reading at the Machine Project in Los Angeles. CAConrad’s poetry collection While Standing in Line for Death (Wave Books, 2017) won the 2018 Lambda Literary Award in Gay Poetry.
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Interstitium
Earlier this year, researchers published a study in the journal Scientific Reports about the discovery of an organ called the interstitium, which exists as a flexible, meshlike web of fluid-filled compartments forming a layer right beneath the skin and between other organs. Drawing inspiration from this and the word “interstice,” which refers to a small space between things or a break between events, write a poem about being in-between. You might write about when you’ve been between homes, jobs, or relationships, or about experiences between different phases of your life.
The Growth of Audio Originals, Roxane Gay Talks Books, and More
Sue Landers named executive director of Lambda Literary; literary agent Elaine Markson has died; the indie booksellers of New York City; and other news.
Emily Dickinson Comedy Series, Salman Rushdie on Literature and Truth, and More
A new exhibit on Tolkien’s Middle-earth; recommended literary biopics; Meg Wolitzer on feminism; and other news.
June 2nd, 1989
Caption:
“I didn’t have a chance / to say a word before you became / a character in the news...” Khaled Hosseini, Rita Dove, Philip Gourevitch, and Siri Hustvedt read Liu Xia’s poem “June 2nd, 1989” from Empty Chairs (Graywolf Press, 2015), translated from the Chinese by Ming Di and Jennifer Stern. PEN America and Amnesty International collaborated on the video series as a call to free Liu Xia from house arrest in Beijing, where she has been held since her late husband, Nobel Peace Prize laureate Liu Xiaobo, was imprisoned in 2009.
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Walt Whitman’s Birthday, Bill Clinton’s Reading Habits, and More
Amazon launches new line of digital stories; Zack Snyder to adapt The Fountainhead for screen; what it means to be well-read; and other news.
Paz Prize for Poetry
Submissions are currently open for the Paz Prize for Poetry, sponsored by the Miami Book Fair and the National Poetry Series. An award of $2,000 and publication by Akashic Books is given biennially for a poetry collection originally written in Spanish by a U.S. resident. The winning manuscript will be translated into English and published in a bilingual edition. Rigoberto González, a contributing editor of Poets & Writers Magazine, will judge.
Using the online submission system, submit a manuscript of at least 48 pages by June 15. There is no entry fee. The finalists will be announced at the end of July, and the winner will be announced in September.
Established in 2012, the Paz Prize for Poetry is named for late Nobel Prize–winning poet, essayist, and diplomat Octavio Paz. Past winners include Miami Century Fox by Legna Rodríguez Iglesias and translated by Eduardo Aparicio; Nine Coins / Nueve Monedas by Carlos Pintado and translated by Hilary Vaughn Dobel; and Colaterales / Collateral by Dinapiera Di Donato and translated by Ricardo Alberto Maldonado.
Tracy K. Smith on Poetry in the Technological Age, Summer Reading, and More
A study on the difference between owning a print book versus an e-book; Elena Ferrante on reading and insomnia; how to read autofiction; and other news.
Kayo Chingonyi
Caption:
“I think something like garage or grime or rap, hip-hop, appeals to me because they’re very metrical, rhyme-based forms.” Zambian British poet Kayo Chingonyi talks about his path to poetry, his interests and influences, and internationalism and Anglophone literature for Writers’ Centre Norwich. Chingonyi won the 2018 International Dylan Thomas Prize for his debut poetry collection, Kumukanda (Chatto & Windus, 2017).
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