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The best literary hoaxes of all time; another Chinese writer is sentenced to prison for "inciting subversion of state power"; Afghani woman's rights activist Malalai Joya is finally granted a visa for a U.S. book tour; increased funding for literature in England; and other news.
Last week the National Book Foundation presented the panel discussion "Lineage: American Poetry Since 1950," moderated by Katie Peterson and featuring Elizabeth Alexander, Stephen Burt, Tony Hoagland, James Longenbach, Maureen McLane, and Susan Stewart. The aim of the discussion was "to use the National Book Awards as a point of departure to assess post-War poetry trends and achievements."
A bookless library is considered in Newport Beach, California; how not to react to a negative book review; the O, Miami festival seeks to reach more than two million people with poetry; the role of poet laureates in politics; and other news.
Take a book off the shelf and write down the opening line. Then substitute as many words as possible with your own words, keeping the syntax and parts of speech intact. Then keep writing. Performing this kind of literary "Mad Lib" often creates a useful starting place for a story, especially when the sentence contains an intersection of character, setting, and situation. Or try using these opening lines, from Faulkner, García Márquez, and Plath, respectively:
Through the [concrete noun], between the [adjective] [concrete noun], I could see them [verb ending in "ing"].
It was inevitable: the scent of [adjective] [plural noun] always reminded him of the [noun] of [adjective] [noun].
It was a [adjective], [adjective] [season], the [same season] they [transitive verb, past tense] the [family name, plural], and I didn't know what I was doing in [city].
This week's fiction prompt comes from fiction writer Eleanor Henderson, whose first novel, Ten Thousand Saints, will be published by Ecco in June.
From director Cary Fukunaga comes a new vision of Charlotte Brontë's classic novel Jane Eyre. The movie, starring Mia Wasikowska and Michael Fassbender, opened March 11.
The finalists for the Man Booker International Prize have been announced, but if one nominee's wishes were honored, the shortlist would have to be clipped further. Best-selling author John le Carré has refused his nomination for the prize honoring achievement in fiction, saying simply that, while flattered by the recognition, he does not compete for literary awards.
Despite le Carré's request to be removed from the list of contenders, he could still be given the honor, which is offered at the discretion of a judging panel. "Le Carré's name will, of course, remain on the list," says chair of the judges Rick Gekoski. "We are disappointed that he wants to withdraw from further consideration because we are great admirers of his work."
Unlike its sister award, the Man Booker Prize for Fiction, the International Prize does not accept outside nominations. The finalists and winner of the sixty-thousand-pound prize (approximately ninety-six thousand dollars) are determined by a closed judging process.
In addition to le Carré, the finalists for the seventh annual award are Wang Anyi and Su Tong of China; Juan Goytisolo of Spain; James Kelman and Philip Pullman of the United Kingdom; Amin Maalouf of Lebanon; David Malouf of Australia; Dacia Maraini of Italy; Rohinton Mistry of India and Canada; and U.S. authors Marilynne Robinson, Philip Roth, and Anne Tyler. The winner will be announced on May 18 at the Sydney Writers' Festival in Australia.
In the video below, the Daily Beast's Tina Brown speaks with Roth about the future of the novel as a literary form.
Distinguished poet Donald Hall reflects on the meaning of work, solitude, and love in this memoir about the writing life.
Ron Silliman contemplates the end of his eight-year poetry blog; a fake Rahm Emanuel lands a book deal; the PEN World Voices Festival all-star lineup is announced; the role of poetry in the Taliban's war strategy; and other news.
Politics and Prose bookstore finds a buyer; literature's crises (and rallies) through the ages; Elizabeth Bennett may have listened to indie rock; Borders plans to pay bonuses; and other news.
The movie Poetry, which was written and directed by South Korean filmmaker Lee Chang-Dong, recently won the Regard d'Or Award at the Fribourg International Film Festival in Switzerland. The movie, about a woman in her sixties who decides to take a poetry class at an adult-education center, also took honors for best screenplay at the 2010 Cannes Film Festival.
