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Dean Young needs a heart transplant; Ilya Kaminsky is appointed director of the Harriet Monroe Poetry Institute; the rise of Yiddish literature; why I love reading (hashtag #whyIread); and other news.
A short video poem by British poet, photographer, and artist David Alcock, produced at Plymouth College of Art in Devon, England.
Michael Chabon is named chair of the MacDowell Colony; the octothorpe's remarkable comeback; Meanjin celebrates seventy years; a Kindle app for the Web; and other news.
In this footage of Al Alvarez's 1967 interview with John Berryman in Dublin, the poet talks about some of the techniques he employed in 77 Dream Songs, which had won the Pulitzer Prize three years earlier, and reads "Dream Song 14." Berryman commited suicide on January 7, 1972.
After years of planning, Google eBooks, the e-bookstore that's been described as an "open ecosystem" that will eventually offer more than three million books, is finally here. See for yourself in this promotional video.
An unpublished Philip Larkin poem is discovered in a shoebox; Google launches eBooks, finally; a Borders investor sizes up a bid for Barnes & Noble; Oprah's next book club picks; and other news.
The first journal tailored exclusively to its eponymous form, Creative Nonfiction is holding a themed contest in anticipation of its Summer 2011 issue. Judged by New Yorker writer and author of The Orchid Thief (Random House, 1998) Susan Orlean, the competition is open to true stories concerning the night. (The contest Web page offers a few ideas: "It was a dark and stormy night; "Strangers in the Night"; the night sky; Friday Night Lights; things that go bump in the night; Take Back the Night; night owls; The Night Before Christmas; The Night Watch; In the Night Kitchen; The Armies of the Night; "The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down"; prom night; date night; Good Night, Nurse!")
The writer of the winning essay will receive five thousand dollars, and the winning piece will be published in the magazine. One runner up will receive $2,500 and online publication.
The prize is cosponsored by the Salt Institute, a Portland, Maine, a center for aspiring nonfiction story–telling writers, radio producers, and photographers that offers a range of classes to college and graduate students and awards a certificate in documentary studies (as well as transferable credits). Pending acceptance to the institute, the two top honorees in Creative Nonfiction's "Night" contest have to option to apply their awards funds directly to tuition at Salt.
To find details on how to submit your essay of up to four thousand words (with a twenty dollar entry fee), visit the Creative Nonfiction Web site. The deadline for entry is January 10, 2011.
In the video below, Orlean reveals a bit about her literary predilections—through her desert island book picks.
The year in disturbing celebrity book deals; an indie bookseller starts a blog called Against Amazon; Barnes & Noble's chair is named Person of the Year; Steve Martin finds a tough audience at the 92 Street Y; and other news.
Gerardo Mena, a decorated veteran of Operation Iraqi Freedom, recently won the 2010 War Poetry contest, sponsored by the Web site winningwriters.com, for his poem "So I Was a Coffin." This video poem features music composed by Mena as well as photographs contributed by members of the 3rd Reconnaissance Battalion or their family members.
A volume of Liu Xiaobo's writing will be published in English for the first time; the World Book Night initiative launches in Ireland and the U.K.; the most read man in the world; Paul Thomas Anderson may adapt Pynchon's Inherent Vice; and other news.
