Every day Poets & Writers Magazine scans the headlines—publishing reports, literary dispatches, academic announcements, and more—for all the news that creative writers need to know. Here are today’s stories.
A new annual prize bearing the name of distinguished author Ursula K. Le Guin [2] will honor writers “whose work reflects the concepts and ideas that were central to Ursula’s own work.” Administered by the Ursula K. Le Guin Literary Trust, the prize will be open to book-length works of fiction and carry a purse of $25,000. The inaugural prize will be awarded next October. (Shelf Awareness)
Editor Tim O’Connell is leaving the Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group—where he worked with such esteemed authors as Omar El Akkad, Ted Chiang, and Charles Yu—to join Simon & Schuster’s flagship imprint. He will serve as vice president and editorial director for fiction [3]. (Publishers Weekly)
“Once I knew these were the four main storylines in the book, I started writing each of the perspectives straight through, which isn’t usually how I work, but it was the only way that made sense to me at the time.” Kalani Pickhart discusses managing the complex structure [4] of her debut novel, I Will Die in a Foreign Land. (Chicago Review of Books)
“Reading the essays out loud felt so final, so irreversible; confirmation that soon strangers would become privy to my shadows.” Zeba Blay recalls recording the audiobook for her debut and shares what the experience taught her about the nature of growth [5]. (Catapult)
“The moon is presumed mute—its silence is the silence of death. But when it does speak, it speaks in the language of shadows.” Nina MacLaughlin writes about the Hunter’s Moon and describes October as a disorienting “crossroads.” [6] (Paris Review Daily)
“I don’t really know in advance, at all, what I’m doing. Things tend to come into being in the writing of them.” Keith Ridgway reflects on the structure, setting, and community [7] of his latest novel, A Shock. (Bomb)
T Magazine tours the gardens at author Olivia Laing’s home [8], a historic property two hours outside of London. “This place has got that half-asleep feeling,” Laing says.
Michael Dirda of the Washington Post recommends anthologies and story collections to read during the Halloween season [9].