Every day Poets & Writers Magazine scans the headlines—from publishing reports to academic announcements to literary dispatches—for all the news that creative writers need to know. Here are today's stories:

While the Wall Street Journal [2] reported yesterday that an e-reader from Barnes & Noble—featuring a six-inch black-and-white touchscreen and wireless connectivity—could ship as early as next month, a spokesperson for the bookseller has revealed plans to launch a color-screen device this spring (Mashable [3]). Meanwhile, Microsoft says it has no intention of entering the e-reader market (Guardian [4]). 

To coincide with the thirtieth anniversary of Douglas Adams’s The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, Irish author Eoin Colfer has produced the first authorized sequel to the five-part “trilogy” (Reuters [5]).

Publishing industry groups in Australia—including the Australian Society of Authors—have rejected what the government calls a “compromise” plan to alter the country’s book importation restrictions (Australian [6]).

A Detroit-area community is hoping that a film based on its struggle to reopen a historic public library will generate support (Library Journal [7]).

In other film news, production of Memories of My Melancholy Whores, based on the latest novel by Gabriel García Márquez, has been delayed after complaints from an anti-prostitution group (Guardian [8]).

American-born T. S. Eliot has been voted Britain’s favorite poet, according to a poll taken as part of BBC Poetry Season (Bookseller [9]).

Following provincial budget reductions, the government of British Columbia eliminated all financial support this week for two publishing associations and the trade magazine BC BookWorld (CBC [10]). Calling the move a “literary clearcut,” industry professionals responded yesterday by forming the Coalition for the Defence of Writing and Publishing (Quill & Quire [11]).

Google cofounder Sergey Brin hit back at opponents of the Google Book Search initiative yesterday, saying in an op-ed piece that it was time to “dispel some myths about the agreement” (New York Times [12]).