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:
In her last week as the Department of Justice's Acting Assistant Attorney General, Sharis Pozen spoke at the Brookings Institution about the DOJ's antitrust suit [2].
Laura Hazard Owen chats with an an anonymous publishing executive [3] about breaking Digital Rights Management (DRM) on e-books, so one can read a "Barnes & Noble Nook book on a Kindle, or an Apple iBookstore book on a Nook, or a Google book on a Kobo." (paidContent)
Meanwhile, Mike Shatzkin reveals the things he learned from the recent London Book Fair: "I heard a rumor from a very reliable source that two of the Big Six are considering going to DRM-free very soon [4]." (Shatzkin Files)
Poet and critic Stephen Burt has discovered Twitter [5], and the experience has inspired a few thoughts on spontaneity. (Harriet)
In light of the new Hunger Games Fan Tours in Brevard, North Carolina, where Katniss Everdeen enthusiasts can zip-line through the forest where the Hunger Games was filmed, Reuters looks at the long history of literary tourism [6].
World Book Night volunteer Ryan Chapman tells the story of how last night's event unfolded [7]. (Chapman/Chapman)
According to this letter on the evolving English language written in 1789 by Benjamin Franklin [8], this particular Founding Father didn't like the spread of the word "improved." (Lapham's Quarterly)
A debate over the fate of badgers [9] (who spread bovine tuberculosis) in the United Kingdom has been influenced by centuries of literature, ranging from Beatrix Potter to Anglo-Saxon poetry. (Guardian)