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:

Novelist Erica Kennedy, author of the 2004 hip-hop satire Bling [2], and 2009's Feminista, has passed away at her home in Florida. She was forty-two. (New York Times)

Writer Bassey Ikpi offers a remembrance of her friend [3], Erica Kennedy. (xoJane)

Best-selling author Alice Walker has refused an offer to publish a new Israeli edition of The Color Purple. In a letter to the publisher, she wrote Israel "is guilty of apartheid and persecution of the Palestinian people [4]." (Guardian)

The latest kerfuffle in media: Newly hired staff writer Jonah Lehrer used portions of a 2011 Wall Street Journal essay (he penned) for a recent blog post at the New Yorker. Slate attempts to make sense of it all [5].

The American Libraries Association reports that a majority of public library technology budgets [6] in 2012 either remained unchanged, or dropped. (AppNewser)

If you missed Riverhead Books’ first annual New York City fundraiser for VIDA, a grass-roots organization whose mission is to "explore critical and cultural perceptions of writing by women," Electric Literature has photos [7].

Capital was also at the VIDA party [8], and delivers the break down.

Laura Miller explains why a filmed adaptation of the erotic bestseller Fifty Shades of Grey may not be a bad idea, especially if David Cronenberg and Bret Easton Ellis [9] are involved. (Salon)

Meanwhile, an October 26 release date has been announced for the film adaptation of David Mitchell's Cloud Atlas [10]. (Hollywood Reporter)

The Wall Street Journal details the battle for proper grammar at the workplace [11].