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:

As we recover from the destruction of Hurricane Sandy, GalleyCat lists a few opportunities to volunteer. [2]

Just as Sandy hit the northeast, the publishing industry was awash in news of the merger of Random House and Penguin [3]—New York has the insider's view of how it came about.

With the presidential election looming, James McGirk looks at literature of the right-wing, and asks, "What else is there, beyond Atlas Shrugged?" [4] (Daily Beast)

 “Are you the daughter of Obama?” Author Emily Raboteau writes of visiting Ghana [5] in the days following the Obama family's historic sub-Saharan tour. (Guernica)

"Long gone are the days of the catholic scholar who could quote both Pindar and Newton with ease. [6]" Alexander Nazaryan explains why more writers should embrace math. (New Yorker)

Critic Julia Turner looks at the lyrical versatility of Twitter hashtags [7]. (New York Times Magazine)

Choire Sicha argues that the literature of science fiction master Ursula Le Guin [8] makes genre divisions "seem foolish." (Slate)

To help you participate in National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo), Flavorwire rounded up thirteen tips to combat writer’s block [9].

And for election day, the Academy of American Poets offers a selection of poems to celebrate the experience [10], including Elizabeth Alexander's "Praise Song for the Day."