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:

The New York Times details the growing national phenomenon of selecting a poet laureate [2], both on the state and local level.

In recent days, author Maureen Johnson asked her readers to redesign the covers of well-known books by male authors [3] to highlight gender disparity in the publishing marketplace. (Huffington Post)

Author Dani Shapiro discusses the new public identity [4] authors now are compelled to adopt—the social media avatar. (Virginia Quarterly Review)

“Greg Bellow’s anger and disgust are palpable [5]….” Novelist Justin Taylor looks at the new book, Saul Bellow’s Heart: A Son’s Memoir. (New York Observer)

In a new anthology, novelist Haruki Murakami explains why he translated The Great Gatsby [6] for a Japanese audience. (GalleyCat)

Jeffrey Colvin visits Notasulga, Alabama, the birthplace of Zora Neale Hurston [7]. (Millions)

Margaret Atwood asks, “Should you, as a fiction writer, permit your characters to have dreams? [8]” (New York Review of Books)

Today is Thomas Pynchon's birthday [9]! (Los Angeles Times)