Every day Poets & Writers Magazine scans the headlines—publishing reports, literary dispatches, academic announcements, and more—for all the news that creative writers need to know. Here are today’s stories.
Ten distinguished writers, including Ta-Nehisi Coates, Joy Harjo, and Tracy K. Smith, are due to be inducted into the American Academy of Arts and Letters. The authors are part of a broader cohort of twenty-nine inductees, which includes architects, visual artists, and composers. Late last year the honor society voted to increase its membership cap from two hundred fifty artists to three hundred artists, who all serve lifetime appointments. In a statement, the Academy explained, “The board of directors is committed to creating a more inclusive membership that truly represents America, and believes that expanding the Academy’s membership will allow the Academy to more readily achieve that goal.”
Organizers have announced that the 2021 Frankfurt Book Fair will include both in-person and digital programming. Scheduled for October 20 to 24, the hybrid fair will also feature “significantly lower fees for exhibition stands.” (Bookseller)
“I’ve done the scariest thing I could ever think of: I told the truth, and not a superficial truth like my name but the deep truth of my heart.” The anonymous author of Becoming Duchess Goldblatt considers the rewards of finishing her book. (Cut)
“I would think I was done and then my agent or editor or self would send me back into the weeds with it. I would have a little breakdown for an hour. Then I’d go back to weeds.” Melissa Broder discusses the writing process behind her latest novel, Milk Fed. (Rumpus)
“Queer characters tend to die at the end of a lot of books! Or have really, really traumatic stories that don’t leave you feeling healed or whole. I wrote a story that people can hold on to and know that there is light at the end of the tunnel.” George M. Johnson, the author of All Boys Aren’t Blue, reflects on the urgent need for diverse queer narratives. (Guardian)
Anonymous Content is due to adapt Detransition, Baby by Torrey Peters for television. Peters will write the pilot and has also signed on as an executive producer. (Deadline)
Laurie Elizabeth Flynn, the author of The Girls Are All So Nice Here, recommends seven books that examine “the burden of expectations placed on women.” (Electric Literature)
Viet Thanh Nguyen answers the Book Marks Questionnaire and reports he is currently reading A Girl Is a Body of Water by Jennifer Nansubuga Makumbi.
