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.
Macmillan CEO John Sargent has issued an open letter to librarians in which he responds to the ongoing criticism of the corporation’s new e-book “windowing” policy. Starting November 1, libraries will be limited to purchasing a single perpetual access copy of new releases from Macmillan imprints; they can only license multiple copies after eight weeks. “We are not trying to hurt libraries; we are trying to balance the needs of the system in a new and complex world. We believe windowing for eight weeks is the best way to do that.” (Publishers Weekly)
Twenty-five writers share their favorite magazines for inspiration, escape, and more. Bernardine Evaristo, who recently won the Booker Prize for her novel Girl, Woman, Other, recommends Wasafiri, a thirty-five-year-old magazine that features international writing. (Times Literary Supplement)
This year, Yen Press published the first two English editions of novels by Japanese writer Tomihiko Morimi: Andrew Cunningham’s translation of Penguin Highway and Emily Balistrieri’s translation of The Night is Short, Walk on Girl. At the Millions, Cunningham and Balistrieri compare notes on translation and discuss what draws them to Morimi’s work.
At the Creative Independent, poet Yanyi discusses leaving his full-time job, allowing inspiration to arrive in its own time, and the centrality of reading to his artistic practice.
In a special Halloween episode of Fiction/Non/Fiction, Victor LaValle and Benjamin Percy discuss horror film and literature in the midst of political and climate crises. “We’re in a golden age of horror filmmaking,” Percy says. “I think it has everything to do with the divisive situation that we find ourselves in under the Trump administration.” (Literary Hub)
At the Paris Review Daily, Dan Piepenbring discusses collaborating with Prince on his memoir, and shares how the project changed and ultimately became The Beautiful Ones after the musician’s sudden death. “It’s billed as a memoir but really it’s more like a gesture toward a memoir, toward what the book could have been if he had lived.”
In the latest installment of the New York Times By the Book series, André Aciman reflects on the best book he’s ever received as a gift: The Interpretation of Dreams by Sigmund Freud.
Six authors share the most terrifying books they’ve ever read. Anne Rice and Sarah Pinborough both vote for Stephen King’s Salem’s Lot. (Guardian)
