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.
Novelist Abdulrazak Gurnah has been revealed as the winner of this year’s Nobel Prize in Literature. The award citation praises “his uncompromising and compassionate penetration of the effects of colonialism and the fate of the refugee in the gulf between cultures and continents.”
In honor of its thirtieth anniversary, the Asian American Writers’ Workshop has planned a slate of special events for the fall, including a digital gala in December. Alongside the celebrations, the organization is aiming to raise $75,000. “Retrospectives are critical for taking stock of where you came from and how you got there, but it’s also important to look forward,” said executive director Jafreen Uddin. (Publishers Weekly)
Longtime literary agent Philip Spitzer has died at age eighty-two. The founder of his own eponymous agency, Spitzer represented an impressive roster of authors, including James Lee Burke, Michael Connelly, and Simon Van Booy. A service in East Hampton, New York is scheduled for Sunday, October 10. (Shelf Awareness)
“I like to do things neatly and perfectly on the first go. But you simply cannot write a book (let alone publish one) or make croissants if you are scared of mess or unwilling to wait on other parts of the process.” Pyae Moe Thet War writes about the many, often agonizing stages of drafting a book—and baking croissants. (Don’t Write Alone)
“Here is my portrait of Dawn Dorland: People being neither fully good nor fully evil, she’s likely neither; people being products largely of their time and place, she likely is.” Elizabeth Bruenig of the Atlantic weighs in on the viral article “Who Is the Bad Art Friend?”
The recipients of this year’s Center for Fiction/Susan Kamil Emerging Writer Fellowships, which include $5,000 and mentorship, have been revealed.
“I wish I could claim to have pioneered anti-self-help altogether, but maybe I can claim to have spearheaded the subgenre of anti-self-help literary biography?” Catherine Baab-Muguira talks to the Millions about the genesis of her genre-defying book, Poe for Your Problems.
Emily Temple of Literary Hub has assembled a list of twenty-five book covers that have stood the test of time and become iconic. Among her selections are designs for The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, Catcher in the Rye by J. D. Salinger, and Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison.
