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:
More than a million books on their way to Argentine publishers from foreign printing houses have been impounded by the government, part of an effort to shift industry away from importers and toward the domestic presses. According to the newspaper Clarín, publishers are being required to meet with commerce secretary Guillermo Moreno in order to retrieve their books from customs. (Wall Street Journal)
A bookstore owner in New York City's East Village nabbed an alleged thief who had been selling stolen library books to area used-book stores. (New York Post)
Following up on a story we reported earlier this week, Amazon has replaced the Kindle version of Neal Stephenson's novel Reamde citing "Missing Content" in the original version "that have been corrected" (sic). (Awl via GalleyCat)
Stephen Mitchell took some liberties with his new translation of The Iliad, trimming the text and toning down Homeric epithets in favor of more modern phrasing. Who knew Hector could be such a son of a bitch? (Wall Street Journal)
Is a poem ever finished? After watching the deconstruction of artist Jaume Plensa's temporary public artwork Echo, a writer makes peace with completing his poem about the sculpture. (Paris Review)
U.K. poet laureate Carol Ann Duffy is still waiting on David Beckham to deliver a pair of cleats he'd promised her in return for a handwritten copy of "Achilles," Duffy's 2010 poem inspired by the soccer star. She understands he's just had a baby (named Harper, incidentally, after Ms. Lee), but she's expecting those kicks by Christmas. (BBC News)
Expecting a new addition to your literary family? Flavorwire has your source for bookish baby names.
Publishers Weekly has your conversation starters for the weekend: Flannery O'Connor taught her pet chicken to walk backward, Virginia Woolf hoaxed the Royal Navy, and other author tales from the margins. (PWxyz)
