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 Loeb Classical Library of Greek and Latin Literature has expanded into the digital realm. Harvard University Press has developed a digital platform for the Loeb that includes more than five hundred twenty works of classic Greek and Latin literature. American philanthropist James Loeb founded the library in 1912 in an effort to broaden the accessibility and readership of Classical texts. (Wall Street Journal)
The British Library is currently hosting its largest exhibit of Gothic literature until January 20th. Inspired by the exhibition, British author Neil Gaiman discusses the influence of Mary Shelley’s quintessential Gothic work, Frankenstein, at the Guardian. “It was the place where people learned we could bring life back from death, but a dark and dangerous and untamable form of life, one that would, in the end, turn on us and harm us.”
Over at NPR, Rachel Martin interviews author Azar Nafisi about her new book, The Republic of Imagination. Azar is the author of the 2003 best-selling memoir, Reading Lolita In Tehran. Her new book explores American society through three works that reflect American conscience: Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain, Babbitt by Sinclair Lewis, and The Heart is a Lonely Hunter by Carson McCullers.
Meanwhile, in his review of poet Jericho Brown’s new collection, The New Testament, author Craig Morgan Teicher notes that while the book includes tones of ambivalence and skepticism regarding the state of race relations in the United States, it also possesses the “fragile belief in the possibility of change” and an “unlikely kind of hope.” (NPR)
The Berkeley, California–based small press Heydey Books celebrates its fortieth anniversary this year. Founder Malcom Margolin notes that the decision to make Heyday a nonprofit, as well as his willingness to adapt to technological changes in the publishing industry, have contributed to keeping the press alive. (Publishers Weekly)
A Shed of One’s Own? Peek inside the writing sheds of famous authors such as Virginia Woolf, Dylan Thomas, and Roald Dahl. (Guardian)
James Bond actor Roger Moore has published a new book. According to reviewer Chris Klimek, One Lucky Bastard: Tales From Tinseltown is more “cocktail gossip” than autobiography, in which the eighty-seven year old Moore discloses comical encounters with Hollywood elites. (Washington Post)
Paul Violi’s selected poems, a history of Berlin, and a travelogue from a six-thousand-mile journey on the Trans-Siberian Railway are among the top book picks for the week of October 20th. (Publishers Weekly)
