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.
Aaron Gerry reports on the various efforts to preserve Hñäñho, an Indigenous language in Mexico spoken by the Ñäñho people. Among the projects is a trilingual comic book, which features Hñäñho, Spanish, and English. “The hope is that telling Ñäñho cultural stories in a contemporary format can help preserve them, and the language, for generations to come.” (SAPIENS)
The recipients of the second annual BIPOC Bookseller Awards, which celebrate Black and brown independent booksellers and their service to their communities, have been announced. Denise Chávez, Dartricia Rollins, and Michelle Malonzo earned the activism, innovation, and leadership awards, respectively. Administered by Duende District and the Word, the awards include a prize of $1,000 for each honoree.
“Jones’s novels have, from the beginning, cracked open something new in African American literature. Tasked with explaining how and why, without a glimpse or an interview, I sought an alternative.” Imani Perry writes on the literary legacy of Gayl Jones and the reclusive novelist’s first book in over two decades, Palmares. (New York Times Magazine)
Lylla Younes interviews members of the New York City Arab and Muslim communities to learn about their experiences of 9/11 and its aftermath. “I lost a friend in that building,” says artist Emily Jacir. “That building was part of my life too, and many other people in the city. But after this catastrophic event, we became ‘them.’ It was not an ‘us,’ it was not a ‘we.’” (Margins)
Alyson Krueger of the New York Times talks to New York Mets pitcher Noah Syndergaard, who is currently off the field due to an elbow injury, about his book club. “People are like, ‘Enough of this book nonsense, get back on the mound,’” he says. “First of all, I can multitask.”
“The term ‘Latinx’ does not describe a monolith.” Oprah Daily has curated a multi-genre reading list of books by Latinx writers to mark Hispanic Heritage Month.
According to Book Marks, which aggregates professional book reviews, the “most reviewed book of all time” is now Sally Rooney’s Beautiful World, Where Are You. (Literary Hub)
