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:
Steph Burt and Carmen Giménez Smith have been named the new poetry editors of the Nation. The two poets and critics will build out the publication’s poetry presence and will begin accepting submissions on September 15.
Guy Intoci, the publisher and editor in chief of Dznac Books, is stepping down next week due to personal reasons; Intoci will be succeeded by senior editor Michelle Dotter. (Publishers Weekly)
“Led by a group of influential authors who pull no punches when it comes to calling out their colleagues’ work, and amplified by tens of thousands of teen and young-adult followers for whom online activism is second nature, the campaigns to keep offensive books off shelves are a regular feature in a community that’s as passionate about social justice as it is about reading.” Kat Rosenfield investigates the world of young-adult books Twitter. (Vulture)
Meanwhile, the New York Times delves into a new crop of books for young readers that “humanize and personalize the ongoing conflict” of the Syrian refugee crisis, and “touch on challenging issues like the rise of the Islamic State and the sectarian rift between Sunnis and Shias.”
“Are romance novels any more formulaic or unrealistic than the spy novels and thrillers that attract a male readership?” Ron Charles questions the assumptions behind criticism of romance novels, pointing out that the genre accounts for a third of fiction sales in the United States. (Washington Post)“I was also toying with the perception—sadly widespread—that writing media tie-ins is beneath the dignity of a respectable author.” Jason Heller describes his experience of breaking into the publishing world as a tie-in writer. (Atlantic)
In the latest installment of the Guardian’s 100 Best Nonfiction Books of All Time, Robert McCrum takes a closer look at one of the most famous slave memoirs of the eighteenth century, The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano. Born in present-day Nigeria, Equiano was sold into slavery at the age of eleven and eventually bought his freedom in 1766.
Jeff VanderMeer talks with Guernica about climate-change fiction; his latest novel, Borne; and the job of the writer to “render visible what is often invisible.”
