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:
In honor of Earth Day, a descendant of Henry David Thoreau reflects on the current state of Walden Pond and what his ancestor might make of today's occasion. (USA Today)
Barnes & Noble is about to up the ante in the e-reader battles by launching its first national broadcast television advertising campaign in fourteen years to tout the Nook. (Wall Street Journal) In related news, Barnes & Noble announced a content partnership with Salon.com. (Publishers Weekly)
The FBI is investigating a case of suspected embezzlement at Naropa University. (The Sycamore) An update can be found here.
Berlin's international literature festival has called for a worldwide reading of Chinese author Liao Yiwu's poetry and prose on June 4, 2010. The day is the anniversary of the Tiananmen Square massacre, and Liao Yiwu, whose works are not published in China despite their international acclaim, was banned from travel to a German literary festival last year.
The New York Public Library is employing a massive machine that is "two-thirds the length of a football field" in size to sort books for its 132 branches. (New York Times)
The Los Angeles Times Festival of Books takes place this weekend at the UCLA campus.
After reading Granta's recently published sex issue, the Guardian wonders if masturbation is literature's last sexual taboo.
