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:
A book of poems and photographs about the footings of electricity pylons (yes, you read that correctly) just won the Wales Book of the Year award. (Guardian)
In digital publishing news, Amazon has slashed the price of the Kindle DX (PC World) and Toshiba is set to launch a new e-book store. (Publishing Perspectives)
The Faulkner & Yoknapatawpha Conference will take place in Oxford, Mississippi, later this month, exploring the theme of "Faulkner and Film." Literary scholars will study the screenplays of nine movies penned by the Nobel Prize winner, including A Rose for Emily, Barn Burning, and The Road to Glory. (WREG)
Canada's iBookstore opened yesterday—Canada Day—and all five major publishers from the American iBookstore have made their titles available in the Canadian store, according to Publishers Weekly.
The newly appointed U.S. poet laureate W. S. Merwin "couldn't get any less Washington [D.C.]," according to the Washingtonian. The New York Times takes a closer look at the various phases of Merwin's career, including the present one: "Mr. Merwin is back, and he is having a moment."
On Wednesday a federal immigration judge granted asylum to an author who is also the son of one of Hamas's founding members. (Publishers Weekly)
Following the breakout success of Stieg Larsson's Millennium trilogy, "U.S. publishers are combing the globe for the next big foreign crime novel." (Wall Street Journal)
McDonald's and the Detroit Public Library have teamed up for a program called Books and Backpacks, which offers a free Happy Meal to kids who check out five books from the local library. (Detriot Free Press)
