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:
“Why do we love our writing teachers so much? Why, years later, do we think of them with such gratitude? I think it’s because they come along when we need them most, when we are young and vulnerable and are tentatively approaching this craft that our culture doesn’t have much respect for, but which we are beginning to love.” At the New Yorker, award-winning author George Saunders chronicles his writing education and the lasting influence of his mentor, Tobias Wolff. The piece is excerpted from the forthcoming anthology A Manner of Being: Writers on Their Mentors, out in December from the University of Massachusetts Press.
Smithsonian Magazine’s Charles Fenyvesi recalls his late night walk through Venice with poet and Nobel laureate Joseph Brodsky in 1978, and the ways in which the city profoundly impacted the poet.
Slate provides an interactive, annotated version of Herman Melville’s 1853 short story “Bartleby, the Scrivener.” Readers can view and filter annotations related to the story’s themes and historical or economic context.
The Ubud Writers and Readers Festival in Bali—the largest writers festival in Indonesia—has been forced to call off a series of events marking the 1965 massacre of nearly five hundred thousand alleged communists by Indonesian paramilitary and military groups. The Indonesian government threatened to revoke the festival’s permit if the events—which included panels, an art exhibit, and a book launch—were carried out. In response, festival founder and director Janet DeNeefe said she was “extremely disappointed,” as the organizers hoped that the panels would “enable conversations to take place that continue Indonesia on its journey of healing, particularly for those whose lives were so severely affected.” (Guardian)
The popular parodic Twitter account @GuyInYourMFA, run by comedian Dana Schwartz, satirizes a young, aspiring novelist of a certain type: “You Know. The one who monologues in the post-reading Q&A without ever asking a question. Who prefaces every short story or poem with epigraphs from dour French Existentialists.” At Literary Hub, “Guy” speaks with novelist Anthony Marra; hilarity ensues.
Acclaimed Egyptian author Gamal al-Ghitani passed away on Sunday at age seventy. Al-Ghitani wrote more than a dozen novels in his lifetime, many of which were translated from the Arabic into English, including his famous 1974 novel, Zayni Barakat. (New York Times)
With Halloween just around the corner, it’s the perfect time to browse photos of spooky, decaying mansions—in particular, the spooky, decaying mansion once inhabited by poet John Milton. Milton’s former home in Slough, England—Berkyn Manor—has been empty for the past three decades until an “urban explorer” recently broke in to take photographs. (Express)
