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:
Two literary arts organizations, the Hedgebrook writers colony on picturesque Whidbey Island in Washington State and Words Without Borders based in New York City, have both received sizeable grants from Amazon. (Publishers Weekly)
Information overload, one of the defining concerns of our current moment, isn't such a new problem after all. The Boston Globe takes a look at the effect of Gutenberg’s printing press on the fifteenth century's literate class, an event that caused one scholar to ask, “Is there anywhere on earth exempt from these swarms of new books?”
In a time when the closing of an indie bookstore is an all-too-common knell, the New York Times showcases one city with a thriving batch of well-loved indie bookstores: San Francisco.
According to USA Today, efforts to ban books have shifted in recent years from a single complaining parent to organized challenges that parrot information from Web sites such as Parents Against Bad Books in Schools (PABBIS.org).
Organizers have announced the inaugural Open Book Cape Town literary festival, set to take place in South Africa next September. (London Book Fair)
On the occasion of Steve Martin's latest novel hitting bookstores this month, Flavorwire looks at ten actors "who have taken on the literary arena."
Stieg Larsson's The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo has been adapted into a stage play set for a world premiere on Saturday in Denmark. (Independent)
In honor of Hanukkah, NPR ran a one hour special of four newly commissioned stories themed around the Jewish holiday.
