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:
“Carson is usually referred to as a poet, but just about no one finds that label satisfying.” With a new book out, Red Doc>, the New York Times Magazine has profiled Anne Carson for a second time.
Warner Brothers has filed a countersuit against Tolkien’s estate and publisher, which sued Warner last year for eighty million dollars over unapproved merchandise related to the Lord of the Rings film franchise. (Deadline)
NPR reports a University of Texas student discovered writing composed in 1786 by Jupiter Hammon, the earliest published African-American poet. Hammon lived his entire life in what’s now New York City's Queens, and his writing dates back to 1760.
In 1957, Langston Hughes told the Chicago Defender, “When I first came to Harlem, as a poet I was intrigued by the little rhymes at the top of most House Rent Party cards, so I saved them. Now I have quite a collection.” Slate’s new history blog, The Vault, showcases a few of the great poet’s collection.
Following the path of Richard Yates, Paula Fox, and others, Laura Miller explains why novelist Barbara Pym, whose best known book is 1952’s Excellent Women—is back (again). (Salon)
Betsy Morais looks at how some e-publishers are influenced by tech culture: “This corner of the publishing world envisions a book as a technological enterprise, and the Web’s hustlers are riding in from every direction to get in on the market.” (New Yorker)
Teju Cole composed: “Seven short stories about drones.” (New Inquiry)
The Tragedy of Mister Morn, a previously unpublished play by Vladimir Nabokov, which he composed in blank verse at the age of twenty-four, is out next week from Knopf. (Las Vegas Weekly)
