Every day Poets & Writers Magazine scans the headlines—publishing reports, literary dispatches, academic announcements, and more—for all the news that creative writers need to know. Here are today’s stories.
Nine emerging Asian American writers have been selected as fellows for the third annual Kundiman Mentorship Lab, a six-month program that includes classes, workshops, and one-on-one mentorship meetings. This year the mentors are Arhm Choi Wild, Rajesh Parameswaran, and Larissa Pham. Each fellow will also receive a $1,000 stipend.
Japanese American author Hisaye Yamamoto features in today’s Google Doodle. Born in 1921, Yamamoto was among the many Japanese Americans forced into internment camps during World War II; she is known for her short stories that depicted, among other things, the experience of Japanese immigrants in the United States. “Reading Yamamoto’s work and working on this Doodle amidst all the recent news about rising violence hit especially hard,” said Alyssa Winans, who created the illustration.
“There are at least six Marcel Prousts to study, and, though we’d like to say that each feeds the others, the truth is that they exist in separate, sometimes baffling strata.” Adam Gopnik writes about the multiple legacies of Marcel Proust. (New Yorker)
“By sticking to real science and real physics, I have plots presented to me that I would never think of.” Andy Weir, the author of the best-selling novel The Martian and, most recently, Project Hail Mary, discusses grounding his fiction in scientific fact. (New York Times)
The Duke University Press Workers Union has formally filed for a union election with the National Labor Relations Board, which will allow the group to move forward even if Duke University Press and Duke University continue to withhold voluntary recognition. The workers made their first public announcement about unionization efforts back in March. (Publishers Weekly)
“It always felt to me like if I wanted to live as a writer, I had to almost create, as a woman, the conditions for me as a writer to be able to exist.” Rachel Cusk reflects on life as a woman artist and her latest novel, Second Place. (Wall Street Journal)
“I became interested in the sticky relationship between people and physical objects, especially mass consumer products.” Kate Durbin discusses using the reality show Hoarders as a frame to write her latest poetry collection. (BOMB)
BuzzFeed News recommends fifteen books releasing in paperback in May, including Pizza Girl by Jean Kyoung Frazier and The Death of Vivek Oji by Akwaeke Emezi.
