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:
Influential singer-songwriter and poet Leonard Cohen has died at the age of eighty-two, less than a month after releasing his latest album, You Want It Darker. Cohen began his career as a poet and novelist, and published several books before turning to music full-time. (PBS NewsHour)
In the aftermath of the presidential election, Don Share, editor of Poetry, shares his thoughts about how reading and writing poetry can offer solace. (Atlantic)
Speaking of poetry post-election, Entropy provides a packet for teachers comprised of “poems for coping,” such as “The Second Coming” by William Butler Yeats, “Dear White America” by Danez Smith, and “Home” by Warsan Shire, among others.
“They may like me as a person, but were concerned more holistically about what black and brown people were doing to this country and worried about a changing nation that no longer looked like them.” Candace Smith reflects on her experience as a black journalist covering Donald Trump’s campaign. (ABC News)
Next Tuesday Blue Rider Press will publish Forever Words: The Unknown Poems of Johnny Cash. Edited by Paul Muldoon, the book compiles the unpublished, handwritten poetry Cash wrote over the course of his career. (Paris Review)
At the Rumpus, creative nonfiction writer Belle Boggs discusses her new essay collection, The Art of Waiting, out now from Graywolf Press. The book is included in Poets & Writers Magazine’s September/October 2016 roundup, “Nine More New Memoirs.”
Meanwhile, poet Dana Levin interviews poet Matt Donovan about his new book of essays, A Cloud of Unusual Size and Shape (Trinity University Press). “The overarching concern of [Donovan’s book], writes Levin, “is how we contend with ruin.” (Boston Review)
During tough times, sometimes we just need to laugh. Signature features a list of nineteen funny books to read this fall, including Zachary Auburn’s pamphlet parody, How to Talk to Your Cat About Gun Safety, and comedian Phoebe Robinson’s essay collection, You Can’t Touch My Hair.
