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.
More than 280 literary arts organizations across the country will collectively receive over $3.5 million in relief funding from the Literary Arts Emergency Fund, which was launched earlier this summer by the Academy of American Poets, the Community of Literary Magazines & Presses, and the National Book Foundation, with the support of the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. The fund offers relief to organizations, magazines, and presses facing severe financial losses due to COVID-19.
The Whiting Foundation has announced the five winners of its third annual Literary Magazine Prizes. One Story and Conjunctions are this year’s print prize winners, while Foglifter won the print development grant. Kweli took home the digital prize and Nat. Brut was selected for the digital development grant. The grants will be administered over the course of three years; each publication will receive an outright gift in the first year and matching grants in years two and three.
The National Book Foundation has announced the longlist for this year’s National Book Award for Young People’s Literature. Ten books were selected from a total of 311 submissions. All of the longlisted authors are first-time nominees, and three of the titles are debuts: Every Body Looking by Candice Iloh, Lifting as We Climb: Black Women’s Battle for the Ballot Box by Evette Dionne, and Cemetery Boys by Aiden Thomas. (New Yorker)
“He had a virtuosic panoply of chuckles, like notes of an organ.” Alane Mason mourns the passing of Randall Kenan, who died in August at age fifty-seven. She recalls their decades-long friendship and the joy of serving as his editor. (Literary Hub)
Publishers Weekly and Frankfurter Buchmesse have selected forty publishing professionals for the 2020 PW Star Watch list. Five finalists and a winner will be named in October.
Graywolf Press has announced its annual literary salon will take place online on October 8 at 7:30 PM CST. This year’s featured speakers are Natalie Diaz, Roy G. Guzmán, Khaled Mattawa, and Kevin Young. Admission is free and open to the public, but donations are welcomed. (Publishers Weekly)
“After Rubén, which took ten years to assemble, decisively solidifies this notion that I consider myself as part of, and find solace in, various lineages.” Francisco Aragón on paying tribute to Nicaraguan poet Rubén Darió and other influences in his latest collection, After Rubén. (Rumpus)
“This election is going to be a referendum on the American character.” In a profile at the Guardian, Martin Amis reflects on politics, the pandemic, and writing about crisis.
