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:
“Young Man Langston,” a dramatic reading of the letters of poet Langston Hughes, will premiere at the 92nd Street Y Unterberg Poetry Center in New York City on February 23. John Douglas Thompson and Aaron Clifton Moten will star in the production. (New York Times)
One day after the announcement that Harper Lee will publish a second novel in July, that novel, Go Set a Watchman, now available in preorder, reached the No. 1 spot on the Amazon bestseller list. To Kill a Mockingbird claimed the number two spot. (GalleyCat)
Poet Elise Partridge passed away on Saturday at age fifty-six. Partridge’s poetry dealt with her battle with cancer, and her third poetry collection, The Exiles’ Gallery, will be published in April. (Globe and Mail)
The law is cracking down on...books. In Los Angeles and Shreveport, Louisiana, a number of Little Free Libraries—freestanding structures where community residents share books—have been taken down on violation of city codes and/or residents’ complaints. (Los Angeles Times)
Founder of the O, Miami poetry festival P. Scott Cunningham speaks with New Times Miami about launching Jai-Alai Books, an independent press that he hopes will help “to make [literature] part of [Miami’s] identity.”
What does it mean for a novel to be authentic? Tim Parks examines authenticity in fiction in an essay for the New York Review of Books.
In case you needed more reasons to keep reading, a study conducted at the University of Liverpool found that people who read for pleasure have less stress, higher self-esteem, and better coping skills than non-readers. (Bookseller)
