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:
Banned Books Week 2016 will spotlight writers of color. The American Library Association reports that half of challenged books are from non-white writers, and that this year’s week will “celebrate literature written by diverse voices…as well as explore why diverse books are being disproportionately singled out in the first place.” Banned Books Weeks 2016 will take place from September 21 to October 1.
President Barack Obama has announced his intent to nominate Carla D. Hayden as Librarian of Congress. Hayden, who has served as the CEO of the Enoch Pratt Free Library in Baltimore Maryland since 1993, would be the first woman and African American to hold the position of Librarian of Congress. (Whitehouse.gov)
Meanwhile, the Open eBooks initiative, which offers students access to thousands of free digital books, is now available. The program was created by a coalition of literacy, publishing, library, and technology organizations. (Whitehouse.gov)
Simon & Schuster has created an imprint for Muslim-themed children’s books. The imprint, Salaam Reads, will release at least nine books per year in an effort to continue the discussion about diversity in children’s publishing.
Best-selling author Margaret Atwood has announced that her retelling of Shakespeare’s play The Tempest in novel form will be titled Hag-Seed, and will be released on October 6. Atwood revealed the title and cover on her Twitter account on Monday. The retelling is a part of publisher Hogarth’s series of Shakespeare’s works written by contemporary novelists, which launched with Jeanette Winterson’s version of The Winter’s Tale (The Gap of Time) in October 2015. Other writers involved in the project include Man Booker Prize–winner Howard Jacobson, whose retelling of The Merchant of Venice is titled Shylock Is My Name, and Anne Tyler, who will reimagine The Taming of the Shrew as Vinegar Girl. (Bookseller)
“Stories are much more unified and coherent. One gesture, one metaphor, one set piece.” At Signature, fiction writer Jonathan Lethem discusses the process of arranging story collections, and his latest collection Lucky Alan, out now from Vintage.
In boy band fan fiction news, self-published author Anna Todd—whose After series of fan fiction about the band One Direction has been read more than a billion times on the platform Wattpad—is expanding her highly popular franchise by launching an app. The app will allow readers to collaborate with Todd on ideas for upcoming books, and to receive advice about how to self-publish their own books. (Hollywood Reporter)
