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:
Harper Lee’s iconic novel To Kill a Mockingbird is heading to Broadway for the first time. Producer Scott Rudin acquired the book rights for Broadway’s 2017–2018 season, and Oscar-winning screenwriter Aaron Sorkin will adapt the novel for the stage. (Newsweek)
At the Los Angeles Times, poet Ross Gay talks about his third collection—Catalog of Unabashed Gratitude—which is currently up for the Kingsley Tufts Poetry Award and for the National Book Critics Circle Award; choosing to embrace joy in the face of life’s difficulties; how gardening informs his writing; and the reception of his work on the page in contrast with his public performances.
In March, independent publisher Headmistress Press is releasing a third set of limited edition Lesbian Poets Trading Cards. Fiction writer and editor Kathleen Rooney explains why she’s looking forward to the release, as the cards literally “put a face on the absences that exist in many readers’ knowledge.” (Chicago Tribune)
Would you like a chance to coauthor a book with best-selling author James Patterson? MasterClass, an online learning platform, is hosting a contest for students who enroll in Patterson’s writing course to collaborate on the author’s next book. The deadline to submit is March 22, and Patterson will select the winner on March 24. (GalleyCat)
At the New Yorker, Adrian Van Young profiles fiction writer Brian Evenson, and examines how his upbringing in the Mormon Church—which he left sixteen years ago—influences his writing, which Van Young says is “equal parts obsessive, experimental, and violent.”
The St. Marks Bookshop in New York City, which was in danger of shuttering yesterday, has received a reprieve, which will allow the store to remain open until February 17. The owner hopes investors will save the store and turn it into a nonprofit. (Publishers Weekly)
Today through Sunday, February 14, the floating library sets sail on Los Angeles’s Echo Park Lake. Readers in the area can peruse books via paddleboat. The floating library project began in Minnesota, and this weekend’s edition is presented in conjunction with L.A.’s Art Book Fair. (Huffington Post)
