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:
An eighty-two-year-old grandmother from North Wales landed a three-book deal, which saw her debut novel The Great Lie hit bookstore shelves last week. (Telegraph)
In the wake of President Obama's dismissal of General Stanley McChrystal, Simon & Schuster has released a timely e-book "that chronicles another high-profile conflict between general and president." (Los Angeles Times)
Neil Gaiman and the Independent lament that today's vampires are often depicted as "vegetarians" and "tend to be quite neurotic" instead of the terrifying and bloodthirsty "fanged creatures of the night" from Bram Stoker's Dracula.
Dzanc Books has offered an alternative "twenty under forty" list in response to the New Yorker's. (Publishers Weekly)
Can e-books pave the way for more "safe-bet fiction blockbusters"? (Economic Times)
A new art installation in San Francisco inspired by Gertrude Stein's experimental poetry collection Tender Buttons features "handmade dresses, letterpress prints, photographs, poetry, and dance by more than thirty women artists." (San Francisco Examiner)
According to the Winnipeg Free Press, a new documentary about the writing of Jack Kerouac's Big Sur is illuminated by the empathetic interviews of musicians who relate strongly to the book and Kerouac's experiences.
"The idea that drugs and alcohol give artists unique insights and powerful experiences is an illusion," a psychiatrist claimed in the Independent on Friday. "When you try and capture
the experiences [triggered by drugs or alcohol] they are often nonsense. These drugs often wipe your memory, so it's hard to remember how you were in that state of mind."
British booksellers are having a little fun at the expense of the English national soccer team, which was knocked out of the World Cup this weekend after a sub-par performance against Germany. Totally Frank, the title of an autobiography by England star player Frank
Lampard, is currently being advertised by a number of online retailers as Totally Rank. (Bookseller)
