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.
Publishers Weekly and Frankfurter Buchmesse have named Nivia Evans, an editor at Orbit Books, the PW Star Watch 2020 Superstar. Evans accepted the award from 2019 Superstar Jennifer N. Baker in a ceremony over Zoom. “When I started my career in publishing about six years ago, I never would have dreamed I’d be among so many people I’ve come to admire accepting such an honor,” Evans said.
The American Booksellers Association (ABA) has launched Boxed Out, a national marketing campaign that calls on consumers to support independent bookstores over Amazon. “More than one indie bookstore a week has closed since the COVID-19 crisis began,” says ABA president Allison K Hill. “At the same time, a report forecasts that Amazon will generate $10 billion in revenue on October 13 and 14 during its Prime Day promotion.” (Publishers Weekly)
Elizabeth A. Harris of the New York Times talks to independent bookstore owners across the country, from Seattle to New York City, about the challenges of operating in the pandemic era.
The shortlist for the 2020 Albertine Prize, presented by the Cultural Services of the French Embassy, has been announced. The annual prize honors “American readers’ favorite work of contemporary Francophone fiction that has been translated into English.”
Meanwhile, the Chicago Review of Books has also announced the finalists for its CHIRBy Awards, which honor Chicago-based writers in four categories: fiction, nonfiction, poetry, and short essays.
“It was extremely disheartening, as a Black writer, to be told, ‘Your voice isn’t Black enough’ or ‘your stories are too upmarket.’” Rachel Howzell Hall talks to the Los Angeles Times about her latest book, And Now She’s Gone, and the ups and downs of her career as a crime novelist.
“How much fearlessness is in being able to look the world raw in the face and see how ugly it can be and still love it despite itself.” francine j. harris talks to Electric Literature about revelling in gore and darkness in her latest collection, Here Is the Sweet Hand.
S. Kirk Walsh recalls her favorite author readings through the years, from an event with Galway Kinnell, Wendell Berry, Donald Hall, and Sharon Olds in Michigan in 1987 to a reading with Carmen Maria Machado in Texas in 2020. (Literary Hub)
