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:
In the few days since author and filmmaker Nora Ephron passed away in New York City due to complications from a battle with leukemia, numerous remembrances and tributes have been published. Here are three, representing three generations of her friends: Wellesley classmate, author, and broadcaster Lynn Sherr (Daily Beast); novelist and essayist Meghan Daum (Los Angeles Times); and filmmaker Lena Dunham (New Yorker).
Rupert Murdoch's News Corp confirmed rumors of its plans to divide its broadcast and publishing operations into two discrete companies. (GalleyCat)
Eterna Cadencia, a publisher in Argentina, has published a book using a special disappearing ink. Readers have two months before the text completely vanishes. The publisher hopes the book will garner new readers and encourage them to read quickly. (Design Taxi)
HBO is moving forward with an adaptation of Tom Perrotta's 2011 novel, The Leftovers, with Lost's Damon Lindelof on board as showrunner. (A.V. Club)
In a strange twist of events, Lori Teel, a New Mexico resident, was jailed for not returning Twilight to the library. All charges were later dropped. (New York Daily News)
The Iranian government-sponsored Islamic Association of Students is developing a video game called the Stressful Life of Salman Rushdie and Implementation of his Verdict. After the publication of Rushdie's The Satanic Verses in 1988, Ayatollah Khomeini issued a fatwa calling for Rushdie's death in 1989. In 1998, Iranian President Mohammad Khatami denounced the fatwa, claiming the government no longer supported the killing of Rushdie. (Guardian)
On the public radio show, 99% Invisible, Starlee Kine investigates the surprising origins of a wildly popular television commercial and discovers its roots in literary fiction. (Spoiler: Authors mentioned include George Saunders, Stuart Dybek, and Edgar Allen Poe, among others.)
Literary clothing company Out of Print will donate a book to a community in need for every new follower on Facebook and Twitter until July 9th.
