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:
Penguin is launching a revival of its Modern Poets series of paperback books, each of which brings together the work of three contemporary poets. The original series was released in the 1960s, and surveyed a total of eighty-one contemporary poets over twenty-seven volumes. The first volume in the new series, out July 28, is If I’m Scared We Can’t Win, and features poets Anne Carson, Emily Berry, and Sophie Collins. (Bookseller)
In the world of middle-grade and young-adult literature, dystopias and vampires are old news; the latest trend is historical fiction about World War II. The New York Times profiles three novelists—Monica Hesse, Ruta Sepetys, and John Boyne—who are bringing World War II–era fiction to a new generation of readers.
At Book Riot, acclaimed novelist and essayist Marilynne Robinson discusses various topics in her latest essay collection, The Givenness of Things, including the role of fear in American politics, and the opposition of the humanities and the language of neuroscience.
“Love can’t block a bullet / but it can’t be destroyed by one either.” Read Jameson Fitzpatrick’s poem in response to Sunday’s mass shooting at the Pulse nightclub in Orlando, Florida. (Newsweek)
Meanwhile, novelist Justin Torres responds to the tragedy with a piece in praise of Latin Night at queer clubs. (Washington Post)
British writers including Ali Smith and Marina Lewycka have contributed stories to the forthcoming anthology Refugee Tales (Comma Press), which features accounts of asylum-seekers held at detention centers near Britain’s Gatwick airport. The anthology, out June 23, is modeled after Geoffrey Chaucer’s The Canterbury Tales. (Guardian)
Fight Club author Chuck Palahniuk is contributing to the adult coloring book fad with the upcoming release of his story collection Bait: Off-Color Stories for You to Color. Out this fall from Dark Horse Books, the collection features eight stories alongside nearly fifty illustrations by various artists. (Hollywood Reporter)
“Neither book nor movie is interested in questioning whether genius is real, or what on earth it might mean—genius simply exists like the weather, and it shines brightly on these two men.” Joanna Scutts writes about the trope of masculine genius in A. Scott Berg’s 1978 biography of editor Max Perkins, Max Perkins: Editor of Genius, and in the new film adaptation of the book. (New Republic)
