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:
Slovenian poet Tomaž Šalamun passed away on Saturday at age seventy-three. One of the most prominent and prolific Slovenian poets of his generation, Šalamun published nearly fifty poetry collections in his lifetime. The poet and translator taught in the United States at the International Writing Program at the University of Iowa, as well as at Columbia University as a Fulbright Fellow. (Poetry Foundation)
Before the Internet, librarians were there to answer your daily questions. The New York Public Library unearthed a box of questions posed to the Reference and Research Services desk from the 1940s to the 1980s. (NPR)
Penguin Books is set to publish artist and programmer Cory Arcangel’s Working On My Novel, which features a selection of tweets that include the phrase, yes, “working on my novel.” James Bridle states that the book “feels a little less like ‘the story of what it means to be a creative person, and why we keep on trying,’ as its blurb attests, and more like a mournful echo of the futility of writing itself.” (Guardian)
“If you’re not an author with a slavish fan following, you’re in a lot of trouble.” Self-published authors are speaking out against Amazon’s Kindle Unlimited service, which offers access to 700 thousand books for $9.99 per month. (New York Times)
Beginning on January 5, the book news website Biographile will launch “Write Start,” a series of craft essays by more than forty authors. (GalleyCat)
At NPR, Juan Vidal discusses established literary magazines that endure in the increasingly digital age, and new magazines that are “bringing a fresh approach, challenging norms and taking risks.”
“Man wakes up from coma and can’t believe he isn’t Matthew McConaughey.” Sometimes news headlines are truly stranger than fiction. Electric Literature has collected recent headlines that are sure to spark ideas for your next short story or novel.
