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.
“I see a direct connection between how Blackness is policed and criminalized in this country to how gender and gender nonconformity and sexual orientation have also been criminalized and policed in this country.” In conversation with Saeed Jones, writer and activist Raquel Willis discusses fighting for Black trans lives and sustaining revolutionary energy. (GQ)
Barnes & Noble has laid off an unspecified number of employees at its corporate office, including some book buyers. In April, Barnes & Noble furloughed most of its headquarter employees. (Publishers Weekly)
Carter Sickels reflects on teen idols, books, and films that helped him imagine a life as a queer trans man. “The Outsiders’ soft but edgy masculinity made sense to me back then, long before I had words for it, and gave me early exposure to the ways that boys and men, especially those growing up in rural places, could love each other.” (Catapult)
Emily Bernard, author of Black Is the Body, reflects on raising her daughters in the age of pandemic and ongoing anti-Black violence. “I can’t keep them safe. I can’t keep the outside world out. All of my efforts are violated by phones and screens and the truth of Black American life itself.” (New Yorker)
“Language—like gender, like sexuality—is fluid, not a static thing.” Melissa Faliveno, the author of Tomboyland, reflects on the possibilities and limits of contemporary gender identity language. (Esquire)
Macmillan has promoted Jennifer Enderlin to president of the St. Martin’s Publishing Group. Enderlin previously served as executive vice president and publisher of St. Martin’s Press. (Publishers Weekly)
Hulu and BBC Three have announced plans to adapt Sally Rooney’s debut novel, Conversations With Friends, into a twelve-episode series. (Vulture)
Claire Mullen writes in praise of Dodie Bellamy and her contributions to the New Narrative movement. (Nation)
