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:
Author David Rakoff has passed away at forty-seven, after a long battle with sarcoma. Here are just a handful of the tributes published this morning—from the Forward, New York Times, Atlantic Wire, Slate, and the Awl.
And in memory of the great humorist and essayist, a few favorite examples of David Rakoff's recent work: early memories of New York City in the Wall Street Journal; essays on the films of Woody Allen in Tablet (after marathon film-festival screenings); and a video of an ill-fated book tour with comedian Dave Hill.
Thomas Steinbeck, the son of author John Steinbeck, is critical of the state of Texas after it used his father's writing to defend the execution of Marvin Wilson, a man with an IQ of sixty-one. (Telegraph)
Forbes lists the top-earning authors, and reports women writers are on the rise.
Meanwhile, the New York Times delves into the literary tastes of New York City's polyglot citizenry.
Poet Charles Simic laments the lost art of writing postcards. (New York Review of Books)
The Academy of American Poets rounded up a sampling of what it calls the "poetry of channeling," including Lorca's duende, W.B. Yeats's spiritus mundi, and Alice Notley's automatic writing.
Maria Popova, the creator of Brain Pickings, has launched Literary Jukebox, in which a daily quote from a favorite book is matched with a song.
