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.
The American Library Association has shared its annual Top 10 Most Challenged Books list. Books addressing racism surged onto the list this year, including The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas and Stamped: Racism, Antiracism, and You by Ibram X. Kendi and Jason Reynolds. For the third year in a row, the most challenged book was George by Alex Gino, which tells the story of a transgender girl in the fourth grade. (Guardian)
The New York Public Library has announced its twenty-third class of Cullman Center fellows. The fifteen writers and scholars will each receive a stipend of up to $75,000 and office space. The cohort includes poet Michael Prior and fiction writers David Wright Faladé, Jonas Hassen Khemiri, Maaza Mengiste, Josephine Rowe, and Madeleine Thien.
“He had hustle, and he had integrity. He followed his very rigorous tastes and never compromised. It would never occur to him to do so.” Christian Lorentzen writes a tribute to Tyrant Books founder Giancarlo DiTrapano, who died on March 30 at age forty-seven. (Vulture)
The winners have been revealed for this year’s Anisfield-Wolf Book Awards, which recognize books that contribute to “our understanding of racism and human diversity.” James McBride received the fiction prize for Deacon King Kong, while Victoria Chang earned the poetry prize for Obit. The nonfiction prize was split between Natasha Trethewey’s Memorial Drive and Vincent Brown’s Tacky’s Revolt: The Story of an Atlantic Slave War. Samuel R. Delany was recognized with the lifetime achievement award.
Catapult has launched Don’t Write Alone, a new vertical that will provide writers with craft advice and practical resources. The website is a joint project of Catapult magazine and the Catapult classes program. (Publishers Weekly)
In one of the first articles on Don’t Write Alone, R. O. Kwon challenges the common advice to “kill your darlings”: “I want any novel I write to be full of darlings. If possible, all darlings. I don’t want any published novel of mine to include a single line that bores me.”
“Many Americans, probably the vast majority of Americans, feel they can get along just fine without poetry. But tragedy—a breakup, a cancer diagnosis, a sudden death—can change their minds about that.” Margaret Renkl writes in praise of poets. (New York Times)
Poets Kelli Russell Agodon, Tenille K. Campbell, Jasmine Mans, Ryan Meyer, and David Woo share writing advice and recommended reading. (Forbes)
