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:
Amazon proves the power of discounted e-book sales: When the online retail giant listed the two-year-old book Food, Inc. as its Daily Deal promotion, the title sold 14,158 copies in one day. The previous day, Food, Inc. had sold nine copies. (Atlantic)
A one-sentence note penned by the reclusive author of Catcher in the Rye, J. D. Salinger, who passed away in 2010, is currently up for auction for fifty thousand dollars. (Reuters)
In other literary auction news, a company in Omaha is selling the boots worn by J. K. Rowling when she first wrote Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone. Rowling donated them to an Omaha elementary school in 1999. (New York Times)
Last night, the novelist and cultural critic Touré held a release party for his new book, Who’s Afraid of Post-Blackness?, at Greenlight Bookstore in Brooklyn, New York. Fiction luminaries such as Zadie Smith, Terry McMillan, and Martha Southgate were in attendance. As part of their Media Beat series, MediaBistro spoke with the Touré on camera about his provocative new book. (GalleyCat)
Meanwhile, contrary to economic trends nationwide, Greenlight Bookstore is expanding. (Brooklyn Paper)
This past weekend, an arsonist broke into the library at the University of Missouri, vandalized the desks, and attempted to destroy the library with fire. The Missouri Review has some thoughts on the matter, and launched a Tumblr blog concerning crimes against libraries. (Millions)
For the New York Review of Books novelist J. M. Coetzee discusses the far-reaching effects of the 1960 Grove Press anthology The New American Poetry in the context of his review of Australian author Les Murray's two latest books: Taller When Prone: Poems and Killing the Black Dog: A Memoir of Depression.
In case you missed it, yesterday was Roald Dahl Day. You can test your knowledge of the author of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory at the Guardian, and the Los Angeles Times wonders, "Who will save Roald Dahl's writing shed?"
From the department of things discovered online: If you have the time and inclination, you can listen to the Dublin-born writer Patrick Healy read James Joyce's Finnegan's Wake. (Ubu)
