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:
The Wall Street Journal profiles Ann Goldstein, whose translations of works by Elena Ferrante, Jhumpa Lahiri, and Primo Levi have made her a “rare celebrity” among literary translators.
Seattle’s Office of Arts & Culture is offering $10,000 to a poet, fiction writer, or creative nonfiction writer to live inside a bridge for a year. The “bridge bard” will live inside the northwest tower of the Fremont Bridge, “undertake an in-depth exploration” of said bridge, and emerge with a piece of writing that “represent[s] or illuminate[s] some aspect of the bridge and the bridge’s history, be it real or metaphorical.” (Atlas Obscura)
At the Los Angeles Review of Books, poet and Omnidawn Publishing cofounder Rusty Morrison talks about her poetic process, spontaneity and vulnerability in poetry, and how her role as an editor and publisher plays into her work as a poet. Morrison’s most recent collection, Beyond the Chainlink, was published by Ahsahta Press in 2014.
The National Book Foundation has opened submissions for its 2016 Innovations in Reading Prize. An annual award of $10,000 is given to an individual or institution that has “developed innovative means of creating and sustaining a lifelong love of reading.” Applications are open until February 29, and the winner will be announced on May 2.
Over at the Paris Review, fiction writer Garth Greenwell discusses his debut novel, What Belongs to You, as well as narrative consciousness and the coexistence of shame and joy. What Belongs to You was released Tuesday by Farrar, Straus and Giroux.
Iran’s ministry of culture has decided to censor the use of the word “wine,” as well as the names of “foreign animals” in books published in the Islamic Republic. Mohammad Selgi, head of book publishing at the ministry of culture, said that when new books are registered with the ministry, the staff checks every page to see if “they require any editorial changes in line with promoting the principles of the Islamic revolution, effectively confronting the Western cultural onslaught and censoring any insult against the prophets.” (Telegraph)
Poet Rigoberto González writes a tribute to his late friend and mentor, poet Francisco X. Alarcón, who died of cancer last week. “As I move forward on my journey, I know I’m a better person because I learned from people like him how to respect my communities and how to love myself.” (NBC News Latino)
