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:
Poets Marcus Wicker and Patricia Smith; fiction writers Celeste Ng and Jesmyn Ward; and nonfiction writer Ta-Nehisi Coates are among the nominees for the 2017 NAACP Image Awards, which celebrate the accomplishments of people of color in entertainment. The winners will be announced on January 15, 2018. (Deadline)
Thanks to the Keats Letters Project, the personal letters of Romantic poet John Keats are available for free online. Thirty-five letters written between 1815 and 1821 are currently published on the site, and the project plans to add more over the next three years. (PBS NewsHour)
The Prison Book Program, a nonprofit organization that sends free books to inmates, recently raised $1,800 to fund 450 dictionaries for prison libraries. In the last five years, the program has provided more than ten thousand dictionaries to prisoners. (Melville House)
Indie rock musician Liz Phair has signed a two-book deal with Random House. The first book, titled Horror Stories, is described as “a rich and kaleidoscopic memoir of Phair’s experiences with fame, heartbreak, motherhood, and everything in between.” (Variety)
On January 12 Amazon will premiere the ten-episode original series Electric Dreams, based on various writings by sci-fi author Philip K. Dick. Each standalone episode is inspired by one of Dick’s short stories, and features actors Steve Buscemi, Bryan Cranston, Anna Paquin, and others. (Business Wire)
A recent Barnes & Noble survey has revealed Thanksgiving eve to be the busiest reading day of the year for Americans, as many people turn to books and periodicals to relieve holiday travel stress.
Both the Poetry Foundation and the Academy of American Poets share poems about Thanksgiving. With themes including gratitude, family, and cooking, these poems are sure to get you into the holiday spirit.
