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.
“Character by character, line by line, poem by poem, I struggled with how ancient poems were composed, and making translations forced me to become a better reader as well as a better writer.” Arthur Sze on learning the craft of poetry through the close reading of translation. (Poetry)
The Millions previews new titles publishing in the fall, including Zadie Smith’s debut story collection, Saeed Jones’s memoir, and novels by Ta-Nehisi Coates, Wayne Koestenbaum, and Jacqueline Woodson.
“I think that fashion is having the right clothes, having the rights frames, and style is presenting your identity to the world in a way that’s only yours. Style is sentence-making.” Mitchell S. Jackson talks to the Rumpus about “burnt syntax,” meticulous craft, and his new book, Survival Math: Notes on an All-American Family.
While his Stranger Things character, bully Billy Hargrove, might not care for it, actor Dacre Montgomery has released a podcast of his own poetry set to music. (Refinery29)
At the Los Angeles Review of Books, T. C. Boyle explains the allure of altered consciousness and the impact psychedelic drugs had on his new novel, Outside Looking In.
“There are countries where the arts are considered vital. Too bad this isn’t one of them.” All hail Stephen King, the Guardian’s pick for the ruling septuagenarian of Twitter.
At the New Yorker, Paul Grimstad considers the “strange, convulsive worlds” of French writer and filmmaker Georges Perec. “Is it possible to write about unimaginable cruelty with the infantine levity of a jigsaw puzzle?”
“Listen, it can’t feel magical every day, of course, but writing does have the potential to be an act of joy.” Courtney Maum talks to Poets & Writers about writing her third novel, Costalegre, released yesterday by Tin House Books.
