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:
Japanese company Rakuten will purchase Kobo, a Canada-based e-book vendor, for $315 million. (GalleyCat)
Today, at 60 Wall Street, a public atrium in the heart of New York City's financial district, a free public reading of Herman Melville's Bartleby, the Scrivener will be held in support of Occupy Wall Street. The event was organized by representatives of Housing Works Bookstore, McNally Jackson Books, and others. Numerous readers are scheduled, including writers Eileen Myles, David Goodwillie, Stephen Elliott, Jami Attenberg, and Allison Devers.
The New Yorker has more on the mysterious case of the Q. R. Markham plagiarism scandal.
Self-published author Chris McGrath has sued Amazon reviewer Vaughan Jones for libel. McGrath claims Jones wrote several damaging reviews of his book last year under the pseudonym "Scrooby" as well as under his real name. After legal proceedings began, all the reviews were taken down. (Telegraph)
In the wake of cuts to the federal Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program, Stephen King—who lives part of the year in Bangor, Maine—announced he'll match funds raised by local radio stations he owns to donate up to $140,000 in heating fuel assistance for Maine residents. (Guardian)
The International Literary Film Festival begins next week in Brooklyn, New York.
If you're having difficulty coming up with a title for your novel, National Public Radio has some helpful formulas to get you started—or make you laugh—whatever works?
The Huffington Post has the scoop on last night's 2011 Library Lions gala at the New York Public Library, where Jonathan Franzen, among others, were honored. "Al Roker, wearing a velvety blazer, spoke to Lorne Michaels. It might have been about the weather."
