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:
On Sunday, four of the five Hong Kong booksellers that have been missing since November appeared on Chinese television, stating that they had been detained for “unauthorized” book trading on China’s mainland. Some people, however, believe that the booksellers were arrested because of selling books that exposed information about China’s politics, and that the confessions were forced. (BBC News)
“I did this because isn’t the more intimate, tenebrous story the one where we recognize each other not only in our despair, but also in our joy?” A writer recalls her experience visiting James Baldwin’s former home in France, and examines the author’s lasting legacy. (BuzzFeed)
This morning, PEN America announced a selection of its 2016 literary award winners in fiction, poetry, nonfiction, and translation. The organization will honor Toni Morrison with the annual PEN/Saul Bellow Award for Achievement in American Fiction. Five additional winners will be announced at PEN’s award ceremony on April 11 in New York City.
Actor and author B. J. Novak and List App CEO Dev Flaherty have selected Lauren Groff’s novel Fates and Furies as the inaugural title for the List App’s new book club. Of Groff’s book, Novak said in a press release, “Fates and Furies has been highly recommended to me, and its combination of pleasure and substance makes it sound like a perfect choice for our community.” (GalleyCat)
Speaking of women writers, today marks the beginning of Women’s History Month, a celebration of influential women in the United States. NBC News is partnering with the Ms. Foundation for Women to lead a digital campaign called #31Days of Feminism, which spotlights the achievements of thirty-one women of color who work as artists, writers, activists, community organizers, and more. Writers featured in the campaign include poet Tanzila Ahmed and fiction and nonfiction writer Roxane Gay.
Why not kick off Women’s History Month with some empowering quotes by influential women? The International Business Times rounds up ten inspirational sayings from women including authors Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie and Simone de Beauvoir.
“After meeting Eco, I realized that treating readers as co-conspirators was a much more bountiful strategy than trying to prove I had a giant brain.” Novelist Glen David Gold remembers interviewing Italian novelist and scholar Umberto Eco. Eco passed away on February 19 at age eighty-four. (Los Angeles Times)
