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.
People of Color in Publishing and Latinx in Publishing have released the results of their Workplace Racism Survey, which was conducted in 2018. Among the findings, 72.9 percent of respondents reported that they had experienced microaggressions on the job, and 47.4 percent reported being asked to do extra work, defined as “a sensitivity read or cultural consultation not directly related to their job or lived experience.” The survey also includes a series of recommendations for how white employees can take action against racism in publishing, relieving some of the burden on BIPOC workers to come up with solutions. (Publishers Weekly)
Poet Stephen Dunn, who won the Pulitzer Prize for his collection Different Hours, died from complications of Parkinson’s disease on June 24, his eighty-second birthday. His New York Times obituary concludes with a quote from “Sixty,” which he penned in 1999 to commemorate his sixtieth birthday and the turn of the century: “The millennium, / my dear, is sure to disappoint us. / I think I’ll keep describing things / to ensure that they really happened.”
An interview with Dunn was published online by Poets & Writers Magazine in 2004. When asked what he might want for a tombstone inscription, Dunn replied: “He rattled his cage. He would not be appeased.”
Abigail Bergstrom, who departed Gleam Titles earlier this year, has founded her own literary agency and publishing consultancy, Bergstrom Studio. The U.K. company will offer “bespoke editorial services and creative consultations,” while representing select authors. Bergstrom Studios is also developing a grant to subsidize the rent of a writer from an underrepresented background for one year. (Bookseller)
“I hope that my book can be a part of a larger movement to make room for more LGBTQ+ survivors in our national discourse around the #MeToo movement.” Jonathan Parks-Ramage, the author of Yes, Daddy, reflects on how victims of sexual assault are routinely delegitimized and held to “an impossibly high standard.”
“I recall thinking that this would be how I remember the summer of 2020. Not just by the anger that sought to bring an old world to its knees, but the bodies, slick and mutinous, of a determined generation trying to wrest back control of its destiny.” Angela Rose Brussel shares reflections and photos from demonstrations in New York City last summer, focusing on the occupation of City Hall. (Literary Hub)
“It turns out the push to capitalize ‘black’ is only the most recent way Black writers and activists have pushed back against entrenched power through ostensibly bland elements of writing.” Eurie Dahn examines how punctuation and style have been used as tools for activism. (Conversation)
“Like many millennials, I’ve spent a lot of my adult life being unemployed and underemployed.” Elizabeth Gonzalez James shares a reading list of books that address labor and unemployment issues. (Electric Literature)
