The Writer’s News
Updated weekly, the Writer’s News keeps you informed about new developments in the writing world, including award and publication announcements, news from AWP and the field, and updates about important literary figures.
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January 15, 2015
Former MIT Professor Robs Bank, Cites Rimbaud as Influence.
Inspired by the French poet Arthur Rimbaud—who died over a century ago—former MIT professor Joseph Gibbons, 61, robbed a Capital One bank (his second such heist!) in New York. As he made off with $1,000, Gibbons filmed the entire crime with a camcorder. Read more...
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January 15, 2015
Oxford Junior Dictionary’s Removal of Fifty Words Sparks Outcry from Authors.
A group of twenty-eight authors including Margaret Atwood and poet Andrew Motion are “profoundly alarmed” at the loss of fifty nature-related words from the Oxford Junior Dictionary, and replacement with technology-oriented words such as “broadband” and “chatroom.” Read more...
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January 15, 2015
Big Book Orgs Team Up to Host First National Readathon Day.
The first-ever National Readathon Day, organized by the National Book Foundation, Penguin Random House, Goodreads, and Mashable, will take place on Saturday, January 24th from 12 p.m. to 4 p.m. Read more...
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January 15, 2015
The Massacre at Charlie Hebdo and the Debate over Satire in Publishing.
The massacre of twelve people at French satirical weekly Charlie Hebdo by three gunmen—which left eleven other victims wounded—has incited a worldwide debate about the use of satire in publishing. Read more...
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January 8, 2015
Miller Williams, Poet at Clinton’s Second Inauguration, has Died.
Miller Williams, renowned Arkansas poet and editor, died of complications of Alzheimer’s on January 1 in a hospital in Fayetteville. Read more...
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January 8, 2015
Tomaž Šalamun has Died.
Slovenian poet Tomaž Šalamun died on December 27. He was 73 and lived in Ljubljana. Read more...
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December 16, 2014
The Whiting Foundation and Slate Celebrate Authors’ Second Novels.
The Whiting Foundation and Slate Book Review have teamed up on a campaign called “We Second That” in an effort to honor and draw attention to the best “under-recognized” second novels of the last five years. Read more...
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December 16, 2014
If Bill Passes, Massachusetts May Have Its First State Poet Laureate.
Massachusetts may appoint its first-ever state poet laureate if a bill passes through the House of Representatives, according to The Boston Globe. Read more...
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December 16, 2014
Melville House to Publish Senate Torture Report as a Book.
Melville House, an independent publisher based in Brooklyn, has announced that it will publish the Senate Intelligence Committee’s “Study of the Central Intelligence Agency’s Detention and Interrogation Program” as a book. Read more...
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December 8, 2014
Former U.S. Poet Laureate Mark Strand Has Died.
Mark Strand, former U.S. poet laureate and Pulitzer Prize winner for his collection Blizzard of One (1998), died from liposarcoma, a rare cancer of the fat cells. Read more...
