Baltimore Libraries Stay Open During Riots, Graphic Novel Banned in Russia, and More

by
Staff
4.29.15

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:

Amid citywide riots and protests following the death of Freddie Gray, who sustained fatal injuries in police custody last week, Baltimore institutions including the Enoch Pratt Free Library and Red Emma’s Bookstore have remained open to provide community services and support. (MTV News, Publishers Weekly)

After three years in prison, Cameroonian poet and activist Enoh Meyomesse has been released. English PEN lobbied for the poet’s release since 2011 and published his work through its Writers at Risk program. Meyomesse ran for Cameroon presidency in 2011, which some believe motivated his arrest. (Guardian)

Rock musician Courtney Love is being sued by Anthony Bozza, the co-author of her memoir Girl With the Most Cake. Bozza has accused Love of failing to complete paperwork and payment after he delivered her a 12,375-word manuscript. (New York Times)

Art Spiegelman’s Pulitzer Prize–winning graphic novel Maus has been banned in Russian bookstores due to its cover, which bears the image of a swastika. Upon news of the ban, Spiegelman told NPR, “I’m afraid that this is a harbinger of the new arbitrariness of rules in Russia…so this is a way in which I fear that Maus has been instrumentalized to ends I don’t approve of.”

Last night in New York City, the annual Authors Guild Dinner took place and honored Joan Didion. The event raised money for writers advocacy groups the Authors Guild Foundation and the Authors League Fund. (Electric Literature)

At the Los Angeles Review of Books, Christine Fischer Guy interviews author Helen Macdonald, whose memoir H is for Hawk won both the Costa and Samuel Johnson prizes.

Over four hundred bookstores across the United States are gearing up for the inaugural Independent Bookstore Day, which will take place on May 2. Shelf Awareness provides a list of creative plans from various participating stores.