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:
Emma Watson has been hiding books in the London Underground. The award-winning actor has been leaving copies of Maya Angelou’s Mom & Me & Mom—the latest read from her feminist book club, Our Shared Shelf—for lucky commuters as part of the community project Books on the Underground. Each copy is inscribed with a handwritten message from the actor. (Telegraph)
Vulture asks six contemporary novelists whose latest books are set in the 1980s—including Alexander Chee, Caleb Crain, Eleanor Henderson, Grady Hendrix, Michael Kin, and Susan Mullen—about the challenges of capturing the particulars of the decade.
Over the weekend, celebrated novelist Haruki Murakami accepted the Danish Hans Christian Andersen Literature Award. In his speech, the novelist warned of excluding outsiders and of the importance of coming to terms with the darker aspects of oneself: “You have to patiently learn to live together with your shadow. And carefully observe the darkness that resides within you. Sometimes in a dark tunnel you have to confront your own dark side.” (Guardian)
For National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo), Signature has teamed up with Evernote to create The Ultimate Guide to Writing Advice, a free downloadable e-book that includes essays from acclaimed authors and editors about the craft and challenges of the writing process. Signature also shares a pair of helpful posts for writers ready to take on the monthlong challenge.
“Bibliotherapy’s goal should not necessarily be to make us feel better, but make us feel more, to feel deeper, to feel more honestly.” At the Millions, writer and historian James McWilliams considers the paradox of the therapeutic value of books.
Unbound Worlds shares a series of essays by science fiction and fantasy authors about the books that influenced their lives and shaped their works.
