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:
During the International Book Fair in Bogota, Colombia, on Saturday, a first edition of Gabriel Garcia Marquez’s novel One Hundred Years of Solitude was stolen. The book, which is signed by the late author, is estimated to be worth $60,000. (BBC News)
PEN American Center’s annual literary gala took place last night in New York City, and the editors of satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo were honored with PEN’s Freedom of Expression Courage Award. In January, an attack at the magazine’s Paris offices by Islamist extremists left twelve staff members dead. Despite recent controversy surrounding the decision to award the magazine, which culminated with more than two hundred writers signing a letter of protest and six gala table hosts withdrawing from the event, Charlie Hebdo’s editors received a standing ovation at the gala. In his acceptance speech, editor-in-chief Gerard Biard said of the controversial publication, “Being shocked is part of the democratic debate. Being shot is not.” (Guardian)
In this week’s installment of the New York Times Bookends series, Alice Gregory and Charles McGrath discuss books that have been successful as film adaptations.
In related news, filming begins next week for A Quiet Passion, the new biopic of poet Emily Dickinson. Cynthia Nixon will play the part of Emily Dickinson, and Terence Davies will direct. (Variety)
Chipotle Mexican Grill is launching an essay contest for middle and high school students. The “Cultivating Thought” contest will award a $20,000 college scholarship to the winning essay, which will be printed on Chipotle’s takeout bags and cups. Over the past year, Chipotle has featured stories by prominent authors including Toni Morrison and George Saunders on its takeout materials. (Melville House)
At Salon, Austin Bunn, whose debut story collection, The Brink, is out this week, talks with novelist and essayist Leslie Jamison about the craft of fiction writing and inspiration for their newest collections.
“We have a vested interest in supposing that we are capable of projecting a kind of continuous movie of the events in a novel…. The problem is that upon close examination the reading experience is far more complex and far less visual than is commonly supposed.” Tim Parks writes for the New York Review of Books about sensory reading and Peter Mendelsund’s new book What We See When We Read (Vintage, 2015).
