Good News for Writers Who Drink Coffee, Secret Poet of Lynn, and More

by
Evan Smith Rakoff
6.6.13

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:

Shelf Awareness reports Amazon has made Kindle sales pitches to independent bookstores.

The digital age may have thrown the book industry into flux, but it’s been good for the international auction market of rare manuscripts. (Los Angeles Times)

Great news for writers who drink coffee—a large-scale study by the National Cancer Institute indicates moderate coffee consumption has health benefits. (New York Times)

Author Jonah Lehrer, the center of a major plagiarism scandal in 2012, is reportedly attempting to interest publishers in a book about the science of love. (FishbowlNY)

For the beach, designer swimwear maker Orlebar Brown has partnered with the Paris Review to create a line of trunks using cover illustrations from the Paris Review archives. (New York Times)

Radio personality Ruth “Uncle Ruthie” Buell has created a Poem Tree in her front yard, inviting listeners to post and share poems. (Los Angeles Times)

Meanwhile, in Lynn, Massachusetts, a secret poet has been posting positive words and poetry all over town, intended to brighten everyone's day. (Daily Item)

If you’re in New York City next week, Chinese dissident writer Liao Yiwu is appearing at the New York Public Library to mark the publication of his memoir, For a Song and A Hundred Songs.