National Poetry Month, Poets on Twitter, and More

by Staff
4.1.14

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:

In honor of National Poetry Month, NPR’s Tell Me More will host the fourth installment of its Muses and Metaphor series, encouraging listeners to post original poems using Twitter during the month of April.

Meanwhile, Mashable’s Matt Petronzio compiles a list of thirty-eight poets on Twitter, among them Sherman Alexie, Richard Blanco, Melissa Broder, Cathy Park Hong, and new Twitter user Kim Addonizio, who will be tweeting an original "micropoem" each day throughout the month.

The Poetry Foundation’s blog, Harriet, will feature posts by guest writers Camille Rankine, Joyelle McSweeney, Sy Hoahwah, Tan Lin, and sixteen other poets throughout April.

Along with the beginning of National Poetry Month, April 1 also marks the start of New York City’s Rare Book Week. Events such as the New York Antiquarian Book Fair, CUNY Graduate Center’s Chapbook Festival, and the Manhattan Fine Press Book Fair will celebrate books as art objects. (Epoch Times)

The Oxford American has posted five new essays to its website that focus on the portrayal of Appalachia in art. The essays were solicited in response to heated discussion on social media surrounding the journal’s January online feature of photographer Stacy Kranitz, whose work portrays Appalachian subjects.

This month, Atria will release Donald McCaig’s latest novel, Ruth’s Journey, which gives a backstory to the fictional character “Mammy,” created by Margaret Mitchell in her historical epic Gone With the Wind.

Writer Bill Morris asks for an end to Detroit’s role in the "ruin porn" industry. (Millions)

Critic Dana Stevens and author Anna Holmes discuss what to do with required reading. (New York Times)