New Collection Mourns the Loss of David Foster Wallace, Thomas Jefferson's Missing Books, and More

by
Staff
5.30.14

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:

As national publishing conference BookExpo America (BEA) heads into its final days, Publishers Weekly considers attendees' anticipation of BookCon, a new event that launches at the conference today, as well as the ongoing dispute between Amazon and Hachette.

Meanwhile, Tom Doherty, founder of Tor Books, unveiled the science fiction publisher’s new imprint, Tor.com, yesterday during a speech at BEA. The digital imprint will publish short works as e-books, free of copy protection and available for purchase at the publisher’s website. (BoingBoing)

Today, Siglio Press releases a collection of prose reflections and collage by artist Karen Green, who created the work in response to her grief at the loss of her husband, writer David Foster Wallace. (Boston Review)

The Library of Congress is on the hunt for two hundred and fifty books that once belonged to former president Thomas Jefferson. (NPR)

The Library of Congress is also partnering with Capital Pride to launch the LGBT Poetry Celebration, a series of free readings by established and emerging gay and lesbian poets. The first installment will take place June 3 in Washington, D.C., and will feature Joan Larkin, Kamilah Aisha Moon, D. A. Powell, and Dan Vera. (Examiner)

While LaVar Burton raised nearly two million dollars through his recent Kickstarter campaign, the actor and former Reading Rainbow host is receiving criticism for capitalizing on his fame to fund a for-profit business. (Melville House)

A symposium at the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons in Glasgow, Scotland, this week called upon theories that famed Scottish poet Robert Burns suffered from bipolar disorder in order to address the stigma associated with mental illness. (Guardian)

Emirati poet Saif Al Mansouri recently won his country’s popular reality television show, Million’s Poet, after competing against several other poets writing in Arabic to win the equivalent of $1.4 million. (National)