Hornby to Pen Film of Cheryl Strayed's Memoir, Last Advice for National Novel Writing Month, and More

by
Evan Smith Rakoff
11.30.12

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 Qatar, poet Muhammad ibn al-Dheeb al-Ajami has been sentenced to life in prison after writing lines inspired by the Arab Spring, which Qatar officials contend encouraged the overthrow of its ruling system—governed by the same family since the nineteenth century. (Guardian)

GalleyCat offers its last piece of advice for National Novel Writing Month—edit.

Nick Hornby will adapt the film version of Cheryl Strayed's Wild for Reese Witherspoon. (Deadline)

Speaking of Wild, Cheryl Strayed's memoir tops Newsday's Best Books of 2012, along with Chris Ware's Building Stories (who is profiled in the November/December 2012 issue of Poets & Writers Magazine), and Monkey Mind: A Memoir of Anxiety, by Daniel Smith.

Lena Dunham is crowdsourcing thoughts on Sylvia Plath's The Bell Jar, which was first published fifty years ago in 1962. (Harriet)

Slate has the skinny on Twitter's recent forays into fiction, with novelist Elliott Holt winning the day.

From the department of things found online, and with the holidays upon us, check out these photos inside Amazon massive warehouses.