Notes from Lauren Grodstein’s Book Tour, Jonathan Franzen Says No, and More

by
Evan Smith Rakoff
10.4.13

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:

A new study indicates that reading literature improves empathy and social skills. (New York Times)

With a reisssue of Max Perkins: Editor of Genius out this month, the Guardian looks at the life and work of the great editor, and suggests publishing professionals such as Perkins are still sorely needed.

Poet Paul Muldoon will host an off-Broadway tribute to the late Seamus Heaney on November 4th at the Irish Repertory Theatre in New York City. (Broadway World)

The Wall Street Journal visits the new Edgar Allan Poe exhibit at the Morgan Library & Museum, which features three of twelve known copies of Poe’s self-published first book, Tamerlane and Other Poems (1827).

On her Tumblr, bestselling author Lauren Grodstein shares notes from a book tour, including a bookstore reading no one attends.

Meanwhile, Lisa Alber details her bumpy road to publication, replete with missing literary agents and a global economic crisis. (Debutante Ball)

Freddie Moore wonders what would have happened had J. D. Salinger followed his father into the lucrative business of cheese and meat importation. (Airship)

And from the department of things found online, a comic called Jonathan Franzen Says No.