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:
Actress Scarlett Johansson has brought a €50,000 lawsuit against French author Grégoire Delacourt and publisher JC Lattès. Delacourt’s novel La Première Chose qu’On Regarde (The First Thing We Look At), which has not yet been translated into English, features a protagonist who resembles Johansson. (Telegraph)
After a recent announcement that Giovanni's Room—a Philadelphia landmark and the nation's oldest continuously operating LGBT bookstore—would close its doors, a new owner may keep the historic shop alive. (Shelf Awareness)
Publishers Weekly has announced that coeditorial director Michael Coffey will retire in June, leaving Jim Milliot as the sole editorial director of the company.
Hachette has lost its No. 1 spot on the e-book bestseller charts, according to Digital Book World, which speculates that the sales drop is not connected to the publishing company's ongoing feud with Amazon.
An edition of Oscar Wilde’s play The Importance of Being Earnest, including a note from the author to his jailer in Reading, England, will be auctioned off in London in June and is expected to fetch as much as $100,000. (Los Angeles Times)
A retired English Navy commander claims he has found the real-life model for the fictional character Hercule Poirot, the Belgian detective featured in many of Agatha Christie’s popular crime novels. (Guardian)
Beginning this week, Turkmenistan kicks off a monthlong celebration of its best-known poet, Makhtumkuli Feraghy. (Radio Free Europe)
Flavorwire lists twenty-five unforgettable houses in literature.
