The Philosophy of Philip K. Dick, Wole Soyinka Condemns BBC Documentary, and More

by Staff
4.30.10

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 the companies remain locked in a dispute over e-book pricing, Amazon flexed its muscle once again by pricing several new Penguin hardcovers at $9.99. (Wall Street Journal

Houghton Mifflin Harcourt announced plans to release The Exegesis of Philip K. Dick, a two-volume set of philosophical writings by the science fiction author. Jonathan Lethem, who co-edited the collection, says, "It just might contain the secret of the universe." (Guardian)

Bryce Dallas Howard, the actress and daughter of director Ron Howard, landed a key role in the film adaptation of Kathryn Stockett's 2009 novel The Help. (Entertainment Weekly

The Nigerian writer and Nobel laureate Wole Soyinka has condemned a new BBC documentary set in the slums of Lagos, calling the program "jaundiced and extremely patronizing," adding "there was no sense of Lagos as what it is—a modern African state." (Telegraph

An exhibit of the papers of the poet Charles Bukowski will open at the Huntington Library in San Marino, California, this fall. (Los Angeles Times)

Crown Publishing continued its restructuring yesterday by reducing its imprints from sixteen to fourteen and realigning the group into three new divisions. Publishers Weekly has the details. 

The Syndey Morning Herald has a rundown of the poetry events at next month's Sydney Writers' Festival. 

Students at an Indiana high school this week had to return copies of Toni Morrison's Song of Solomon halfway through reading it due to complaints. Here's what an offended school board member had to say about the Nobel laureate's classic work: "I'm about as appalled as I've ever been in my life. I wouldn't want to expose my children to that garbage. I couldn't even sleep last night when I read some of the excerpts. I don't care who said that it's worthy, that it's classic literature." (South Indy Star)