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:
Spanish authorities have arrested three people suspected of scanning and illegally publishing books after investigations turned up eight large-capacity photocopying facilities in Madrid and Seville where over a thousand books and ten disks of published work were being "massively" copied. (Associated Press)
A previously unpublished story by Mary Poppins author P. L. Travers that portrays the writer’s aunt—and model for the famous nanny—will be published this Christmas by British-based publisher Virago. (Guardian)
An anonymous member of Hachette's negotiation team spoke with the New York Times concerning the pressure tactics used by Amazon in the ongoing dispute between the publisher and Internet retailer.
As part of her ongoing campaign against the use of the "chick lit" label, author Jennifer Weiner suggested in a recent interview that books containing a smiling author photo are not serious literature. (Slate)
Author and editor Gordon Lish, who turned eighty this year, is profiled in Newsweek.
Detroit will get its second independent bookstore this fall, when Pages on Livernois joins Source Booksellers as the city's only general indie shops selling new books. (Publishers Weekly)
A homeless man in Johannesburg, South Africa, reviews and sells books from his personal collection in lieu of begging. (Twenty-two Words)
The New Republic explains why Argentinian writer Jorge Luis Borges hated soccer.
