Twitter and the Literary Community, Kurt Vonnegut’s Birthday, Long Novels’ Big Comeback, and More

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:

“Twitter is like some atomized version of the writer’s process.” C. Max Magee explores how Twitter and the literary community have connected on different levels, from the elevated to the mundane, as readers and (many) writers leverage the social media platform’s ability to foster communication. (Millions)

Long novels are experiencing a resurgence in popularity and value as evidenced by the recent sale of City on Fire, a nine-hundred-page debut novel, for $2 million. (New York Times)

Kurt Vonnegut, science fiction novelist and author of Slaughterhouse Five and Cat’s Cradle, would have turned ninety-one years old today. The Huffington Post provides a list of life lessons offered by the outspoken writer.

Publishers Weekly asks book reviewers to use their imaginations and avoid using hackneyed words—such as unique, compelling, and poignant—in their work.

The Rumpus interviews Masha Hamilton, who discusses her new novel, What Changes Everything, and how it connects Afghanistan, Brooklyn, and Cleveland through a large cast of characters.

Famed author of The Outsiders, S. E. Hinton joins Twitter and reveals numerous details about her personal life, including the dream she has of playing basketball with Stephen King. (New Yorker)

Malala Yousafzai's memoir, I Am Malala, is banned in Pakistani private schools. (NPR)

Rebuking the negative and bland stereotypes of librarians in popular culture, Alison Nastasi offers a list of intelligent, cool, and sexy librarians realistically depicted in television, media, and film. (Flavorwire)