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:
“Carson is usually referred to as a poet, but just about no one finds that label satisfying [2].” With a new book out, Red Doc>, the New York Times Magazine has profiled Anne Carson for a second time.
Warner Brothers has filed a countersuit against Tolkien’s estate and publisher [3], which sued Warner last year [4] for eighty million dollars over unapproved merchandise related to the Lord of the Rings film franchise. (Deadline)
NPR reports a University of Texas student discovered writing composed in 1786 by Jupiter Hammon [5], the earliest published African-American poet. Hammon lived his entire life in what’s now New York City's Queens, and his writing dates back to 1760.
In 1957, Langston Hughes told the Chicago Defender, “When I first came to Harlem, as a poet I was intrigued by the little rhymes at the top of most House Rent Party cards, so I saved them. Now I have quite a collection.” Slate’s new history blog, The Vault, showcases a few of the great poet’s collection [6].
Following the path of Richard Yates, Paula Fox, and others, Laura Miller explains why novelist Barbara Pym [7], whose best known book is 1952’s Excellent Women—is back (again). (Salon)
Betsy Morais looks at how some e-publishers are influenced by tech culture [8]: “This corner of the publishing world envisions a book as a technological enterprise, and the Web’s hustlers are riding in from every direction to get in on the market.” (New Yorker)
Teju Cole composed: “Seven short stories about drones [9].” (New Inquiry)
The Tragedy of Mister Morn, a previously unpublished play by Vladimir Nabokov [10], which he composed in blank verse at the age of twenty-four, is out next week from Knopf. (Las Vegas Weekly)