Category: words

Poet Laureate Robert Pinsky’s crusade to unleash the power of poetry. A conversation about collaboration, creative writing programs and the religion of art. – Feed

Al Purdy is the rarest of the rare – a poet who actually makes a living being a poet – indeed, is celebrated for it. – CBC

The Laura Ingalls Wilder Library has a leaky roof. Inside the employees shiver in the cold. Now the Missouri library has gone to court battling heirs and publishers to get a piece of its namesake’s estate, which it says it was promised. – New York Times

-ature at Wednesday night’s National Book Awards. The winners: Ha Jin in fiction for “Waiting,” John W. Dower in nonfiction for “Embracing Defeat: Japan in the Wake of World War II,” Ai in poetry for “Vice: New and Selected Poems” and Kimberly Willis Holt in young people’s literature for “When Zachary Beaver Came to Town.” Winners aside, it was a star-studded evening. – Washington Post
     AND: New York Times account (one-time registration required)
     AND: Publisher’s Weekly account

Canadian Government investigates practices of book super-retailer. Declines full inquiry but says some of Chapters’  practices are concerning. – Toronto Globe and Mail

Steve Martin hosts, Oprah Winfrey to get honorary prize. The writers? There’s “little glamour among the actual nominees this year.” – (AP) Cleveland Plain Dealer

No major publishing nation boasts more world-class publishers per capita, more enticing book design or lower list prices. So why do Italians buy so few books? – Publisher’s Weekly

Matt Cohen’s “Elizabeth and After” wins English prize. The French language fiction prize goes to Lise Tremblay for “La Danse juive.” – CBC

New Orleans writer e-mails off her e-book to production company, negotiates e-deal for a movie project. Production begins in January. – Wired

International panel at Frankfurt Fair discusses the future of publishing. A bookless book industry? E-books, publishing on demand and book chips. – Publisher’s Weekly