By MICHELLE HOGMIRE | 8/29/2013
PREVIEW -- Poets
& Writers Magazine publishes annual September/October Guide to Fine Arts Programs: “Our seventh annual MFA Issue features a roundup of
104 full- and low-residency programs; plus profiles of National Book
Award-winning author Jesmyn Ward and novelist Rick Bass; an extensive interview
with Knopf editor Jordan Pavlin; articles on the art of reading poet Rosmarie
Waldrop and the beauty of backstory; advice from agent Lucy Carson; and much
more.” http://www.pw.org/magazine
UPCOMING AUG.
31 DEADLINES – Glimmer Train Press Short Story Award for New Writers – Red Hen Press Benjamin
Saltman Poetry Award – Sustainable Arts Foundation Writing Awards – Wag’s Revue
Summer Writers’ Contest. http://www.pw.org/grants
8/28/2013
“Slawomir Mrozek, Leading Polish Playwright, Dies at 83,” by N.Y.
Times’ Margalit Fox: “Slawomir
Mrozek, a Polish dissident playwright widely considered his country’s foremost
author for the stage, died on Aug. 15 at his home in Nice, France. Mr. Mrozek,
who had spent much of the last half-century in exile, was 83. His French
publisher, Noir sur Blanc, announced the death, the news agency Agence
France-Presse reported.” http://theater.nytimes.com/2013/08/29/theater/slawomir-mrozek-a-leading-polish-playwright-dies-at-83.html
BOOK REVIEWS – “In a Subdued Land, Passion is a Heavy Burden: J.M.
Coetzee’s ‘Childhood of Jesus’ Dissects a World,” by N.Y. Times’ Dwight Garner:
“'The Childhood of Jesus' is about a man and a boy in transit through a
world that baffles and frightens them. Here the boy’s name is David; the man is
Simón. They have arrived in a new land where they know no one, where they have nowhere
to sleep and little to eat. … This religious aspect of the book’s title is, to
some degree, a red herring. Mr. Coetzee does investigate the nature of belief
in 'The Childhood of Jesus,' but he has many other things on his mind, among
them socialism, the nature of memory, the moral nature of work and the joy and
distress visited upon humans by sexual and other appetites.” http://www.nytimes.com/2013/08/29/books/j-m-coetzees-childhood-of-jesus-dissects-a-world.html
8/27/2013
ACCUSATIONS – “Amazon books executive accused in suit of sexual
assault,” by New York Daily News’ Dareh Gregorian: “Amazon
Publishing head Laurence
Kirshbaum sexually assaulted prospective employee Teresa McCoy in
public — not once, but twice — she charges. … Kirshbaum's
lawyer, Catherine Redlich, called the assault allegations ‘baseless,’ and said
they stemmed from a ‘consensual relationship from a decade ago which turned
sour when McCoy began threatening Mr. Kirshbaum and his family with public embarrassment
and demanding money.’… McCoy's current lawyer, Robert Erlanger, called those
allegations ‘mudslinging.’
UNFINISHED WORK – “Elmore Leonard’s son
may finish the late crime writer’s final novel,” by The Guardian’s Liz Bury: "Peter
Leonard, son of master crime writer Elmore
Leonard, who died last week, may
complete his father's 46th and final novel. It has the working title 'Blue
Dreams' and features the Stetson-wearing US marshal Raylan Givens.
