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:
In response to the Swedish Academy’s decision to not award a Nobel Prize in Literature this year in the wake of a recent scandal, more than a hundred Swedish writers and other cultural figures have planned to award an alternative prize in October. (Guardian)
Kenyan writer Makena Onjerika has won the 2018 Caine Prize for African Writing for her story, “Fanta Blackcurrant,” which was originally published in Wasafiri. The annual £10,000 prize is often described as Africa’s leading literary award.
As part of the Chronicle of Higher Education’s Scholars Talk Writing series, editor Naomi Schneider of Naomi Schneider Books talks about her path to publishing, starting her own imprint, and her advice for academic writers.
George the Poet, an acclaimed British spoken word poet, has claimed that after one of his shows in London on June 28, the Metropolitan Police handcuffed and strip-searched him without cause. (BBC News)
Meanwhile, the mother of Antwon Rose Jr., a black teenager who was fatally shot by police last month in Pittsburgh, has shared a poem her son had written for his tenth-grade honors English class titled, “I AM NOT WHAT YOU THINK!” The poem details Rose’s experience of being black in America, stating, “I see mothers bury their sons / I want my mom to never feel that pain / I am confused and afraid.” (PBS NewsHour)
Publishers Weekly looks at Latinx in Publishing (LxP), a New York City–based organization that seeks to increase the number of Latinx publishing industry professionals.
A copyright infringement lawsuit against novelist Emma Cline has been officially dismissed. The year after Cline’s best-selling 2016 novel The Girls was released, Cline’s ex-boyfriend filed a lawsuit claiming the book was plagiarized from his work. (Cut)
Bustle has rounded up nine Independence Day poems to help you celebrate and reflect on the holiday.
