Lots of excellence on the list of 2011 Whiting Award winners: Teddy Wayne, Daniel Orozco, Ryan Call, and more. If I were you, I’d celebrate the weekend by reading Orozco’s “Orientation.”
Whiting Winners
Amazon or perish?
ICYMI: After Hachette writers banded together behind their publisher (piles of tweets, an author petition (pdf), a perplexing Malcolm Gladwell YouTube clip, and of course our own Edan Lepucki in Stephen Colbert’s pre-order campaign), Amazon proposed giving authors “100% of proceeds” from ebooks — that’s including Hachette’s share — while they hashed things out. You gotta admire that gumption. Halfway around the world, a French court order just banned free delivery for discounted book orders–so Amazon now charges one cent. Also: they’ve got drones. The Times concludes that if you can’t beat ’em, join ’em.
Who Says Print is Dead?
The Little Printer is an adorable new printer that connects to the internet and allows you to print out “miniature personal newspapers” every day.
The Brothers Carrotmazov Was Taken
I’m not sure if you guys heard, but Elif Batuman joined Twitter a few days ago, and promptly seized the sweetest user alias on the site.
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Here to Stay
Over at Flavorwire, Jonathon Sturgeon responds to Jeff Guo’s recent article on the end of the period. As he puts it, “Any long piece without periods — is like a car without brakes. You can drive it, but you’d rather not.”
Foodiots
Do you find yourself talking, tweeting, or BBM-ing an awful lot about the food you eat or cook? Then according to NY Magazine, you might be a Foodiot.
Poetry Reviews: What for?
Ahead of National Poetry Month, Publishers Weekly Poetry Reviews Editor Craig Morgan Teicher asks and answers the questions many have contemplated: “What is accomplished by poetry reviews? Do they help sell books? Do they keep the art form in line? Do they spur writers into creating better poetry or kick bad writers out of the halls of Parnassus? Do poetry reviews help readers?”
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Mythic Beginnings
Recommended Reading: This excerpt from The Work of the Dead: A Cultural History of Mortal Remains by Thomas Laqueur. In it, Laqueur explores the cultural peculiarities of mourning and the necrobotany of the yew tree, or “tree of the dead.”