Toni Morrison Wins 2016 Emerson-Thoreau Medal
The literary legend and Robert F. Goheen Professor in the Humanities, Emerita, at Princeton University has been awarded the 2016 Emerson-Thoreau Medal by the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. Previous winners include Katherine Anne Porter, Hannah Arendt, Saul Bellow, among other distinguished authors.
Pantsuit Nation Founder Receives Criticism For Book Deal
Libby Chamberlain, the founder of the “secret” Facebook group formed for supporters of Hillary Clinton has landed a deal with Flatiron Books. Chamberlain has faced criticism from some members, including one referenced in this article from Slate:
“We came to fight Trump,” she continued. “Instead, [Chamberlain] made a coffee table book? Really? Not only are there millions of us, but we are passionate and ready to go. A coffee table book feels like a kick in the teeth.”
The founder has said she is turning the group into a non-profit organization, funded in part from proceeds of the book, and the new organization will support others such as Planned Parenthood, Southern Poverty Law Center, and the ACLU. The nearly 4 million member group has lost some members since the deal, and it remains to be seen what the future will hold for the group.
Dartmouth Sponsors Artificial Intelligence Creative Competition
From poetry to music and literature, the Turing Tests in Creative Arts gives computer programmers a chance to submit their best AI software, including the modeling of Shakespearean or Petrarchan sonnets. On the challenges, Turing leader Dan Rockmore says, “…if you want to make a story with a character that people care about, or if you try to make a logic diagram of what a narrative is, you get stopped pretty quickly.”
Kudos to the programmers, though. They are getting closer to our often wrenching human emotions…Here is the winner of the PoetiX competition.
UK Romance Publisher Brings 3D Sound to Audio Books
If you read or listen to romance novels, Mills & Boon is stepping up its audio book game with surround sound. Jumping into the new aural experience with A Royal Vow of Convenience by Sharon Kendrick, the author says, “To hear my characters, and to feel the chemistry between them, in such an intimate, immersive recording is incredible.”
With a year like it has been in 2016, Mills & Boon may be right on target with this new venture. The publisher is very popular in the region, supposedly selling a book every five seconds in the UK.
But wait! There’s more…
The MIT Media Lab selects 5 books to prepare you for the future.
What’s this about “de-duplicating” 80,000 books?
Writers working for Google should read this link.
Turkish novelist’s imprisonment before trial labeled extreme and unconstitutional.
Laurel Dowswell is the Features Editor at Change Seven. Her short story “I Am theEggman” was nominated for the 2016 Pushcart Prize. She was a copy editor for an independent feminist newspaper in Santa Fe, NM, after being raised and educated in Florida. She lives and writes in Georgia, just outside of Atlanta with her son. She is currently working on a novel filled with oil paintings, family drama, and the spectrum of sexuality. Follow her on twitter @laurels_idea.
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