National Book Award Winners, Five Years of Definitive Books, NaNoWriMo Posters, and More

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 New York City last night, The Good Lord Bird, by James McBride, won the National Book Award in Fiction. George Packer’s The Unwinding: An Inner History of the New America won for Nonfiction, and Mary Szybist earned the top honor in Poetry for Incarnadine.

“All the winners tonight—even the young ones—seemed wise, illusionless. And they accepted their awards by telling us something personal.” The New Yorker breaks down the charming and sincere appeal of the National Book Awards as compared to other award ceremonies.

Jason Diamond lists fifty books that define the past five years in literature. (Flavorwire)

The Huffington Post offers inspirational posters to help participants of NaNoWriMo finish their novels-in-progress.

“I can trace a lot of my influences to autobiographical sources, but as a person I haven’t felt any more the outsider than I expect most writers—watchers that we are—feel.” Pamela Erens interviews author Rilla Askew about her creative process and literary sensibilities. (Tin House)

Former editor at the New Yorker describes the pressures and challenges of working for the legendary Tina Brown. (Salon)

Russian app offers hopes of deterring the piracy of e-books and helping to safeguard intellectual property rights. (NPR)

Colin Marshall, of the Los Angeles Review of Books, interviews author Jerry Stahl about his most recent novels Bad Sex on Speed and Happy Mutant Baby Pills.