New Judith Regan Imprint, Memoir in the Age of Twitter, 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:

A federal judge dismissed a class-action lawsuit brought by a group of independent bookstores against Amazon and other major publishers. (Shelf Awareness)

Phaidon has hired industry veteran Judith Regan to head a new multimedia imprint named Regan Arts. (Publishers Weekly)

The National Library of Norway intends to scan every Norwegian book in existence, creating a digital “national memory bank.” (GalleyCat)

Critic David L. Ulin meditates on a recent James Wood essay that explores the “narrative implications of death.” (Los Angeles Times)

The New Yorker asked several contributors to name some of their favorite books of the year. Among the titles listed are: poet Lucie Brock-Broido’s Stay, Illusion; Russell Banks’s new book of stories A Permanent Member of the Family; and Michelle Orange’s essay collection This Is Running for Your Life.

Emily M. Keeler reports on a recent public conversation between writers Sheila Heti and Jian Ghomeshi concerning memoir in the age of Twitter. (Hazlitt)

A Charles Bukowski-themed bar called Barkowski will open this Friday in Santa Monica, California. LAist writes, “It’s the bar equivalent of buying a Misfits shirt at Urban Outfitters.”