Washington State University Press (WSUP), which had been slated for closure after university officials voted to eliminate its $300,000 annual funding, has been granted a second chance, Publishers Weekly reports. WSUP was founded in 1928 and has published more than 260 titles; it also serves as distributor for Spokane independent poetry publisher Lost Horse Press, which focuses on Ukrainian poetry.

The Washington Post’s Sophia Nguyen writes about author Zadie Smith’s ability to get rid of physical copies of books after she has read them. Notable exceptions include certain philosophy titles, Italian dictionaries, and books gifted to her by family. “I feel like the record of your books are in the books you write, if you’re a writer,” she says.

Over thirty years, 40 percent of publishing jobs disappeared, Publishers Weekly reports. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the number of people employed in book publishing in the United States fell to 54,822 in 2023, down from 91,000 in 1997. New technology, consolidation, and outsourced labor are all cited as possible reasons for downsizing in the industry.

Author and writing teacher Tom Spanbauer has died at age seventy-eight, Willamette Week reports. Spanbauer was known for mentoring many local Portland authors, including Monica Drake, Suzy Vitello, and Chuck Palahniuk, through his “Dangerous Writing” workshops. More than fifty of his former students went on to publish novels or memoirs.

Verso Books is holding a Kickstarter campaign to help get its books into the U.K. trade market, Publishers Weekly reports. In a thread posted on X, Verso explained that Marston Book Services, a subsidiary of United Independent Distributors, which went bankrupt over the summer, owes the press almost £1 million for book sales stretching back to January. 

Aspen Words, the literary arm of the Aspen Institute, is partnering with Book of the Month to launch the Aspen Literary Festival, Publishers Weekly reports. The inaugural festival is scheduled to take place September 26 to September 28 in Aspen, Colorado. More than forty authors will participate in conversations, book signings, and other activities inspired by books.

Morgan Talty discusses his debut novel, Fire Exit (Tin House, 2024), the politics of indigeneity, blood quantum, colonization, and the manipulation of stories with Electric Literature.“Let’s say colonizers wipe out languages, stories, everything that makes a culture, a culture, yet still politically treat it as an entity,” Talty says. “It’s like, we die but we don’t die. We’re still here.” He asks, “How do we reclaim our identity then?” (Read Ten Questions for Morgan Talty.)

Esquire reports on the ten most banned books in America in 2023, including The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison, Gender Queer by Maia Kobabe, and This Book Is Gay by Juno Dawson.

Jeanine Cummins, the author of the novel American Dirt, which faced intense criticism over cultural appropriation after its publication by Flatiron Books in 2020, is publishing a new novel about three women coping with the aftermath of a hurricane in Puerto Rico, the Washington Post reports. Speak to Me of Home is forthcoming from Henry Holt in May 2025.

Data from the American Library Association (ALA) shows that attempts to censor books and materials in libraries have slowed in 2024, Publishers Weekly reports. Between January 1 and August 31, 2024, ALA tracked 414 challenges to censor library materials and services that amounted to 1,128 unique titles challenged. That figure is down from 695 cases and 1,915 unique titles challenged during the same period last year. The report noted that censorship efforts remain far above levels tracked prior to 2020 and new data from PEN America found censorship in schools is still surging. 

Michelle Aielli has been named interim executive director of the Association of Writers and Writing Programs (AWP) following the retirement of executive director Cynthia Sherman in June. Aielli has over twenty-five years of experience in book publishing and most recently worked as the vice president and publishing director of Hachette Books at Hachette Book Group. Meanwhile, the AWP board of directors has launched a national search for a permanent executive director.

Li-Young Lee, whose first poetry collection in a decade, The Invention of the Darling, was published by W. W. Norton in May, discusses the spiritual practice of poetry in an interview with Electric Literature. “Poetry is the logic of all logic,” he says. “And it’s a logic beyond reason. It’s the logic of God. It’s the logic of my mother.”

A panel discussion planned for Saturday as part of the Albany Book Festival, sponsored by the New York State Writers Institute, was canceled after two of the authors boycotted the event due to the planned participation of Elisa Albert, WAMC reports. In an e-mail, the organizers told Albert that two of the three authors who were scheduled to appear with Albert “don’t want to be on a panel with a ‘Zionist.’”

New state laws are fueling a surge in book bans, the New York Times reports. State and local governments are banning books at rates far higher than before the pandemic, according to two advocacy groups. PEN America reported that over 10,000 books were removed from schools and libraries, at least temporarily, last year. About 80 percent of those bans came just from Florida and Iowa.

Arundhati Roy’s first memoir, Mother Mary Comes to Me, will be published in September 2025 by Scribner, the Associated Press reports. Roy, the author of the Booker Prize–winning novel The God of Small Things, said in a statement that she began working on the book after her mother’s death in September 2022. 

Penguin Random House has appointed Rosalie (Rosie) Stewart as its senior manager for public policy, a role created to help battle book bans, Publishers Weekly reports. Stewart was most recently the manager of grassroots communications for the American Library Association’s Public Policy and Advocacy Office, and previously cofounded MOVE Texas (Mobilize, Organize, Vote, Empower), an organization focused on empowering underrepresented youth communities through civic engagement, issue advocacy, and leadership development. 

Banned Books Week, which was launched in 1982 in response to a sudden surge in the number of challenges to books in libraries, bookstores, and schools, will be observed starting September 22. The theme of this year’s week-long series of events is Freed Between the Lines, and Banned Books Week invites librarians, educators, authors, publishers, booksellers, and readers of all types to host events and participate.

The Bay Area Book Festival (BABF) announced the appointment of J. K. Fowler as its new executive director. Fowler previously served as the founder and executive director of Nomadic Press, an Oakland-based nonprofit publisher committed to platforming marginalized voices. The BABF will celebrate its eleventh anniversary this spring.

Thomas Gebremedhin considers what is missing from the discourse on diversity in publishing in an essay for Literary Hub. “It has been uncomfortable to read stories about Black editors that hinge entirely on their subjects’ race, flattening individuals and cohorts, effacing their sensibilities. I feel abridged.” He adds, “It is essential that our conversations surrounding the dearth of people of color in publishing attempt to highlight our dimension as well as the full and complicated scope of the crisis in the industry.”

Henry Hoke, the author of five books, including the novel Open Throat, published in 2023 by MCD, an imprint of Farrar, Straus and Giroux, and the memoir Sticker (Bloomsbury, 2022), discusses finding representation, balancing the work of publishing with creative life, and being honest about privilege in an interview with the Creative Independent. “I didn’t set out to even work with a big five publisher,” Hoke says. “I didn’t think that was my world because of what I do and how I do it and who I looked up to.” He adds: “Connecting with people through art is creative success to me.”