Here are a few things that have recently caught our attention.

• Merriam-Webster has officially updated the definition of the word “racism.”
• This Wednesday, June 17: a book launch to celebrate Boy Oh Boy, a short story collection by the late author Zachary Doss, our recent AWP Grace Paley Prize winner.
• A conflict between a group of two agents and an author and the owner of Red Sofa Literary Agency has recently escalated after a trade of tweets, cease-and-desist notices, and open letters, following accusations of racism and threats of litigation.
• Eric Pankey has been announced the winner of Tupelo Press’s Snowbound Chapbook Award.
• From Poets & Writers: Following the revelational #PublishingPaidMe movement on social media, Mariah Stovall pens an open letter to white publishers.
• The National Library of Israel is digitizing Islamic collections from as far back as the ninth century, including over 2,500 rare texts and books.
• According to The Wall Street Journal, books on race relations have skyrocketed to the tops of sales lists nationwide.
• Rachel Cargle is opening a bookstore and writing center in Akron, Ohio, to support marginalized voices.
• From Lit Hub, a curated list of readings on racism, white supremacy, and police violence in America.
• The Indian Express reports that Urdu poet Gulzar Dehlvi has died of COVID-19, at age 93, five days after release from the hospital where he was believed to have been successfully treated.
• From the New York Times: “Libraries Strive to Stay ‘Community Living Rooms’ as They Reopen”

Photo Credit: Allie Holloway/Harpers Bazaar