Our money was on Richard Bausch, but -- financial losses aside -- we're happy to announce that Lan Samantha Chang has been chosen as the next director of the Iowa Writers' Workshop.

-----------

In semi-related news, Babies Are Fireproof notes that, while Saul Bellow's Augie March hit no. 79 on Amazon.com's bestseller list last Friday, longtime Workshop Director Frank Conroy's memoir, Stop-Time, hit no. 72. "Slightly sad that a publicized passing is what it takes to get good literature to sell," Babies contributor Jane Roper writes. "At the same time, it's nice to think that so many new people will be reading these great books as a result."