The Progressive magazine has opened a line of digital books, collecting stories from a century’s worth of articles. The books were created with support from Middleton-based August Publications.

The first eBook (Seneca Falls, and Selma, and Stonewall) was inspired by President Barack Obama‘s Second Inaugural address, celebrating the American belief “that all of us are created equal” that the President called “the star that guides us still, just as it guided our forebears through Seneca Falls, and Selma, and Stonewall.” Here’s more from the release:

Newly digitized and fully searchable, The Progressive archives are a treasure trove of progressive history, beginning with the magazine’s founding in 1909 by Fighting Bob La Follette … In its early years, it joined the cause of women’s suffrage under the leadership of Belle Case La Follette, Fighting Bob’s wife. The Progressive documented that struggle, throughout its early, suffragist years under the guidance of Belle Case La Follette, during the great civil rights battles of the 1950s and 1960s, and with joyful declarations of gay liberation by Allen Ginsberg and Harry Hay, founder of the modern gay rights movement … This collection also features writing from civil rights leaders, including James Baldwin and A. Phillip Randolph, in the 1950s and 1960s.

Ever wonder what it looks like when Barack Obama edits?

The Newsweek Tumblr spotted the photograph embedded above: “A detailed look from White House photographer Pete Souza at Barack Obama, Copy Editor in Chief. ”

Follow this link to see the full-sized version of the photograph, exploring how Obama edited his Inaugural Address earlier this year. (Via kleinbl00 )

Read more

Novelist John Green is among the people “who regularly discuss important issues of the day online” picked to ask President Barack Obama questions in a Google+ “Fireside” Hangout tomorrow (February 14) at 4:50 pm EST. Above, we’ve embedded Green’s video about this virtual event.

Along with the other participants, Green will ask the President both his own questions and queries submitted by readers. Google outlined the event in a blog post:

the President will turn to Google+ to continue a more recent tradition, by taking questions online after his speech … Much like the Fireside Hangouts held by Vice President Biden and Domestic Policy Director Cecilia Munoz over the past few weeks, the President’s Fireside Hangout will include a group of people who regularly discuss important issues of the day online.

Yahoo News asked a group of poets to write their own inauguration poems, just like President Barack Obama commissioned Richard Blanco to write a poem for the swearing-in ceremony.

The participating writers included Pulitzer Prize-winning poets James Tate and Paul Muldoon, Our Andromeda author Brenda Shaughnessy, The Grey Album: On the Blackness of Blackness author Kevin Young and James Franco.

The video embedded above features readings by Young, Muldoon and Franco. What do you think?

Read more

Inaugural poet Richard Blanco read “One Today” for President Barack Obama‘s inauguration in Washington D.C. yesterday. What did you think of the poem? Here is an excerpt:

My face, your face, millions of faces in morning’s mirrors,
each one yawning to life, crescendoing into our day:
pencil-yellow school buses, the rhythm of traffic lights,
fruit stands: apples, limes, and oranges arrayed like rainbows
begging our praise. Silver trucks heavy with oil or paper — bricks or milk, teeming over highways alongside us,
on our way to clean tables, read ledgers, or save lives — to teach geometry, or ring up groceries, as my mother did
for 20 years, so I could write this poem.

Below, we’ve linked to 14 of Blanco’s poems online, including the free poetry chapbook, Place of Mind.

Read more

In an emotional vigil in Newtown, Connecticut, President Barack Obama spoke about the tragedy that occurred in that community last week.

In his speech, the President quoted three passages from the Bible.  Obama concluded with Matthew 19:14: “Let the little children come to me and do not hinder them — for to such belongs the kingdom of heaven.”

You can read a transcript of Obama’s speech online or watch the video below. If you want to see the passages in context, we’ve linked to English Standard Version of the Bible for the individual quotes.

Read more

Journalists Mark Halperin and John Heilemann will once again be teaming up on a new nonfiction project. Following the success of their 2010 title, Game Change, the writing duo plans to pen Double Down: Game Change 2012.

This book will examine Presidential race between President Barack Obama and former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney. Penguin Press president and editor-in-chief Ann Godoff negotiated the deal with The Wylie Agency’s Andrew Wylie. According to The New York Times, the publisher has planned a release date for fall 2013.

Here’s more from The Hollywood Reporter: “The book already has been optioned by HBO. The cable network aired Game Change, a Jay Roach-directed and Danny Strong-written movie about the 2008 election that in September won four Emmys, including one for Julianne Moore‘s performance as Sarah Palin. Roach and Strong are likely to return for the sequel.”

Rap Genius scored $15 million in funding earlier this year, an investment to expand the community that loves to annotate rap lyrics.

Most writers don’t know it, but the site contains annotations for everything from 2Pac lyrics to F. Scott Fitzgerald prose to letters from Barack Obama to Chapter One of Genesis to Jay-Z lyrics.  The site has a simple goal: “Our aim is not to translate rap into ‘nerdspeak,’ but rather to critique rap as poetry.”

Rap Genius co-founder Mahbod Moghadam introduced the site at Mediabistro’s Social Curation Summit this week. If you want to annotate your favorite lyrics, you need to sign up for a Rap Genius account. If you want to add a song, poem, speech or story to the database, simply click “Add a New Song” button. You have to chose a rap, rock, poetry or other genre.

Read more

Shannon McCormick hopes to raise $5,000 for his art book project, Presidential Losers: The Book.

As Barack Obama stays in office, former Governor Mitt Romney joins an illustrious group that includes President John Adams, Vice President Al Gore and Senator John McCain. This book will feature artistic portraits of all these men and more. We’ve embedded a video about the project above–what do you think?

Here’s more about the project: “Earlier this year, we assembled an amazing roster of 75 contemporary artists and cartoonists, and each submitted a portrait of one of the loosing contenders from each federal election going back to the defeat of incumbent President John Adams in 1800…We’re currently planning on a very sophisticated 100 page softcover book, complete with all the portraits along with quick bios of the losing candidates and our artists.”

Welcome to our Kickstarter Publishing Project of the Week, a feature exploring how authors and publishers are using the fundraising site to raise money for book projects. If you want to start your own project, check out How To Use Kickstarter to Fund Your Publishing Project.

Texas Book Festival literary director Clay Smith has been named the new features editor at Kirkus Media.

Smith will expand the features section at the literary outlet, adding “more reported articles about writers and reading trends.” He had worked at the Texas Book Festival since 2005, booking hundreds of writers, including Barack Obama, Bill Clinton, Salman Rushdie, Sandra Cisneros and Amy Sedaris.

Here’s more from the release: “he wrote for Publishers Weekly, indiewire.com, and Newsday, among others. He has recently written for The Daily Beast, Elle Décor, and Newsday. While at the Texas Book Festival, Smith worked closely with small and large publishers to create a diverse program of national and Texas writers. With the participation of the Litquake Foundation and other partners, he added Lit Crawl Austin to the Festival’s program and grew sales of books during the two-day weekend.”