Farrar, Straus and Giroux has decided to let readers peek behind the scenes at one of the most delicate parts of the publishing business: the writing of books, as they happen. Talk to any writer after a book has been published and she'll be able to detail every wrong turn, every failed plot attempt, every character that had to be killed off, all the pages that were written and ultimately discarded. All those false starts have a shape -- stubby, unfruitful branches hacked off a healthy tree -- once the book is finished. But while it's a work in progress? Well, then they're growing and budding and also dying. Sometimes painfully, one word at a time.

Yet Jonathan Galassi, president and publisher of FSG, is pulling back the covers on his authors who are in that very work-in-progress state. A new website (and also monthly newsletter) is called, with editorial exactitude, FSG Work in Progress.

Carolyn Kellogg at Jacket Copy

ben arrivati ad Hameln

Jonathan Galassi has a post on the FSG poetry blog about poetry in translation.

Galassi has just finished translating the poems of Leopardi, a project which has taken 10 years (in part, no doubt, because he is also President of Farrar, Straus & Giroux); the book is due for publication in the fall.

The blog tells us Mr Galassi will be adding occasional thoughts on poetry during the course of National Poetry Month. When we note that the date of the initial post was 1 April, and that the 11th is upon us, we can't help feeling that we are in the presence of the highly effective habits we should very much like to acquire.

national poetry month

Farrar, Straus & Giroux are sending out a daily poem through the end of April. You can sign up here.