Of Dust and Dreams: A Profile of Karen Russell
Karen Russell’s second novel, The Antidote, published by Knopf in March, examines a dark chapter of America’s past, but not without hope for the future.
Tags:
Article Archive: Feature
Articles from Poet & Writers Magazine include material from the print edition plus exclusive online-only material.
The Marine Biologist Inside the Writer at Play in the Microworlds of an Overgrown Pool: A Profile of Jeff VanderMeer
In Absolution, the surprise fourth volume of the Southern Reach series of literary speculative novels, Jeff VanderMeer continues to provoke critics and eschew labels while plunging readers into the unpredictable wilds of Area X.
Tags:
The Definition of Poetry: An Interview With Mosab Abu Toha
For Mosab Abu Toha, whose entire life and body of work, including his new collection, Forest of Noise, have been shaped by war, poetry is a way for all of us to document, to try to understand, and to act in times of suffering.
Tags:
5 Over 50: 2024
Excerpts from debut books by Suzette Mullen, Dorsía Smith Silva, Uchenna Awoke, Deborah Jackson Taffa, and Parul Kapur.
Tags:
Alone Together: A Profile of Edwidge Danticat
In a new essay collection, We’re Alone, Edwidge Danticat reflects on environmental catastrophe, the ongoing trauma of colonialism, and the challenges of motherhood, all with an artist’s awareness of the delicate precarity of life.
Tags:
Agents & Editors: Ibrahim Ahmad
The former editorial director of Akashic Books, now an executive editor at Viking, talks about his experience moving from an indie press to one of the Big Five publishers.
Tags:
The New Nonfiction 2024
Excerpts from Bones Worth Breaking by David Martinez, Little Seed by Wei Tchou, The Lucky Ones by Zara Chowdhary, The Exit Is the Entrance by Lydia Paar, and Come by Here by Neesha Powell-Ingabire.
Tags:
The Triumph of a Heart: A Profile of Garth Greenwell
In his third novel, Small Rain, Garth Greenwell explores mortality and meaning-making, asking deep questions about what it takes to live a full life oriented toward art, open to the bewildering beauty of our own humanity.
Tags:
First Fiction 2024
Laura van den Berg, Jessamine Chan, Akil Kumarasamy, Ayşegül Savaş, and Julie Buntin introduce the authors of this summer’s best debut fiction: ’Pemi Aguda, Jiaming Tang, Michael Deagler, Yasmin Zaher, and Gina María Balibrera.
Tags:
Agents & Editors: Tanya McKinnon
The principal agent of McKinnon Literary talks about how publishing can be a form of activism, the different ways agents and authors can use comp titles, and how the future of the book business still holds many wonderful possibilities.
Tags:
5 Over 50: 2023
Essays by debut authors Alma García (All That Rises), Bernardine “Dine” Watson (Transplant), Tommy Archuleta (Susto), Chin-Sun Lee (Upcountry), and Donna Spruijt-Metz (General Release From the Beginning of the World).
Tags:
The New Nonfiction 2023
Essays by debut authors Eirinie Carson (The Dead Are Gods), Leah Myers (Thinning Blood), Andrew Leland (The Country of the Blind), Jen Soriano (Nervous), and Jami Nakamura Lin (The Night Parade).
Tags:
Agents & Editors: Jamia Wilson
Random House executive editor and vice president Jamia Wilson talks about her passion for publishing as a craft, how being a writer informs her work as an editor, and the importance of keeping an expansive interest in books.
Tags:
How to Survive the Darkness of Our Days: A Profile of Roger Reeves
In his first book of prose, Dark Days: Fugitive Essays, award-winning poet Roger Reeves braids memory, theory, and close critical readings to evoke a profound vision of community, solidarity, and even joy in our present moment.
Tags:
First Fiction 2023
Interviews with debut authors Tyriek White, Ada Zhang, Mihret Sibhat, Shastri Akella, and Rebekah Bergman, along with excerpts from their books.
Tags:
Bringing the Joy: A Profile of Luis Alberto Urrea
Luis Alberto Urrea always knew his mother had a story; he just didn’t know how to tell it. But in researching his new novel, Good Night, Irene, he gained a deeper understanding of the person she was and the happy ending she deserved.
Tags:
Blooming How She Must: A Profile of Camille T. Dungy
With roots in nature writing, environmental justice, poetry, and photography, Camille T. Dungy’s new book, Soil: The Story of a Black Mother’s Garden, delves into the personal and political act of cultivating one’s own green space.
Tags:
Agents & Editors: Rakia Clark
Mariner Books executive editor Rakia Clark talks about unlocking the full potential of an author, how writers can shine in the query letter, and effecting meaningful change in the publishing industry.
Tags:
Ravenous With Story: A Profile of Celeste Ng
In her third novel, Our Missing Hearts, best-selling author Celeste Ng continues to explore the social and political pressures that shape family dynamics—this time in a story set in a contemporary dystopia that feels frighteningly familiar.
Tags:
5 Over 50: 2022
Essays by debut authors Madhushree Ghosh, Sari Botton, David Santos Donaldson, Shareen K. Murayama, and Jane Campbell.
Tags:
My Life in Book Banning
The author of one of last year’s most challenged books confronts a campaign of threats, cyberattacks, and doxing in the post-truth era.
Tags:
How It Felt: A Profile of Namwali Serpell
In The Furrows, Namwali Serpell draws readers into the roiling nature of grief in a powerful narrative that explores memory, loss, and Black identity without resting on what she calls the “meaningless platitude” that art promotes empathy.
Tags:
Agents & Editors: Annie Hwang
Annie Hwang of Ayesha Pande Literary talks about community building, professional burnout, the questions writers should ask when querying agents, and the demanding work of advocating for diversity in publishing.
Tags:
First Fiction 2022
Interviews with debut authors Leila Mottley, Tsering Yangzom Lama, Arinze Ifeakandu, Paige Clark, and Morgan Talty, as well as excerpts from their books.
Tags:
Keeping the Stories: A Profile of Kali Fajardo-Anstine
Kali Fajardo-Anstine’s new novel, Women of Light, chronicles five generations of an Indigenous Chicano family in the American West and is imbued with her rich sense of history and pride in her own mixed ancestry: “The story of who I am is inextricably tied to this country.”
Tags: