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Articles from Poet & Writers Magazine include material from the print edition plus exclusive online-only material.
With so many good books being published every month, some literary titles worth exploring can get lost in the stacks. Page One offers the first lines of a dozen recently released books, including Jonathan Franzen’s Purity and Salman Rushdie’s Two Years Eight Months and Twenty-Eight Nights, as the starting point for a closer look at these new and noteworthy titles.
The Bridge, an online forum launched by the literary nonprofit Brooklyn Poets, fosters connections between emerging and established writers, and provides a student-mentor alternative to the traditional MFA program.
Last month, the City University of Hong Kong’s highly respected MFA writing program abruptly shut down. Joanna Scutts investigates the program’s sudden closure, which has prompted protests and political speculations from students and faculty around the world.
Joshua Wolf Shenk, the new executive director of the Black Mountain Institute (BMI)—an international literary center that supports writers whose work addresses political and cultural issues—discusses BMI’s role in the culture of creative writing and what he plans to bring to the organization.
Her books, for readers of all ages, have been published in thirty-two languages and sold more than eighty-five million copies worldwide, but Judy Blume, whose new novel, In the Unlikely Event, was published by Knopf in June, has always taken a simple approach to her work: “I do what I have to do to tell the story.”
In an effort to open writing contests and grants to undocumented immigrants, a group called the “Undocupoets” successfully petitions some of the most prominent presses and literary organizations in America.
Since its founding in 2008, Badilisha Poetry X-Change has built the largest online archive of contemporary African poetry, including work by nearly four hundred poets from more than thirty countries across Africa and the diaspora. Now, with the launch of a new mobile site, Badilisha is making African poetry more accessible and interactive to millions of Africans.
Clayton Smith has self-published several books, including his latest novel, Apocalypticon, and used his experiences to cofound Dapper Press, a company that provides essential services like editing, design, and promotion to self-published authors. Editor Kim Bookless and publicist Lissy Peace weigh in on Smith’s process, and such self-publishing necessities.
Literary MagNet chronicles the start-ups and closures, successes and failures, anniversaries and accolades, changes of editorship and special issues—in short, the news and trends—of literary magazines in America. This issue’s MagNet features the Southern Review, the Pinch, Zyzzyva, Hanging Loose, and Copper Nickel.
With so many good books being published every month, some literary titles worth exploring can get lost in the stacks. Page One offers the first lines of a dozen recently released books, including Nick Flynn’s My Feelings and Rebecca Makkai’s Music for Wartime, as the starting point for a closer look at these new and noteworthy titles.
Jennifer Day, the editor of the Chicago Tribune’s Sunday books section, Printer’s Row Journal, discusses her commitment to assembling the best literary criticism on both the local and national level.
Three poets laureate—Luis J. Rodriguez, Joseph Bathanti, and Natasha Trethewey—talk about the various initiatives and influences they've brought to the position, and what the role means to them.
French artist Stéphane Heuet’s Herculean efforts to democratize the work of Marcel Proust come to fruition as Norton releases his graphic-novel adaptation of Swann’s Way.
Small Press Points highlights the innovation and can-do spirit of independent presses. This issue features the Plano, Texas–based Queen’s Ferry Press. Initially devoted to short story collections, the press is now expanding to publish novels, novellas, and an anthology series.
InsideOut, a program that has been bringing poets to Detroit schools for twenty-five years, says goodbye to founder and executive director Terry Blackhawk this year, and will publish an anthology of essays by its educators in August.
Four young literary agents meet for an evening of food, drink, and conversation about how they find new authors, what they need to see in a query letter, and the common mistakes writers should avoid.
In a continuing series examining the lives of writers in the international writing community, contributing editor Stephen Morison Jr. spends time with three authors in Rome who share a common desire "to shake free from a past so impressive it's suffocating."
A former radio executive writes about his behind-the-scenes experiences with rock stars, and puts his vast media expertise to work promoting the book. An editor and publicist weigh in.
Should you pay to have a manuscript edited beforehand? Are there benefits to querying via snail mail versus e-mail? Danielle Svetcov of Levine Greenberg Rostan answers readers’ questions about what (and what not) to do when trying to find an agent.
With so many good books being published every month, some literary titles worth exploring can get lost in the stacks. Page One offers the first lines of a dozen recently released books, including Toni Morrison’s Gold Help the Child and Charles Simic’s The Lunatic, as the starting point for a closer look at these new and noteworthy titles.
Literary MagNet chronicles the start-ups and closures, successes and failures, anniversaries and accolades, changes of editorship and special issues—in short, the news and trends—of literary magazines in America. This issue’s MagNet features Rattle, Poetry International, the Moth, Grain, and Barrelhouse.
Small Press Points highlights the innovation and can-do spirit of independent presses. This issue features the Fairfax, Virginia–based Civil Coping Mechanisms, whose devotion to writing that “doesn’t shy away” is reimagining what it means to cope.
Inspired by the works of Shelley, Keats, and Byron, a new video game challenges its players to get creative with writing-based gameplay.
Ron Charles of the Washington Post and the Totally Hip Video Book Review series gives his insights on the ethical and practical challenges of being a book critic for a major newspaper.
A breakdown of the numbers behind our Grants & Awards section, including the total amount of prize money given each year, the cost of entry, and how writing contests have changed over the past ten years.
