Poets & Writers Magazine

For more than twenty years, Poets & Writers Magazine has been a trusted companion to writers who take their vocation seriously. Within its pages, our readers find provocative essays on the literary life, practical guidance for getting published and pursuing writing careers, in-depth profiles of poets, fiction writers, and writers of creative nonfiction, and conversation among fellow professionals.

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Poets & Writers Magazine

EDITOR’S Note

Reactions • Poets & Writers Magazine welcomes feedback from its readers. Please post a comment on select articles at www.pw.org or e-mail editor@pw.org. Letters accepted for publication may be edited for clarity and length.

Hashtag Highlights Anti-Black Bias

Writing in Spanish Elevates Academia

The Anthologist

Small Press Points

Literary MagNet

TRENDS

Cook’s Activism at Philly Bookshop

The Time Is Now • Writing Prompts and Exercises

Telling #Stories

Why We Write

Transformation • IN HIS SECOND POETRY COLLECTION, FINNA, NATE MARSHALL EXPLORES THE FAILURES AND TRIUMPHS OF LANGUAGE, THE POWER OF COMMUNITY, AND ABOLITION AS A POETIC PRAXIS.

WORLD of WONDERS • IN HER NEW ESSAY COLLECTION, PUBLISHED BY MILKWEED EDITIONS IN SEPTEMBER, POET AIMEE NEZHUKUMATATHIL TURNS HER CREATIVE POWERS OF ATTENTION, PLAY, OPENNESS, AND LOVE TO A WORLD OF MAGIC AND IMAGINATION OUTDOORS, CULTIVATING THE FAMILY GARDEN AS A LOVE LANGUAGE THAT CONNECTS ALL OF US.

TRUTH • IN HOMELAND ELEGIES, PULITZER PRIZE–WINNING PLAYWRIGHT AND NOVELIST AYAD AKHTAR BLURS THE LINE BETWEEN FACT AND FICTION IN AN ATTEMPT TO RECLAIM THE NOVEL: “I THINK THAT REALITY HAS OUTPACED THE CAPACITY FOR FICTION TO SPEAK TO US ABOUT WHAT WE HAVE BECOME.”

I’M WRITING TO YOU

Dear Fellow Black Writers

To My Precious Black Son

To the Tentatively Hopeful

A Letter to the Allies

To Writers Struggling With Their Whiteness

A Note to the Shareholders

Dear White Readers, Gatekeepers, and Members of the Media

Dear White Publishers

Dearest Tayari

Dear Black Queer Boy

My Beloved Black Ancestors

Return to the MFA • A CALL FOR SYSTEMIC CHANGE IN THE LITERARY ARTS

We Need New Metaphors • REIMAGINING POWER IN THE CREATIVE WRITING WORKSHOP

MFA Programs in the Time of COVID-19 • WRITERS, TEACHERS, AND ADMINISTRATORS PLAN FOR A NEW NORMAL

Online MFA Programs • THE HIDDEN BENEFITS OF THE NO-RESIDENCY OPTION

Ten Online MFA Programs at a Glance

The End of an MFA • WHAT HAPPENS WHEN A LOW-RESIDENCY PROGRAM CLOSES?

Starting Out in an MFA Program? • HERE ARE TEN TIPS FOR GETTING THE MOST OUT OF IT

The Art of the Author Photo • HOW TO MAKE A LASTING IMAGE

Reviewers & Critics • ISMAIL MUHAMMAD OF THE BELIEVER

Deadlines

Submission Calendar

Recent Winners

Conferences & Residencies

Ed Roberson Wins Jackson Prize