The Anthologist: A Compendium of Uncommon Collections
A look at three new anthologies, including Body Language: Writers on Identity, Physicality, and Making Space for Ourselves, edited by Nicole Chung and Matt Ortile.
Tags:
Article Archive
Articles from Poet & Writers Magazine include material from the print edition plus exclusive online-only material.
Open Letter’s Translator Triptych
By presenting translations in trios, a new initiative from Open Letter Books puts international literature in context and celebrates the role of translator as curator.
Tags:
Small Press Points: rinky dink press
Each no bigger than a deck of cards, rinky dink’s “micro zines” aim to “get poetry back in the hands (and pockets) of the people” and make the genre more accessible.
Tags:
Literary MagNet: Raquel Gutiérrez
The author on the journals and zines that published essays from their collection, Brown Neon.
Tags:
The Written Image: Stopan
The celebrated Bulgarian bookmaker Stopan calls on his country’s craft traditions to create fantastical artist’s books that are “both in and out of folklore.”
Tags:
Q&A: Translating Ukrainian Voices
Zenia Tompkins, founder of the Tompkins Agency for Ukrainian Literature in Translation, discusses the impact of Russia’s invasion on her work and the agency’s urgent efforts to bring Ukrainian voices to the West.
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:
Ten Questions for Christine Kandic Torres
“I wanted to write female friendship in a way that felt honest to me.” —Christine Kandic Torres, author of The Girls in Queens
Tags:
Freedom From Genre as Freedom to Write
The author of [WHITE] explores how writing outside one’s primary genre can lead to literary breakthroughs.
Tags:
Ten Questions for Sloane Crosley
“When you’re in that in-between stage, between starting something and gathering speed, a piece of chipped nail polish is the most riveting thing in the world.” —Sloane Crosley, author of Cult Classic
Tags:
Mixing Up My Poetry Practice to Beat Writer’s Block
The author of [WHITE] shares how experimenting with found texts can energize the poetic process and expand a poet’s lyric repertoire.
Tags:
Ten Questions for Lydia Conklin
“I have to lock up my phone every day—in a box designed for locking up cookies—during the hours I’m writing. Text messages ruin me.” —Lydia Conklin, author of Rainbow Rainbow
Tags:
Ten Questions for Gabe Montesanti
“Prioritize writing. Make time for it. Plan it like you plan your grocery lists. Plant your ass in the chair and do it.” —Gabe Montesanti, author of Brace for Impact
Tags:
Life Goals: A Q&A With Elif Batuman
Elif Batuman, the best-selling author of The Idiot and its sequel, Either/Or, talks to Porochista Khakpour about the new novel, being named a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize, and what she learned on a trip to Russia and Ukraine.
Ten Questions for Putsata Reang
“There are plenty of hard truths in Ma and Me that were difficult to put down on the page, and then there are other truths that are mine, and mine alone, to keep.” —Putsata Reang, author of Ma and Me
Tags:
Brave Words: On Jan Beatty’s “Red Sugar” and Finding Courage in Poetry
Lesley Wheeler reckons with vulnerability, loss, and family through a close reading of Jan Beatty’s poem “Red Sugar."
Tags:
Ten Questions for Vanessa Hua
“If I had known about the twists and turns beforehand, I like to think I would have kept going, but maybe it’s better not to know.” —Vanessa Hua, author of Forbidden City
Tags:
Ten Questions for Marwa Helal
“This book has its own life force. All you have to do is allow it to come together.” —Marwa Helal, author of Ante body
Tags:
Wildness and Containment: A Conversation on Formal Structure and Poetic Surprise
Jay Hopler and Kimberly Johnson discuss their new books, the techniques and craft decisions they used in writing these collections, and the occasion to which both books respond: Hopler’s diagnosis of terminal prostate cancer in 2017.
Tags:
Ten Questions for Soon Wiley
“Adjust one small plot point in the second half of the book, and you realize you’ve got to go back to the beginning and account for that change.” —Soon Wiley, author of When We Fell Apart
Tags:
Ten Questions for Dana Levin
“I am a fitful writer: long periods of not writing followed by intense engagement.” —Dana Levin, author of Now Do You Know Where You Are
Tags:
I Could Not Give Up on My Characters
The author of Country of Origin looks back on the fifteen years she spent working on her debut novel.
Tags:
Literary MagNet: Hope Wabuke
The author spotlights five journals that published lyric and narrative poems from her debut poetry collection, The Body Family.
Tags:
Small Press Points: Mason Jar Press
Two University of Baltimore MFA students founded the small press that publishes poetry, fiction, nonfiction, and hybrid work, and as well as a podcast and literary magazine.
Tags:
Building Solidarity Through Poetry
The Matwaala collective was launched in 2015 to create visibility for South Asian poets. Today, Matwaala programs such as the Poets of Color festival foster solidarity between different identity groups through literature.
Tags: