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Articles from Poet & Writers Magazine include material from the print edition plus exclusive online-only material.

Craft Capsule: A Poem Called Love

by

Alex Dimitrov

6.14.21

Edited photo of the upper half of the Empire State Building. Everything is in pink tones. A small white square with the handwritten words “MUCH LOVE XO” is pasted on top of the photo, on the face of the building.

The author of Love and Other Poems offers an antidote to the usual despair and hysteria on Twitter by writing an endless poem about love.

Tags:

love | joy | pleasure | social media | Twitter | Internet | public art

GalleyCrush: A Calling for Charlie Barnes

by Staff

6.11.21

Close-up of the cover of Joshua Ferris’s A Calling for Charlie Barnes. A shiny, emerald-green handset of a corded telephone dangles in the air. The background is a warm orange.

Joshua Ferris’s A Calling for Charlie Barnes, forthcoming from Little, Brown on September 28, 2021.

Ten Questions for Akwaeke Emezi

by Staff

6.8.21

Akwaeke Emezi

“Having to insist on that center and refuse, over and over again, to compromise the work in service of a white gaze was one of the most brutal experiences of my career.” —Akwaeke Emezi, author of Dear Senthuran

Tags:

memoir | epistolary | mental health | spirituality | transness | writing process

Craft Capsule: Night Call

by

Alex Dimitrov

6.7.21

Film photo of a bedroom. A floor lamp illuminates striped pillows on a bedspread, while the rest of the room remains mostly dark.

The author of Love and Other Poems describes a special project in which he read his poetry to strangers in their bedrooms.

Tags:

New York City | intimacy | reading | strangers | imagination

GalleyCrush: Cloud Cuckoo Land

by Staff

6.4.21

Close-up of the cover of Anthony Doerr’s Cloud Cuckoo Land. A delicate white cloud is painted on a soft blue surface. Lines of pale gold extend out from the center of the cloud to the edges of the frame.

Anthony Doerr’s Cloud Cuckoo Land, forthcoming from Scribner on September 28, 2021.

Ten Questions for Jack Wang

by Staff

6.1.21

Jack Wang

“You’re neither the genius nor the failure you think you are.” —Jack Wang, author of We Two Alone

Tags:

international | historical fiction | immigration | Asian diaspora | Chinese diaspora | writing process

GalleyCrush: Poet Warrior

by Staff

5.28.21

Close-up of the cover of Joy Harjo’s Poet Warrior. An intricate piece of beadwork depicts a spider. The body of the spider is rendered in red and gold beads, while its legs are gold and brown.

Joy Harjo’s Poet Warrior, forthcoming from W. W. Norton on September 7, 2021.

Ten Questions for Monica West

by Staff

5.25.21

Monica West

“I will miss these characters living in my head.” —Monica West, author of Revival Season

Tags:

religion | faith | patriarchy | family | coming of age | writing process

GalleyCrush: When the Reckoning Comes

by Staff

5.21.21

Close-up of the cover of LaTanya McQueen’s When the Reckoning Comes. An illustrated solitary bird is perched on a branch against a dull-colored sky. The title text, rendered in a blood-red font, is partially visible.

LaTanya McQueen’s When the Reckoning Comes, forthcoming from Harper Perennial on August 3, 2021.

Ten Questions for Brian Broome

by Staff

5.18.21

Brian Broome

“The words start to feel like they’re punching my skull from the inside.” —Brian Broome, author of Punch Me Up to the Gods

Tags:

Blackness | masculinity | LGBTQ | addiction | mental health | childhood | family | writing process

Craft Capsule: Technically It’s a Ravioli

by

Kristen Arnett

5.17.21

Flour plump homemade ravioli sit on the kitchen table. They are lightly dusted with flour, waiting to be cooked. Toward the back is a small glass bowl with an egg mixture and a mound of white flour.

The author of With Teeth celebrates absurdist humor.

Tags:

absurdist humor | absurdism | humor | social media

GalleyCrush: Agatha of Little Neon

by Staff

5.14.21

Close-up of the cover of Claire Luchette’s Agatha of Little Neon. The silhouettes of two nuns appear in front of a 2D neon-green house against a pink background.

Claire Luchette’s Agatha of Little Neon, forthcoming from Farrar, Straus and Giroux on August 3, 2021.

Ten Questions for E. C. Osondu

by Staff

5.11.21

E. C. Osondu

“It was all fun and games until I realized that I was actually writing a book.” —E. C. Osondu, author of Alien Stories

Tags:

science fiction | speculative fiction | racism | immigration | community | humor | writing process

Craft Capsule: On Copycats and Reply Guys

by

Kristen Arnett

5.10.21

The wall behind a bar is illuminated by a red-and-yellow neon light. Bottles of liquor and wine are perched on shelving units. Several out-of-focus figures are standing in front of the bar.

The author of With Teeth writes about the pleasure of riffing off a good joke.

Tags:

imitation | humor | collaboration | social media

GalleyCrush: Radiant Fugitives

by Staff

5.7.21

Close-up of the cover of Nawaaz Ahmed’s Radiant Fugitives. Wavy bands of gold and blue run on the vertical axis. Woven between the bands are brilliant red flowers.

Nawaaz Ahmed’s Radiant Fugitives, forthcoming from Counterpoint on August 3, 2021.

Ten Questions for Donika Kelly

by Staff

5.4.21

Donika Kelly

“I need the volume of more than one trusted reader to hear suggestions over my own investment in being right.” —Donika Kelly, author of The Renunciations

Tags:

childhood | memory | trauma | home | nature/environmental | writing process

Craft Capsule: Self-Deprecating Humor

by

Kristen Arnett

5.3.21

A deconstructed lego person is spread out on a light green surface.

The author of With Teeth writes that her affinity for self-deprecating humor is inextricable from her queerness.

Tags:

self-deprecating humor | humor | queerness | Identity

GalleyCrush: The Love Songs of W. E. B. Du Bois

by Staff

4.30.21

Close-up of the cover of Honorée Fanonne Jeffers’s The Love Songs of W. E. B. Du Bois. A graphic, textured rendering of the sun peeking out from behind a tree.

Honorée Fanonne Jeffers’s The Love Songs of W. E. B. Du Bois, forthcoming from Harper on July 27, 2021. Editor’s Note: This book’s publication date has been changed to August 24, 2021.

Ten Questions for Kelli Russell Agodon

by Staff

4.27.21

Kelli Russell Agodon

“There are so many journeys I’d like to take” —Kelli Russell Agodon, author of Dialogues with Rising Tides

Tags:

nature/environmental | climate change | family | mental health | America | writing process

Craft Capsule: What’s So Funny?

by

Kristen Arnett

4.26.21

Close-up of a blue-and-yellow macaw with its face turned to the side, beak ajar and tucked into its neck.

The author of With Teeth examines how a single joke can be successfully repackaged and retold over time.

Tags:

humor | retelling | family | memory | reader experience | writing process

GalleyCrush: The Woman From Uruguay

by Staff

4.23.21

Close-up of the cover of Pedro Mairal’s The Woman From Uruguay, translated by Jennifer Croft. An out-of-focus image of a woman’s lips is pasted on top of an image of calm water cast in pink tones.

Pedro Mairal’s The Woman From Uruguay, translated by Jennifer Croft, forthcoming from Bloomsbury on July 6, 2021.

Ten Questions for Carey Salerno

by Staff

4.20.21

Carey Salerno

“I often worried what would come out would be scary, accusing, not close enough to the truth or too close.” —Carey Salerno, author of Tributary

Tags:

family | religion | patriarchy | whiteness | racism | violence | river | water | nature/environmental

GalleyCrush: Nightbitch

by Staff

4.16.21

Close-up of the cover of Rachel Yoder’s Nightbitch. A pair of hands holds out a piece of paper with three raw beef steaks on top. The fingernails are painted to match the tone of the steaks.

Rachel Yoder’s Nightbitch, forthcoming from Doubleday on July 20, 2021.

Page One: Where New and Noteworthy Books Begin

by

Staff

News and Trends

4.14.21

A grid of twelve book covers.

The first lines of a dozen noteworthy books, including Second Place by Rachel Cusk and The Renunciations by Donika Kelly.

Tags:

fiction | poetry | creative nonfiction | translation | Page One

Agent Advice: Iwalani Kim of Sanford J. Greenburger Associates

by

Staff

The Practical Writer

4.14.21

Iwalani Kim

The literary agent answers questions about submitting story collections, getting an agent’s attention, and querying two agents at the same agency.

Tags:

Agent Advice | literary agents | query letters | submissions

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