POETS & WRITERS IS MORE than a magazine. We are a nonprofit organization dedicated to serving creative writers. We pay fees to writers giving readings and leading workshops, provide information and advice to authors, and help them connect with one another and with audiences. We also sponsor a number of awards and prizes. Learn more at pw.org.
In Celebration & Support of Writers
On March 11 more than five hundred guests gathered in Manhattan for Poets & Writers’ annual dinner. The event, titled In Celebration of Writers, raises funds to support the organization’s programs for creative writers. John Sargent, CEO of Macmillan Publishers and the 2014 dinner chair, announced that $565,350 had been raised. In his remarks, Sargent noted that the most important people in any publishing house are the authors and commended Poets & Writers for its direct service to writers for more than four decades.
At the event, Ian Frazier, Haki R. Madhubuti, and Joyce Carol Oates each received the Barnes & Noble Writers for Writers Award, in recognition of their contributions to the literary community. Frazier was cited for creating a free writing workshop at Holy Apostles Soup Kitchen in New York City. Madhubuti was recognized for building institutions that support and promote African American writers, including Third World Press and the MFA program at Chicago State University, one of the only graduate creative writing programs at a predominantly African American university. In accepting the award, Madhubuti saluted a number of mentors who had been important to him, stating simply, “Art saved my life.”
Oates was honored for her work on behalf of emerging writers, especially through the Ontario Review, which she founded and ran for thirty-four years with her late husband, Ray Smith. She affirmed her belief that “literary art is the highest expression of the human spirit.”
Anna Quindlen gave a moving tribute to her editor, Kate Medina of Random House, who received the Editor’s Award. “It’s like invisible ink, what a good editor does,” she said, expressing gratitude that when she signed with Random House she entered into what was in effect an arranged marriage with Medina. “Like some arranged marriages do, this one blossomed into love,” she said.
Photo Credit: Margarita Corporan