March/April 2023

In partnership with the Academy of American Poets, the Guggenheim is refreshing its connection to poetry with a poets-in-residence program, through which the museum is reimagining its offerings to engage the community with verse.

The first lines of a dozen noteworthy books, including Welcome Me to the Kingdom by Mai Nardone and Feast by Ina Cariño.

Bill Henderson founded Pushcart Press with one goal: to empower overlooked writers to publish their own work. Fifty years later, Pushcart is still elevating independent publishers and authors with its annual prize anthology. 

A look at three new anthologies, including A Darker Wilderness: Black Nature Writing From Soil to Stars and Infinite Constellations: An Anthology of Identity, Culture, and Speculative Conjunctions. 

Two small presses, Rare Bird and Unnamed Press, opened North Figueroa Bookshop with the assistance of two major publishers, Grove Atlantic and MCD Books, which help support the store in exchange for dedicated shelf space and other perks. 

Los Angeles press Write Bloody Publishing releases books by “troubadour poets” who can command the stage as well as the page. “We love getting knocked on our asses by honesty,” says Write Bloody founder Derrick C. Brown.

The author of When Trying to Return Home describes her connection with journals that first published her stories, including Jabberwock Review and the Vassar Review.

Inspired by books and magazines she found discarded on the street, Oakland-based artist Alexis Arnold explores the vulnerability of printed media by transforming books into sculptures with crystallized borax.

Lambda Literary’s new executive director shares her goals for expanding inclusivity at the nonprofit by engaging writers across genres, mediums, and identities.

Write a poem about a formative childhood memory, a story with a powerful character who meets their demise, or an essay exploring your relationship with the spring rain.

The author of Sing Something True recounts the path to writing the memoir she was afraid to write, grieving her identity as a writer after rejection, and finding solace (and representation) after shifting focus away from publication.