Belle Boggs, one of the five writers featured in our tenth annual debut-fiction roundup, is the author of the collection Mattaponi Queen, published by Graywolf Press in June.
In addition to features from the award-winning print edition, the magazine online offers daily news items, advice from writers, and our popular blog about writing contests.
May/Jun 2012
by Jenny Xie
Online Only, posted 5.18.12
Longreads has compiled articles about Facebook, Weldon Owen Publishing offers an infographic of the birth of a book, and parodist Mark Crick imagines how Dostoevsky would tile his bathroom.
by Evan Smith Rakoff
Online Only, posted 5.17.12
In light of 2012 marking the two hundredth anniversary of the births of Robert Browning, Charles Dickens, and Edward Lear, the Guardian examines the literary afterlife; Studs Terkel would have turned one hundred yesterday, and the city of Chicago is celebrating the occasion; the New Yorker considers Get Your War On author David Rees’s business of artisanal pencil sharpening; and other news.
by Evan Smith Rakoff
Online Only, posted 5.16.12
Famed novelist Carlos Fuentes passed away Tuesday in Mexico City. He was eighty-three; the Guardian looks at the legacy of the great John Updike; a former pharmaceutical executive, Andrew G. Bodnar, convicted of a white-collar crime, was sentenced to write a book; and other news.
by Ron Currie Jr.
On his writers tour of Portland, Maine, award-winning author Ron Currie Jr. sets out to "dispel the persistent notion that Maine is intellectually DOA" by showcasing the city's thriving literary scene.
by Jan Weissmiller
Before heading to the Iowa Summer Writing Festival, held throughout June and July, get acquainted with the reading series, bars, landmarks, and people—including our guide Jan Weissmiller, co-owner of indie bookseller Prairie Lights Books—of designated City of Literature Iowa City.
by Evan Smith Rakoff
Bookstore sales dropped over 4 percent in February; backlash to the Pulitzer Board's decision not to award a fiction prize; Sarah Weinman reveals the secret formula for a mega-bestselling novel; and other news.
by Adrian Versteegh
March/April 2012
Thanks to the accessibility of new digital tools offered by booksellers such as Amazon and Barnes & Noble, self-publishing is loosing its stigma and holds new promise for writers venturing out on their own.
by Melissa Faliveno
March/April 2012
In the midst of the political protests that were escalating in Wisconsin last winter, three library science majors at the University of Wisconsin devised the Library as Incubator Project, a website for writers, artists, and librarians to share their creations and ideas in one collaborative space.
by Lania Knight
Phillip Lopate, considered by many to be one of the most important essayists of our time, discusses the controversies surrounding creative nonfiction, his own essay-writing process, and the ultimate quality he looks for in nonfiction—an interesting mind at work on the page.
Jan Weissmiller, co-owner of indie bookseller Prairie Lights Books, writes about the bars, reading series, landmarks, and people of the legendary Iowa City in this month's City Guide. (Just in time for the start of the Iowa Summer Writing Festival in June!)
The May/June 2012 issue of Poets & Writers Magazine is out, featuring a special section on writing contests, profiles of writers Nell Freudenberger, David St. John, and Ben Fountain, plus select articles online. Take a look!
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