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Since 2016, Poets & Writers Magazine has showcased authors who have made their literary debuts after the age of fifty in our annual 5 Over 50 series. These are the fifty writers and books that have been celebrated in our pages.
Essays by debut authors Jennifer Eli Bowen, Princess Joy L. Perry, Yael Valencia Aldana, Vishwas R. Gaitonde, and Lauren K. Watel as well as excerpts from their books.
Recently appointed judge of the Yale Series of Younger Poets, Monica Youn speaks about the value of publishing a debut collection regardless of age, how form helps poems come alive, and what she looks for as she reads submissions.
Lauren Grodstein, David Heska Wanbli Weiden, Megan Kamalei Kakimoto, Honorée Fanonne Jeffers, and Jonathan Escoffery introduce five debut fiction authors: Sarah Yahm, Jon Hickey, Carrie R. Moore, Aaron John Curtis, and Jemimah Wei.
The author of Late to the Search Party highlights magazines that have offered his lithe, intimate poems a home, including Waxwing and Split Lip Magazine.
This summer’s notable opportunities celebrate new talent, amplify marginalized voices, and push boundaries. Our editors take you behind the scenes to see how these contests are run, who they serve, and why they do what they do.
Excerpts from debut books by Suzette Mullen, Dorsía Smith Silva, Uchenna Awoke, Deborah Jackson Taffa, and Parul Kapur.
The first lines of a dozen noteworthy books, including Yr Dead by Sam Sax and Under the Eye of the Big Bird by Hiromi Kawakami.
Laura van den Berg, Jessamine Chan, Akil Kumarasamy, Ayşegül Savaş, and Julie Buntin introduce the authors of this summer’s best debut fiction: ’Pemi Aguda, Jiaming Tang, Michael Deagler, Yasmin Zaher, and Gina María Balibrera.
Growing up with strong women around her, Marcela Fuentes has always been keenly aware of how women can break out of gender norms despite domestic and societal tensions. Her debut novel, Marla, is the realization of that knowledge, weaving intergenerational stories with Mexican legend.
