My Year of Proust in the Age of Trump
A novelist takes the election of a new president and her subsequent move to Canada as an opportunity to fully immerse herself in a great work of literature.
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Article Archive
Articles from Poet & Writers Magazine include material from the print edition plus exclusive online-only material.
2019 MFA Index: Your Graduate Research Starts Here
A guide to 158 full-residency and 64 low-residency programs in creative writing, plus questions to consider before you apply.
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Agent Advice: Regina Brooks of Serendipity Literary Agency
An agent answers questions on referrals, pitching a self-published book, and what to do if you’re dropped by an agency.
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A Day in the Life of a Book Editor: Caroline Bleeke of Flatiron Books
For an editor like Caroline Bleeke of Flatiron Books, there is a lot more to the job than simply reading and editing manuscripts.
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Small Press Points: BatCat Press
A small press run by high school students in Pennsylvania publishes handmade books of poetry and prose.
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Page One: Where New and Noteworthy Books Begin
The first lines of a dozen noteworthy books, including Lake Success by Gary Shteyngart and Perennial by Kelly Forsythe.
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The Anthologist: A Compendium of Uncommon Collections
A roundup of new anthologies, including American Journal: Fifty Poems for Our Time, edited by Tracy K. Smith.
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The Written Image: Jane Mount’s “Bibliophile”
Colorful illustrations accompany notes, quotes, and literary trivia about books to read and bookstores to visit.
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Literary MagNet: Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah
A fiction writer discusses five journals that published stories from his debut collection, Friday Black.
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Lambda Literary Looks to the Future
Sue Landers takes over as executive director of the nonprofit dedicated to LGBTQ writers.
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Saving Millay’s Home
The Millay Society attempts to save Steepletop, Edna St. Vincent Millay’s former home in in Austerlitz, New York.
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MFA in Mind: Twenty Questions to Ask Before Applying
Why do you want an MFA? Important questions to ask yourself before you apply.
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Expanding the Audience for Books
With recent grant funding of $1.4 million, the National Book Foundation aims to reach more readers.
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Q&A: Baker Seeks Multiplicity of Voices
Jennifer Baker on her new anthology, Everyday People: The Color of Life, published by Atria in August.
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Reviewers & Critics: Sam Sacks of the Wall Street Journal
In this continuing series, a book reviewer discusses the art of literary criticism—from the value of negative reviews to critics he admires.
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Ten Questions for Jos Charles
“In a system that doesn’t value writing, but only the marketing possibility of the writer and the written object, to write is the ‘success’ itself.” —Jos Charles, author of feeld
Ten Questions for Catherine Lacey
“I don’t think beyond the book I’m writing, and I’m always writing one.” —Catherine Lacey, author of Certain American States
Ten Questions for Amitava Kumar
“I write every day and walk every day.” —Amitava Kumar, author of the novel Immigrant, Montana
Craft Capsule: “Unlikable” Characters
The author of If You Leave Me focuses not on a character’s likability but rather on making that character feel true.
Ten Questions for Alexia Arthurs
“I’ve gotten messages from people who tell me that they were waiting on a book like mine.” —Alexia Arthurs, author of the story collection How to Love a Jamaican
Craft Capsule: Multiple Narrators
The pleasures and pitfalls of writing a novel with multiple perspectives.
Ten Questions for Amy Bonnaffons
“I’m coming to believe more and more that the whole body should be engaged in the writing process.”—Amy Bonnaffons, author of the debut story collection The Wrong Heaven
A Space Odyssey of Healing: Brian Turner and the Interplanetary Acoustic Team
Brian Turner is best known for his award-winning poetry collections and memoir about the Iraq War, but with his new project he has pushed into an entirely new dimension of creative expression.
Craft Capsule: The Art of Research
How does a writer tell a story set in another country during a time before she was even born? Research, research, research.
Ten Questions for Keith Gessen
“You can almost always make something better by making it shorter.” —Keith Gessen, author of the novel A Terrible Country