Q&A: Girmay Edits BOA Selections

Poet Aracelis Girmay discusses her new position as editor-at-large of the Blessing the Boats Selections, a set of poetry books written by women of color and published by BOA Editions.
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Articles from Poet & Writers Magazine include material from the print edition plus exclusive online-only material.
Poet Aracelis Girmay discusses her new position as editor-at-large of the Blessing the Boats Selections, a set of poetry books written by women of color and published by BOA Editions.
Artist and author Jillian Tamaki sewed and embroidered a piece called Blue Quilt to document her life during the pandemic.
Writer Rachel Syme’s pen pal matching program has connected more than nine thousand correspondents from over fifty countries during the pandemic.
Big Five and indie book publishers have recently increased entry-level salaries. Will it make the industry more accessible to BIPOC professionals?
The independent press based in Troy, New York, prints twenty titles a year, including art books, poetry, fiction, and nonfiction, which challenge genre expectations and push boundaries.
The Impact Library Program, an initiative of the nonprofit Little Free Library, brings free miniature libraries to communities where books are scarce to encourage a love of reading and improve literacy across the country.
The Ford Foundation and the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation have launched a fellowship program that honors disabled writers and artists in a variety of disciplines with grants of $50,000 each.
Poet Kaveh Akbar on his role as the poetry editor of the Nation and the challenges and possibilities of literary editing.
Kimberly Drew and Jenna Wortham’s book, Black Futures, comprises more than five hundred pages of poetry, artwork, memes, essays, and lyrics from Black artists.
The novelist and essayist on five outlets that he has worked with as an editor or have published pieces from his forthcoming nonfiction book, Craft in the Real World.
A teaching press based at High Point University in North Carolina that launched early this year aims to feature experimental poetry, fiction, and translation that “maintains a connection to human experience.”
The Prisoner Express program, created by Gary Fine in 2004, supports people who are incarcerated by sending them curated packages of books and offering educational programs.
The first lines of a dozen noteworthy books, including Let Me Tell You What I Mean by Joan Didion and The Sunflower Cast a Spell to Save Us From the Void by Jackie Wang.
Dr. Gloria House, a longtime editor at Broadside Lotus Press, discusses the publisher’s future and role in the literary community.
The first lines of a dozen noteworthy books, including Dearly by Margaret Atwood and Memorial by Bryan Washington.
For the first time in its 113-year history, MacDowell launches a virtual residency in an effort to build artistic community and fellowship during a time of social distancing.
Sidney Clifton, the eldest daughter of poet Lucille Clifton, has purchased her childhood home in Baltimore with plans to recreate the space as a haven for emerging and established artists.
Big Shoulders Books publishes writing from and about Chicagoans whose stories are overlooked—and then gives its books away for free.
In response to libraries shutting down during the pandemic, artists Katie Garth and Tracy Honn have collected a series of short artists’ books that can be downloaded for free and printed at home.
Two new notable anthologies, And We Came Outside and Saw the Stars Again and African American Poetry, published in the second half of 2020.
The fiction writer on five journals that published stories from her debut collection, If the Body Allows It.
The Texas press publishes poetry, fiction, and nonfiction that is “not only invested in self but also community” by writers from the United States, Latin America, and beyond.
The owner of the recently opened Harriett’s Bookshop, which specializes in the work of Black and women authors, talks about the arts as a tool for social change and her vision for the store.
Four new anthologies, including We Want It All: An Anthology of Radical Trans Poetics and Love After the End: An Anthology of Two-Spirit and Indigiqueer Speculative Fiction.
The first lines of twelve noteworthy books, including Just Us: An American Conversation by Claudia Rankine and Transcendent Kingdom by Yaa Gyasi.