Craft Capsule: How to Be a Writer and an Organizer

The author of Southbound and The Parted Earth makes time for both community organizing and writing.
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Articles from Poet & Writers Magazine include material from the print edition plus exclusive online-only material.
The author of Southbound and The Parted Earth makes time for both community organizing and writing.
Victoria Chang’s Dear Memory: Letters on Writing, Silence, and Grief, forthcoming from Milkweed Editions on October 12, 2021.
“The hardest part of writing Virga was finding the courage to be vulnerable on the page.” —Shin Yu Pai, author of Virga
The author of Southbound and The Parted Earth writes about how authenticity editors have helped enrich her work in all genres.
Andrea Abi-Karam’s Villainy, forthcoming from Nightboat Books on September 14, 2021.
“I only write about the things that haunt me in some way.” —Katie Kitamura, author of Intimacies
The author of Southbound and The Parted Earth shares her approach to balancing projects in multiple genres.
Lauren Groff’s Matrix, forthcoming from Riverhead Books on September 7, 2021.
“Engaging with art doesn’t have to be about understanding something or getting the right answer.” —Beth Morgan, author of A Touch of Jen
The author of Southbound and The Parted Earth shares how chronic pain has forced her to challenge traditional notions of writing productivity.
Eleanor Henderson’s Everything I Have Is Yours, forthcoming from Flatiron Books on August 10, 2021.
This week’s installment of Ten Questions features Pajtim Statovci and David Hackston, the author and the translator of Bolla.
Patrick Rosal’s The Last Thing: New & Selected Poems, forthcoming from Persea Books on September 21, 2021.
“The book often knows more, and knows better, than you do.” —Clare Sestanovich, author of Objects of Desire
The author of Love and Other Poems offers advice on how to avoid being stuck.
Richard Powers’s Bewilderment, forthcoming from W. W. Norton on September 21, 2021.
This week’s installment of Ten Questions features Mariana Oliver and Julia Sanches, the author and the translator of Migratory Birds.
The author of Love and Other Poems steals time to write poetry during cab rides across New York City.
From Love and Other Poems, published by Copper Canyon Press in February 2021.
In his first nonfiction book, How the Word Is Passed, published in June by Little, Brown, poet and scholar Clint Smith delves into the legacy of slavery alive in the monuments and landmarks within and beyond the United States, in an immersive read that exquisitely depicts how a nation and its inhabitants remember its history.
The author of There Plant Eyes: A Personal and Cultural History of Blindness charts her literary passions and road to publication by the journals she has worked with as a contributor or editor.
The L.A. press publishes genre-defying poetry, fiction, nonfiction, and translation from the Asian Pacific American and Asian diaspora.
Nikki Peoples describes how she self-published her sci-fi novel, The Station. An editor and a publicist give their advice on reaching more readers, leveraging the power of social media, and finding the right team of publishing professionals.
Four new anthologies including The 2021 Griffin Poetry Prize Anthology: A Selection of the Shortlist and We Are the Baby-Sitters Club: Essays and Artwork From Grown-Up Readers.
A series of books, edited by Erica Vital-Lazare and published by McSweeney’s, shines a light on Black literature that was previously overlooked or underappreciated.