How to Write When You’d Rather Be Online
Your internet obsessions can become your writing’s obsessions; allow those passions to animate your book.
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Article Archive
Articles from Poet & Writers Magazine include material from the print edition plus exclusive online-only material.
How to Write an Author Bio
Keep it simple, or do like Nora Ephron and consider what defines you.
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How to Negotiate a Freelance Rate—or, How to Know Your Worth
Remember the value of time, expertise, and talent—and that you, too, should be invested in your work.
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Ten Questions for Raymond Antrobus
“I needed time away from text to indulge in paintings and drawings and collage art. I spent a lot of days in art galleries mulling over my memories and the text I was writing.” —Raymond Antrobus, author of The Quiet Ear: An Investigation of Missing Sound
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Literary Journals Associated With MFA Programs
If, as part of your graduate experience, you’re interested in contributing your time or writing to a school-sponsored journal, check out this listing of institutions whose MFA programs produce literary magazines.
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Writing on Grief: Transforming Loss Into Art
The author of Indigo (Copper Canyon Press, 2020) reflects on how writers can turn grief into literature.
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Ten Questions for Anne Waldman
“I like the idea of action writing, putting text on the floor and playing with arrangement like abstract expressionist painting.” —Anne Waldman, author of Mesopotopia
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Ten Questions for Xenobe Purvis
“But fear can be galvanizing; perhaps the novel would not have been written without it.” —Xenobe Purvis, author of The Hounding
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Historical Details: Approach With Caution!
The author of Restitution (Regal House Publishing, September 2025) recommends writers refine their research and examine which details actually serve their characters and plots.
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Ten Questions for Ed Park
“I just remember the miraculous appearance of story seeds, bursts of inspiration, and cloudless composition.” —Ed Park, author of An Oral History of Atlantis
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Real Life as Experiment: Letting Characters Play in Your Life
The author of Restitution (Regal House Publishing, September 2025) recommends writers use their own memories as a testing ground for their characters.
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Ten Questions for Katie Yee
“I think every writer carries with them someone they wish they could’ve told all their stories to.” —Katie Yee, author of Maggie; Or, A Man and a Woman Walk Into a Bar
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Using Time to Create Emotional Tension in Fiction
The author of Restitution (Regal House Publishing, September 2025) recommends writers use time as a tool to shape the emotional stakes of novels.
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Ten Questions for Issa Quincy
“I tend to work across these different forms, on different projects at the same time.” —Issa Quincy, author of Absence
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Ten Questions for Lawrence Burney
“Writing lends itself to filmmaking in terms of structuring a story, but I think filmmaking lends itself to more visually stimulating writing.” —Lawrence Burney, author of No Sense in Wishing
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Ten Questions for Rhoni Blankenhorn
“Notes/fragments help me relive moments that carry seeds, sparks, moments of import, humor, and beauty.” —Rhoni Blankenhorn, author of Rooms for the Dead and the Not Yet
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Listen and Learn: Beyond Lyrics and Preferred Genres
The author of Scream / Queen (Acre Books, 2025) recommends poets expand their research beyond their typical interests.
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Ten Questions for Fran Littlewood
“The research I did for this novel was so intriguing, looking at the psychology and science of siblinghood, memory, identity.” —Fran Littlewood, author of The Accidental Favorite
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Listen and Learn: Poetry Collection as Concept Album
The author of Scream / Queen (Acre Books, 2025) encourages poets to consider world-building in their collections like compiling a concept album.
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Taking a Chance: Toni Morrison’s Years as an Editor at Random House
A new book examines Toni Morrison’s years as an editor at Random House and the complicated art of publishing books of poetry by Barbara Chase-Riboud, Lucille Clifton, and June Jordan.
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First Fiction 2025
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.
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The Time Is Now: Writing Prompts and Exercises
Write a poem that creates unexpected connections, a story from the point of view of someone older than you, or a pair of lyrical essays that explore your personal responses to losses and gains.
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In the Shadow of a Homeplace: One Writer’s Life in Mississippi
A Nigerian professor and fiction writer describes how a new place like Starkville, Mississippi, becomes a home and how the color, texture, and form of her surroundings make their way into her storytelling.
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9,131 Sentences: How One Enormous Spreadsheet Taught Me to Be a Better Writer
Writing a book is a daunting challenge—but the texts we know and love can help. A nonfiction writer describes how a methodically organized spreadsheet of favorite quotes aided her journey from proposal to finished memoir.
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The Author’s Wife Is Also an Author: On the Fantasy and Reality of Writing and Partnership
A writer discusses the impact of perceived literary success on her marriage to another writer, drawing attention to the domestic and quotidian labor behind the privilege of being able to pursue one’s creative dreams.
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