Ten Questions for Patrick deWitt
“I’m for an industry-wide ban on the blurb.” —Patrick DeWitt, author of French Exit
Article Archive
Articles from Poet & Writers Magazine include material from the print edition plus exclusive online-only material.
Ten Questions for J. M. Holmes
“It is a terrifying process to release your literary babies into the world, where anybody can say anything they want about them.” —J. M. Holmes, author of How Are You Going to Save Yourself
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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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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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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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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Lambda Literary Looks to the Future
Sue Landers takes over as executive director of the nonprofit dedicated to LGBTQ writers.
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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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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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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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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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2019 MFA Index: Your Guide to More Than 220 Programs
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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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 Poetry of Perseverance: An Interview With Ada Limón
In her fifth collection, The Carrying, Ada Limón digs deep down to the roots of what she sees happening in the world today—and she is deeply troubled by what she finds.
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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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Breaking the Rules: When to Ignore Good Advice
A fiction writer breaks up with her novel and learns that sometimes it’s more important to follow your intuition than take advice.
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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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#MeToo: Crafting Our Most Difficult True Stories
Using elements of craft to tell powerful stories about sexual assault and trauma, with examples from work by Roxane Gay, Alexandria Marzano-Lesnevich, Megan Stielstra, and others.
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