March/April 2013

Poets and Writers Magazine, March/April 2013

Our Writers Retreats Issue features a special section on inspiring conferences, residencies, and book festivals; a literary report from the front lines in Egypt; an interview with six new parents on how they balance writing and family; plus a profile of Pulitzer Prize-winning poet Rae Armantrout, tips on how to crowdfund your next book project, taking advantage of Pinterest, and much more. 

Features

Books and Babies

by Rochelle Spencer
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Six writers discuss the beautiful blessings, overwhelming challenges, and the irrevocable changes that parenthood has brought to the second most important jobs of their lives.

The Spring 2013 Guide to Inspired Writers Retreats

Locals, Washashores, and Tourists: The Nantucket Book Festival

by Jeremiah Chamberlin
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Contributing editor Jeremiah Chamberlin traveled to Nantucket to talk with the people responsible for starting an exciting new book festival that is growing on the beautiful island known primarily as a summer playground.

Checking In: Literary Hotels

by Staff
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Take a literary tour of four grand hotels in Asheville, North Carolina; New Orleans; Estes Park, Colorado; and Coronado, California, where famous authors such as Ray Bradbury, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Henry James, and William Faulkner relaxed and drew...

O Canada: The Vancouver Writers Fest

by Michael Bourne
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Designed to encourage direct engagement between writers and readers, the twenty-six-year-old Vancouver Writers Fest showcases the work of a diverse range of Canadian as well as international authors.

The View From the Bluff: The Port Townsend Writers’ Conference

by Kathryn Trueblood
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Offering two one-week sessions in July, the Port Townsend Writers’ Conference has been the heart of the Pacific Northwest literary scene since 1974, focusing on community, craft, and spontaneity.

Rivers of Readers in Serbia: The International Belgrade Book Fair

by Michele Zackheim
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The International Belgrade Book Fair is the largest cultural event in Southwest Europe and is central to Serbia’s post-war cultural growth.

Summer Work: A Writers Retreat Alternative

by Keith Taylor
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Contributor Keith Taylor describes his annual writers retreat to northern Michigan each summer where he finds inspiration for his poems working among environmental scientists.

The Aha! Moment: Amber Dermont at Bread Loaf

by Michael Bourne
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Amber Dermont shares how feedback from her Bread Loaf Writers’ Conference workshop played out in the revision of her short story “Damage Control.”

News and Trends

Poetry for Patients and Their Families

by Beth Cranwell Aplin

The New Jersey-based publisher CavanKerry Press is helping patients and families awaiting medical attention with The Waiting Room Reader, an anthology of poetry and prose distributed for free to hospitals in select states across the country. 

Literary MagNet

by Travis Kurowski

Literary MagNet chronicles the start-ups and closures, successes and failures, anniversaries and accolades, changes of editorship and special issues—in short, the news and trends—of literary magazines in America. This issue's MagNet features N+1, Boston Review, Virginia Quarterly Review, and Witness. 

Small Press Points

by Staff

Small Press Points highlights the innovation and can-do spirit of independent presses. This issue features Prairie Lights Books, a new publishing collaborative between the Iowa City-based Prairie Lights bookstore and the University of Iowa Press. 

Page One: Where New and Noteworthy Books Begin

by Staff

With so many good books being published every month, some literary titles worth exploring can get lost in the stacks. Page One offers the first lines of a dozen recently released books, including Denise Duhamel’s Blowout and Phillip Lopate’s Portrait Inside My Head, as the starting point for a closer look at these new and noteworthy titles.

The Practical Writer

The Literary Life

Open Your Eyes: Seeing Like a Writer

by Tony Eprile
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Contributor Tony Eprile explores the notion of how what we see (and don’t see) defines us and offers guidance to writers about harnessing the powers of observation.

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