Poets & Writers Magazine welcomes feedback from its readers. Please e-mail editor@pw.org or write to Editor, Poets & Writers Magazine, 90 Broad Street, Suite 2100, New York, NY 10004. Letters accepted for publication may be edited for clarity and length.
Letters
Feedback from readers
Trust is such an important part of communication, especially for writers attempting to conquer long forms. In “Disclosures: Earning, Sustaining, and Honoring Your Readers’ Trust” (May/June 2026), Renée D. Bondy shows one unexpected and wonderful sharing of trust with her readers. In another context, those of us needing support as we write about life situations must have space in which we can be vulnerable and grow in our craft. In our public writing group some years ago, a reporter who had identified herself as writing for a small publication attended one of our public meetings, one where she had determined a certain writer was to read her prose that evening. The piece dealt with many personal issues belonging to her character, including divorce and termination of a pregnancy. The next month the reporter did not return, but we later discovered her report, published in a national religious journal, excoriating the author for moral deficiencies. While it was a public group meeting, she had attended under false pretenses. It was damaging to the author and all the rest of us, leading many of us to self-censor for some time after that.
Doug Stone
Sarasota, Florida
As a writer who vows to quit after every book, I very much enjoyed “The Joy of the Tortured Artist: Why We Write, Even When We Hate to Write” (May/June 2026) by Minda Honey. To mangle a quote by Churchill, writing is the worst thing you can do, except for everything else. Thank you for reminding us that we are not alone and that writing is difficult work (or else everyone would do it).
Dave Morrison
Camden, Maine
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Social media ephemera
“Q&A: Gumnit Leads Little Free Library” (May/June 2026), Emily Pérez’s interview with Daniel Gumnit, executive director and CEO of the organization that provides book access to people through volunteer-hosted book-exchange boxes, elicited fond memories from readers on Facebook. Candy Shue wrote: “We went on a three-week camping trip through the Southwest, and I was delighted to find so many Little Free Libraries! In towns, of course, but also at a public swimming pool, a public garden, a playground—and even in Chaco National Park! It’s amazing how they’ve become a worldwide book-sharing community.” The social media manager for Wolf Twin Books, a boutique publisher of art books, poetry, and epic fantasy, added: “I put three books in the Little Free Library at the YMCA Sunday, and when I came to work out Monday afternoon, they were gone.” Rosie Sultan shared the love, writing: “Three cheers—no, three hundred cheers—for Little Free Libraries. They are tiny treasures that bring joy to so many. Bravo, Daniel Gumnit, for your work, and bravo, Poets & Writers, for this piece.”
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