Jump to navigation Skip to content
NPR releases list of readers’ hundred favorite funny books; the Paris Review’s mistranslated book titles contest; movie about Virginia Woolf and Vita Sackville-West to be released this Friday; and other news.
For many of us, the elevation in temperature and invitation to spend more time outdoors during the summer can usher in a flurry of changes—both atmospheric and emotional. As Nina MacLaughlin writes in her Paris Review summer solstice series: “In summer we tend skyward. It invites us out and up…. We can stand outside when it’s dark and lift our faces to the sky and get spun back to childhood or swung into the swishing infinity above.” Write a poem that embodies this transformation. What smells, sounds, and sensations do you associate with the season? For more examples of warm weather poetry, see the Poetry Foundation’s collection of summer poems.
Edwidge Danticat remembers the ancestral lessons of Paule Marshall and Toni Morrison; poet Shane McCrae on dreams and poetic modes; a closer look at fake and doctored Orwell novels sold on Amazon; and other news.
In just under two weeks I will be holding the first of what I hope to be an ongoing event series, the Detroit Writers Circle. On August 30, I am inviting Detroit writers, reading series hosts, and literary event planners to join me at the Tuxedo Project (7124 Tuxedo Street) from 5:00 PM to 8:00 PM to write, share, and discuss the mini-grants offered by the Readings & Workshops program. Our writing workshop will focus on poetry, and an open mic will follow. We will close the evening by offering a step-by-step tutorial of the application process for the mini-grants. This will be a great time to ask questions and gain clarity about the guidelines.
We will also open the floor for suggestions on events in the Detroit area, including future workshop leaders, potential featured performers, and available venues. I am hoping to see a number of literary entities on August 30! Can’t wait to build community with you. If you have any questions, feel free to reach out to me at Detroit@pw.org.
Justin Rogers is the literary outreach coordinator for Poets & Writers in Detroit. Contact him at Detroit@pw.org or on Twitter, @Detroitpworg.In this 2018 video, Matthew Zapruder reads from his poetry collections Come On All You Ghosts (Copper Canyon Press, 2012) and Sun Bear (Copper Canyon Press, 2015), and his book Why Poetry (Ecco, 2017) for the Lunch Poems reading series at UC Berkeley. Zapruder’s fifth poetry collection, Father’s Day (Copper Canyon Press, 2019), is featured in Page One in the September/October issue of Poets & Writers Magazine.
Patricia Lockwood on her cats; Mary Norris on the “long hot summer of grammar”; CLMP to honor Kima Jones and Will Evans; and other news.
Gabriel García Márquez’s “cocktail stories”; author and book critic Marie Arana shares her favorite books; Deborah Landau on gun control; and other news.
Jillian Weise reads her poems “Semi Semi Dash,” “Café Loop,” and “Poem for His Girl,” from her second collection, The Book of Goodbyes (BOA Editions, 2013), at the Academy of American Poets’ 2013 Poets Forum Awards Ceremony. Weise’s third collection, Cyborg Detective (BOA Editions, 2019), is featured in Page One in the September/October issue of Poets & Writers Magazine.
As part of its perennial celebration of literature, the Westival Music and Arts Festival invites poets to submit to the Westival Poetry Competition. Semifinalists will be invited to read onstage at this year’s festival in Co. Mayo, Ireland, where a winner will be announced live. First prize is €1,000 (approximately $1,110).
Using the online submission system, submit up to three poems with a €15 entry fee (approximately $17) by August 30. Each poem should consist of no more than forty lines. Visit the website for complete guidelines.
This year’s competition will be judged by Geraldine Mitchell, John McAuliffe, and Ger Reidy. The festival aims for emerging and established talent to share its stage; recent guests include Edna O’Brien, Dermot Healy, and Kevin Barry, as well as musicians, visual artists, and performers. The festival will be held from October 23 to October 28.
How much money the library saves you; the National Endowment for the Humanities announces $29 million in grants; Trisha Low on artistic stakes; and other news.
