Genre: Poetry
Poetry Open Book Contest
Poetry as Salve and Challenge
One poet’s personal reading goal gone viral, the Sealey Challenge invites participants to read a book of poetry every day in August and to share their reading lists publicly, offering sustained immersion in poetry and its community.
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.
Book Contest
Oxford Poetry Prize
Concord Free Public Library Writer-in-Residence Program
The Concord Free Public Library Writer-in-Residence Program offers a six-month residency from January to June to a poet, fiction writer, or creative nonfiction writer at the historic Concord Free Public Library (CFPL) in Concord, Massachusetts. The writer-in-residence is given a $10,000 stipend with the expectation that they will spend an average of eight hours a week at the library for the duration of the program and will develop public programming and social opportunities for the CFPL community.
Concord Free Public Library Writer-in-Residence Program, 129 Main Street, Concord, MA 01742. (978) 318-3383. Ricky Sirois, Assistant Library Director.
Most Wanted and Unwanted
To write their latest book, People’s Choice Literature: The Most Wanted and Unwanted Novels (Columbia University Press, 2025), Tom Comitta used data compiled from a specially designed national public opinion poll on literary preference and composed two novels: a formulaic, fast-paced thriller and an experimental epistolary sci-fi romance with elderly aristocratic tennis players as protagonists. Responses to the poll included preferences and aversions to attributes such as characters’ identities, genre, verb tense, setting, and point of view. Taking a cue from this project, jot down a brief list of what you would guess to be the most and least desired attributes of poetry, including rhyme, length, diction, and imagery. Write a “Most Wanted Poem” and “Most Unwanted Poem” based on your list. How do your own idiosyncrasies and thoughts around literary taste infiltrate each piece?
Listen and Learn: First Tracks and First Impressions
The author of Scream / Queen (Acre Books, 2025) encourages writers to consider how music albums are introduced as they craft the beginning of poetry collections.
CD Eskilson With Ashia Ajani and Preeti Vangani
CD Eskilson celebrates the release of their debut poetry collection, Scream / Queen (Acre Books, 2025), in this reading and conversation with poets Ashia Ajani and Preeti Vangani at Green Apple Books in San Francisco.



