A Freeing Space: Our Seventeenth Annual Look at Debut Poets

Ten debut poets who published in 2021, including Threa Almontaser and Shangyang Fang, discuss the inspiration for their books, their writers block remedies, and advice for other poets.
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Ten debut poets who published in 2021, including Threa Almontaser and Shangyang Fang, discuss the inspiration for their books, their writers block remedies, and advice for other poets.
The first lines of a dozen noteworthy books, including Manifesto: On Never Giving Up by Bernardine Evaristo and To Paradise by Hanya Yanagihara.
The translator of Migratory Birds and Permafrost shares how growing up between different languages and countries has led her to challenge conventional wisdom about the art of translation.
An author finds similarities between training for a marathon and finishing a book: Both require stamina, perseverance, good habits, maybe a ritual or two, and the ability to keep fear at bay.
Jennifer Huang’s Return Flight, forthcoming from Milkweed Editions on January 18, 2022.
The agent who represents writers TJ Alexander and K. Tempest Bradford, among others, answers questions about being ghosted by agents and how to query for nonfiction books.
Writer Sophie Calle took a job as a maid at a Venice hotel to secretly study the lives of its guests. Her diary of observations and photos compose The Hotel, a book whose provocative methods have inspired other artists.
The first lines of a dozen noteworthy books, including Orwell’s Roses by Rebecca Solnit and Such Color: New and Selected Poems by Tracy K. Smith.
For one hundred years, PEN International has championed freedom of expression and the rights of writers. This fall, the organization considers its history with an online archive, a Centenary Congress, and a new book documenting their work.
Founded in 2017, the African Poetry Digital Portal serves as singular resource for studying contemporary African poetry. Now, with a grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, the project’s leaders aim to expand their offerings.