We Build It Ourselves

A roundtable on race, power, and the writing workshop

10+ mins read

Poets & Writers Magazine

Things We Lost to the Water

Eric Nguyen whose debut novel, Things We Lost to the Water, was published in May by Knopf.

6 mins read

Poets & Writers Magazine

THE FIELD OF STORIES

IN HER NEW MEMOIR, POET WARRIOR, PUBLISHED BY W. W. NORTON IN SEPTEMBER, U.S. POET LAUREATE JOY HARJO TRAVELS THE ROADS, RIVERS, AND RHYTHMS OF HER LIFE, TAKING READERS ON A JOURNEY ACROSS GENERATIONS AND SINGING POWERFUL LESSONS ON THE CYCLICAL NATURE OF TIME AND BECOMING.

10+ mins read

Poets & Writers Magazine

The Other Black Girl

Zakiya Dalila Harris introduced by Maurice Carlos Ruffin

7 mins read

Poets & Writers Magazine

Your Career On The Line

Writers and agents discuss “The Call”

10 mins read

Poets & Writers Magazine

How We REMEMBER

WITH HIS FIRST NONFICTION BOOK, HOW THE WORD IS PASSED, PUBLISHED IN JUNE BY LITTLE, BROWN, POET AND SCHOLAR CLINT SMITH DELVES INTO THE LEGACY OF SLAVERY ALIVE IN MONUMENTS AND LANDMARKS WITHIN AND BEYOND THE UNITED STATES, IN AN IMMERSIVE READ THAT EXQUISITELY DEPICTS HOW A NATION AND ITS INHABITANTS REMEMBER ITS HISTORY.

10+ mins read

Poets & Writers Magazine

Stone Fruit

Lee Lai introduced

6 mins read

Poets & Writers Magazine

Ehrlich Speaks to Mother-Writers

Lara Ehrlich, author of the short story collection Animal Wife (Red Hen Press, 2020), has a deep narrative investment in the ways the world denies women power and agency. In October 2020 that commitment took a new shape with the first episode of her podcast, Writer Mother Monster, a much-needed balm for those of us balancing mothering and writing in the midst of a global pandemic. Aimed at dismantling the myth that women can “have it all,” her podcast is a series of interviews with mother-writers working in all genres, at varied points in their careers, who candidly discuss the joys and complications of that dual identity. Ehrlich, herself a mother-writer—her daughter turns five this year—spoke about what she has gleaned from these exchanges and how they’ve influenced her own approach.

2 mins read

Poets & Writers Magazine

A Decade of Women Who Submit

For the past decade an international community of women and nonbinary writers have been working to claim space for themselves in an industry historically dominated by men. Known as Women Who Submit (WWS), the group supports and empowers its members to submit their work in spite of publishing’s inequities. Their achievements have been extraordinary: This July, the organization celebrates its tenth year, with twenty-seven chapters across the United States and Mexico, more than one hundred fifty successful book and magazine publication credits by its members in 2020, and a devoted community of writers, editors, and publishers.

4 mins read

Poets & Writers Magazine

Saddle Up and Read

A young reader finds an attentive audience during a July 2020 farm visit.

5 mins read

Poets & Writers Magazine