In this issue

Our November/December issue features an interview with Rumaan Alam on his third novel, Leave the World Behind; a conversation with novelist Naomi Jackson and Danielle Evans, author of the new story collection and novella The Office of Historical Corrections; our fifth annual 5 Over 50 roundup of debut authors; a roundtable discussion with six Black editors on independent publishing; essays on publishing the narratives of BIPOC writers in the Midwest and the ethics of reading blind submissions; advice on revising your poetry manuscript; writing prompts, contest listings, and more.

The Clifton House

On the ninth anniversary of poet Lucille Clifton’s death, her eldest daugh-ter, Sidney Clifton, felt a strong desire to be back in her family’s former home in Baltimore. She decided to call the owner, who told her the house had been put up for sale that very day, February 13, 2019. A reunion with the house seemed fated, and Sidney Clifton jumped at the chance to buy her childhood home. Soon the space will once again be filled with the energy and cheerful noise of artists at work and in conversation as the poet’s family develops the Clifton House as a place where new generations of artists can flourish.

3 mins

A Chicago Press for the People

On September 24, 2009, sixteen-year-old student Derrion Albert was beaten to death outside of Christian Fenger Academy High School, on the South Side of Chicago, in broad daylight. Though there were many witnesses, one of whom captured the attack on cell-phone video, no one stepped in to help. The footage of the murder went viral, highlighting the severity of the city’s youth violence epidemic, as Albert was the third teenager killed in Chicago that month.

4 mins

MacDowell Tests Virtual Residencies

In the midst of COVID-19, the country’s oldest arts residency is reimagining itself after 113 years. In August, MacDowell launched its first Virtual MacDowell “residency,” a fully online program intended to support artists and foster a sense of connection during the time of social distancing.

4 mins

House Celebrates Broadside Lotus

After founding the Detroit-based Broadside Press in 1965, Dudley Randall wrote: “We (Africans in the United States) are a nation of twenty-two million souls, larger than Athens in the age of Pericles or England in the age of Elizabeth. There is no reason why we should not create and support a literature which will be to our own nation what those literatures were to theirs.”

3 mins

Reading in the Bardo

SEEKING COMFORT IN THE ABSENCE OF RITUAL

10+ mins

Rumaan Alam – Leave the Expectations Behind

In his third novel, Leave the World Behind, published in october by Ecco, Rumaan Alam delivers, a propulsive narrative that speaks to the challenges and crises of the moment – racial injustice, environmental catastrophe, sheltering in place– while defying any expectations of what a novel written by a gay indian american man should be.

10+ mins

THE CONFOUNDING INSISTENCE ON INNOCENCE

TEN YEARS AFTER HER DEBUT STORY COLLECTION, BEFORE YOU SUFFOCATE YOUR OWN FOOL SELF, MARKED HER ARRIVAL AS A BOLD NEW VOICE IN AMERICAN SHORT FICTION, DANIELLE EVANS RETURNS WITH HER SECOND, THE OFFICE OF HISTORICAL CORRECTIONS, A TIMELY RECKONING WITH, AMONG OTHER THINGS, AMERICA’S HISTORY OF RACIALIZED VIOLENCE.

10+ mins

OUR FIFTH ANNUAL 5 over 50

For the past five years we’ve dedicated this space to featuring five debut authors who have lived a good deal of life before publishing their first books. From the start our aim was to highlight not one path—not some mythical road, paved with youthful intentions, upon which so many “new and emerging” authors travel— but rather the countless individual routes, some considerably longer and circuitous than others, that lead to the publication of a debut book.

10+ mins

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Poets & Writers Magazine Description:

For more than twenty years, Poets & Writers Magazine has been a trusted companion to writers who take their vocation seriously. Within its pages, our readers find provocative essays on the literary life, practical guidance for getting published and pursuing writing careers, in-depth profiles of poets, fiction writers, and writers of creative nonfiction, and conversation among fellow professionals.