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Poets & Writers

@pw.org

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Official account of Poets & Writers, the primary source of information, support, and guidance for creative writers since 1970. Sign up for our newsletter: at.pw.org/newsletter

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Poets & Writers @pw.org · Aug 20

Announcing our September/October issue! Inside you’ll find a profile of novelist Kiran Desai; our annual #NewNonfiction lineup of five of the year’s best debut authors; and one writer’s candid reflection on rebuilding confidence in the wake of an agent breakup. Find out more: at.pw.org/SeptOct2025

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Poets & Writers @pw.org · 1h

An author who worked for years as a scribe at the Harvard Business School shares the lessons she learned that can be applied to writing, most notably: “…you can’t wait for someone else to decide you have value. You must act as though you already do, to help others see it.” at.pw.org/ValueOfOurWork

Poets & Writers @pw.org · 21h

#ClipOfTheDay: In this video from the American Library Association’s 2025 annual conference, authors and attendees respond to the dangers of book banning and the importance of supporting public libraries and the freedom to read. #BannedBooksWeek at.pw.org/BannedBooksBigChair

Poets & Writers @pw.org · 1d

“After a lifetime of imagining myself as an individual, I was recognizing my own story—of diaspora, denial, love, and so-called madness—enmeshed in a deep web of space and time.” – #NewNonfiction author Sarah Aziza on the process behind her debut memoir, The Hollow Half: at.pw.org/SarahAziza

Poets & Writers @pw.org · 1d

”Do your best and take constructive criticism with an open heart. Then do better.” Agent Lisa Bankoff of the Bankoff Collaborative tells it straight in our latest Agents & Editors Recommend: at.pw.org/AERBankoff

Poets & Writers @pw.org · 1d

Join novelist Morgan Talty to explore how the essential elements of craft—voice, point of view, character, plot, setting, and theme—work together to build compelling fiction in our upcoming class. Only a few spots remain! Register now: at.pw.org/fictionharmony

The Harmony of Fiction: Unifying Story Elements Through Generative Writing | Led by Morgan Talty — Poets & Writers

This generative, lecture-based writing course explores how the essential elements of craft—voice, point of view, character, plot, setting, and theme—work together to build compelling fiction. Through…

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Poets & Writers @pw.org · 1d

#ClipOfTheDay: In this Alaska Quarterly Review virtual event, poet and naturalist Elizabeth Bradfield reads from her collection SOFAR (Persea Books) and discusses the relationship of her poetics to ocean ecologies, memories of queer love, and both human and natural histories. at.pw.org/Bradfield

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Poets & Writers @pw.org · 2d

The Auteur series, from Ig Publishing, encourages authors to reflect on films that have transformed their lives. Thus far the nonfiction collection includes two book-length essays on Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind and Martin Scorsese’s After Hours. Find out more: at.pw.org/MoviesAndMemoir

Poets & Writers @pw.org · 2d

"It should be possible to both write good and live good. Go see your friends. Be with your family. Taste something new." In this week's #TenQuestions, Joshua Wheeler shares a look at the writing process for his new novel, The High Heaven, out now from @graywolfpress.bsky.social. at.pw.org/10qwheeler

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Poets & Writers @pw.org · 2d

Scams targeting writers remain a threat, and Poets & Writers urges the literary community to be vigilant to avoid falling prey to scammers and frauds. We've compiled some resources and tips to help you stay alert: at.pw.org/48R7fUZ

Beware of Scams Targeting Writers

Scams targeting writers remain a threat, and Poets & Writers urges the literary community to be vigilant to avoid falling prey to scammers and frauds.

at.pw.org

Poets & Writers @pw.org · 2d

#ClipOfTheDay: In this video, George Takei, honorary chair of Banned Books Week 2025, talks about how “access to books and knowledge is essential to democracy” and how reading provides a way to see ourselves reflected in stories and to discover the stories of others. at.pw.org/TakeiBannedBooks

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Poets & Writers @pw.org · 3d

“Where in this unwieldy animal did your protagonist sneeze for the first time? When did you last mention that minor character? And how many times have you used the word tentacle?” Author Claire Fuller on how to wrangle a long manuscript in Word: at.pw.org/ManuscriptInWord

Poets & Writers @pw.org · 3d

Thank you for joining us! We'll be posting the recording soon if you'd like to listen again or share with those who couldn't make it.

Poets & Writers @pw.org · 3d

“I continued to write what felt truest, which was the tangled and messy gray space, uncomfortable as it was.” In this week’s #CraftCapsule, Mackenzie Kozak explores what it means to write ambivalence. at.pw.org/Kozak3

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Poets & Writers @pw.org · 5d

#PWPoetryPrompt: Chose a poem that you love and memorize it. Say it to yourself over and over again, until it escapes the page and makes a home in your body. #FromTheArchive: at.pw.org/Memorize

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Poets & Writers @pw.org · 5d

#ClipOfTheDay: Watch the trailer for the graphic novel series adaptation of Robert Louis Stevenson’s The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde with Johnny Depp portraying the sinister character. Developed by Ridley Scott and Mechanical Cake, the series will be released on Halloween. at.pw.org/Hyde

Poets & Writers @pw.org · 5d

The Time Is Now to spark your writing! This week we recommend a collection of essays and lectures by Flannery O’Connor, and #PWWritingPrompts on poetic fruit, mythos, and unreliable settings. Read more: at.pw.org/TTIN

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Poets & Writers @pw.org · 6d

“This work is akin to sculpting. You take the formless mass of experiences that make up a life and give it shape. I wrote to make sense of the raw material of my days...” #NewNonfiction author Samina Najmi on the beauty of personal essays. Read on: at.pw.org/SaminaNajmi

Poets & Writers @pw.org · 6d

#ClipOfTheDay: “People find their truth in art. It’s not complete until the reader comes to it. That’s when meaning gets made.” In this Service95 Book Club conversation hosted by Dua Lipa, Percival Everett revisits his award-winning 2021 novel, The Trees. at.pw.org/TheTrees

Poets & Writers @pw.org · 7d

“A key difference between translation rights agreements and English-language rights agreements lies in the contract duration,” writes Marleen Seegers, the principal and cofounder of 2 Seas Agency. Learn more about the ins and outs of foreign rights deals in publishing: at.pw.org/BeyondOurBorders

Poets & Writers @pw.org · 7d

#ClipOfTheDay: In this Green Apple Books event, Catherine Lacey talks about the breakup that led to her writing The Möbius Book (Farrar, Straus and Giroux) and her decision to combine nonfiction and fiction into this hybrid book in a conversation with Rita Bullwinkel. at.pw.org/MobiusBook

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Poets & Writers @pw.org · 8d

“From a writer’s perspective, one benefit of fictionalizing a place of many converging threads is that it can steer us when our storytelling veers off track.” Read more of novelist Matthew Sullivan’s thoughts on reimagining place and how it can bolster the writing process: at.pw.org/ReimaginingPlace

Poets & Writers @pw.org · 8d

“I realized I always end up writing after or around my loafing sessions, so I don’t look at them as a time-sink anymore,” writes Mi Jin Kim, author of Invitation (@univnebpress.bsky.social). Read on: at.pw.org/WRKim

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Poets & Writers @pw.org · 8d

#ClipOfTheDay: In this CBS Boston interview, R. F. Kuang talks about her latest novel, Katabasis (Harper Voyager), and its forthcoming television series adaptation; her connection to Sylvia Plath and the city of Boston; and the importance of buying from independent bookstores. at.pw.org/Katabasis

Poets & Writers @pw.org · 9d

What do Articulate: A Deaf Memoir of Voice by Rachel Kolb, Unfurl: Survivals, Sorrows, and Dreaming by Eli Clare, and Mother Mary Comes to Me by Arundhati Roy all have in common? They’re included in our latest #PageOne installment! Enjoy the opening lines of these titles: at.pw.org/PageOne2025x5

Poets & Writers @pw.org · 9d

“I think I’m a natural maximalist, and I still enjoy orchestrating a complex, layered scene or sentence, but I often found myself paring down versus building up.” For today's #TenQuestions, Jade Chang shares an inside look at her novel, What a Time to Be Alive, out now from Ecco: at.pw.org/10qchang