Poets & Writers
@pw.org
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 19
Our September/October issue is here! Inside you’ll find in-depth profiles of novelists Min Jin Lee and Deesha Philyaw; our ninth annual look at five of the year’s best debut nonfiction authors; an agent’s advice for writing in multiple genres; and so much more. Dig in: at.pw.org/SeptOct2026
#PWNonfictionPrompt: Write an essay on politeness and your thoughts about social embarrassment. Has there been a time when you suffered consequences for your politeness? #FromTheArchive: at.pw.org/Politeness
October 3, 2026 at 1:01 PM
#PWNonfictionPrompt: Write an essay on politeness and your thoughts about social embarrassment. Has there been a time when you suffered consequences for your politeness? #FromTheArchive: at.pw.org/Politeness
#ICYMI: Watch this virtual reading and conversation of the five debut authors featured in “The New Nonfiction 2026” in the September/October issue: Nita Noveno, Phill Branch, Megan O’Grady, Joseph Trinidad, and Elena Dudum. #ClipOfTheDay: at.pw.org/NewNonfictio...
October 3, 2026 at 12:01 AM
#ICYMI: Watch this virtual reading and conversation of the five debut authors featured in “The New Nonfiction 2026” in the September/October issue: Nita Noveno, Phill Branch, Megan O’Grady, Joseph Trinidad, and Elena Dudum. #ClipOfTheDay: at.pw.org/NewNonfictio...
The Time Is Now to spark your writing! This week we recommend a collection of essays on writing, teaching, and power by Helen Betya Rubinstein, and #PWWritingPrompts on swallows, publicity stunts, and fan letters. Read more: at.pw.org/TTIN
October 2, 2026 at 10:30 PM
The Time Is Now to spark your writing! This week we recommend a collection of essays on writing, teaching, and power by Helen Betya Rubinstein, and #PWWritingPrompts on swallows, publicity stunts, and fan letters. Read more: at.pw.org/TTIN
#PageOne “And a world we want to begin begins: / I turned my love for you into art, // that I may triumph over death.” Find out which of the dozen books celebrated in our latest issue has these poignant first lines: at.pw.org/PageOne2026x5
October 2, 2026 at 7:33 PM
#PageOne “And a world we want to begin begins: / I turned my love for you into art, // that I may triumph over death.” Find out which of the dozen books celebrated in our latest issue has these poignant first lines: at.pw.org/PageOne2026x5
“The best method of getting the literary community to regard you as a serious writer and not a dilettante…is for you to manage the less-flashy aspects of your practice.” Learn author and teacher Lyzette Wanzer’s best practices for your pursuit of writing opportunities: at.pw.org/StrategicSub...
October 1, 2026 at 7:33 PM
“The best method of getting the literary community to regard you as a serious writer and not a dilettante…is for you to manage the less-flashy aspects of your practice.” Learn author and teacher Lyzette Wanzer’s best practices for your pursuit of writing opportunities: at.pw.org/StrategicSub...
#ClipOfTheDay: Watch the trailer for the new film adaptation of Jane Austen’s Sense and Sensibility, directed by Georgia Oakley and starring Daisy Edgar-Jones, Esmé Creed-Miles, Caitríona Balfe, George MacKay, and Fiona Shaw. at.pw.org/Sensibility
October 1, 2026 at 12:01 AM
#ClipOfTheDay: Watch the trailer for the new film adaptation of Jane Austen’s Sense and Sensibility, directed by Georgia Oakley and starring Daisy Edgar-Jones, Esmé Creed-Miles, Caitríona Balfe, George MacKay, and Fiona Shaw. at.pw.org/Sensibility
In our latest Small Press Points installment, we spotlight Lost Kite Editions, a press launched earlier this year that grew out of a partnership between writers incarcerated in Minnesota prisons and non-incarcerated writers from the Minnesota Prison Writing Workshop. at.pw.org/LostKiteEdit...
September 30, 2026 at 7:33 PM
In our latest Small Press Points installment, we spotlight Lost Kite Editions, a press launched earlier this year that grew out of a partnership between writers incarcerated in Minnesota prisons and non-incarcerated writers from the Minnesota Prison Writing Workshop. at.pw.org/LostKiteEdit...
“Now I view silence as a volcanic pressure that eventually erupts. I feed my silent self by paying reverent attention to the silent world around me,” writes Elizabeth Metzger, author of The Going Is Forever (@milkweededitions.bsky.social). Read on: at.pw.org/WRMetzger
September 30, 2026 at 5:03 PM
“Now I view silence as a volcanic pressure that eventually erupts. I feed my silent self by paying reverent attention to the silent world around me,” writes Elizabeth Metzger, author of The Going Is Forever (@milkweededitions.bsky.social). Read on: at.pw.org/WRMetzger
“This life was unexpected. I told myself that I could not be so afraid of judgment that I would hold back. And so I did not.” Author Min Jin Lee on how a medical cure subsequently shifted her outlook on writing: at.pw.org/MinJinLee
September 29, 2026 at 7:41 PM
“This life was unexpected. I told myself that I could not be so afraid of judgment that I would hold back. And so I did not.” Author Min Jin Lee on how a medical cure subsequently shifted her outlook on writing: at.pw.org/MinJinLee
“Sometimes I know I need to just observe and live life and let the writing come later.” For this week’s #TenQuestions, Tomas Moniz discusses writing his new novel, The King of Aloe Vera, out now from Algonquin Books. Read more: at.pw.org/10q4moniz.
September 29, 2026 at 1:51 PM
“Sometimes I know I need to just observe and live life and let the writing come later.” For this week’s #TenQuestions, Tomas Moniz discusses writing his new novel, The King of Aloe Vera, out now from Algonquin Books. Read more: at.pw.org/10q4moniz.
#ClipOfTheDay: In this WIRED interview, Emily St. John Mandel discusses how the current political climate in America informed the speculative catastrophe in her new novel, Exit Party. Watch: at.pw.org/ExitParty
September 29, 2026 at 12:01 AM
#ClipOfTheDay: In this WIRED interview, Emily St. John Mandel discusses how the current political climate in America informed the speculative catastrophe in her new novel, Exit Party. Watch: at.pw.org/ExitParty
Deesha Philyaw breaks down how to approach intimate scenes in a book: “Just like it’s boring if the characters have the same conversation or argument again and again, they also can’t have the same sex. The dynamic has to change the way their relationship is changing…” at.pw.org/RadicallyEnt...
September 28, 2026 at 7:33 PM
Deesha Philyaw breaks down how to approach intimate scenes in a book: “Just like it’s boring if the characters have the same conversation or argument again and again, they also can’t have the same sex. The dynamic has to change the way their relationship is changing…” at.pw.org/RadicallyEnt...
“Several revolutions make a final electric charge feel even more earned.” In this week’s #CraftCapsule, Jill Bialosky encourages poets to let truth surprise them in the writing process. at.pw.org/BialoskyCC1
September 28, 2026 at 2:02 PM
“Several revolutions make a final electric charge feel even more earned.” In this week’s #CraftCapsule, Jill Bialosky encourages poets to let truth surprise them in the writing process. at.pw.org/BialoskyCC1
#PWFictionPrompt: Try to carve out a few hours this week to spend engaged in an activity that is very different from your usual working environment and write a series of flash fiction pieces inspired by your time spent “outside.” #FromTheArchive: at.pw.org/WorkingOutside
September 26, 2026 at 1:01 PM
#PWFictionPrompt: Try to carve out a few hours this week to spend engaged in an activity that is very different from your usual working environment and write a series of flash fiction pieces inspired by your time spent “outside.” #FromTheArchive: at.pw.org/WorkingOutside
#ClipOfTheDay: In this Green Apple Books event, Black Ocean celebrates its twentieth anniversary with readings from authors Carrie Olivia Adams, Kristin George Bagdanov, Nathan Hoks, and Zachary Schomburg. Watch: at.pw.org/BlackOcean20
September 26, 2026 at 12:00 AM
#ClipOfTheDay: In this Green Apple Books event, Black Ocean celebrates its twentieth anniversary with readings from authors Carrie Olivia Adams, Kristin George Bagdanov, Nathan Hoks, and Zachary Schomburg. Watch: at.pw.org/BlackOcean20
The Time Is Now to spark your writing! This week we recommend a classic guide to crafting the poetic voice by the late Tony Hoagland, and #PWWritingPrompts on personal museums, role reversals, and comfort reads. Read more: at.pw.org/TTIN
September 25, 2026 at 10:30 PM
The Time Is Now to spark your writing! This week we recommend a classic guide to crafting the poetic voice by the late Tony Hoagland, and #PWWritingPrompts on personal museums, role reversals, and comfort reads. Read more: at.pw.org/TTIN
Welcome fall by curling up with two notable poetry collections from our new #PageOne installment: Otherwhere: New and Selected Poems, 1976–2026 (Scribner) by Carolyn Forché and Staying Still (Tin House) by Hieu Minh Nguyen. Learn about these and ten other exciting titles: at.pw.org/PageOne2026x5
September 25, 2026 at 7:33 PM
Welcome fall by curling up with two notable poetry collections from our new #PageOne installment: Otherwhere: New and Selected Poems, 1976–2026 (Scribner) by Carolyn Forché and Staying Still (Tin House) by Hieu Minh Nguyen. Learn about these and ten other exciting titles: at.pw.org/PageOne2026x5
“My goal has always been to write the strongest poems I can and to create space for other young people…. The title is important, but the community behind it is what gives it meaning.” Read more of our interview with Daniel Umemezie, the national youth poet laureate: at.pw.org/DanielUmemezie
September 24, 2026 at 7:33 PM
“My goal has always been to write the strongest poems I can and to create space for other young people…. The title is important, but the community behind it is what gives it meaning.” Read more of our interview with Daniel Umemezie, the national youth poet laureate: at.pw.org/DanielUmemezie
#ClipOfTheDay: In this episode of the Fashion Neurosis podcast hosted by Bella Freud, Leïla Slimani talks about the dangers of gaining recognition as a writer and discovering the timelessness of literature through Dostoevsky and Tolstoy as a child. Watch: at.pw.org/Slimani
September 24, 2026 at 12:00 AM
#ClipOfTheDay: In this episode of the Fashion Neurosis podcast hosted by Bella Freud, Leïla Slimani talks about the dangers of gaining recognition as a writer and discovering the timelessness of literature through Dostoevsky and Tolstoy as a child. Watch: at.pw.org/Slimani
#NewNonfiction “There is no secret sauce, no correct lighting, no perfect monitor. There was a heating pad on my back because my body ached. There were several drinks on my desk. Leftover, half-eaten snacks.” Debut author Elena Dudum on the reality of the writing process: at.pw.org/ElenaDudum
September 23, 2026 at 7:33 PM
#NewNonfiction “There is no secret sauce, no correct lighting, no perfect monitor. There was a heating pad on my back because my body ached. There were several drinks on my desk. Leftover, half-eaten snacks.” Debut author Elena Dudum on the reality of the writing process: at.pw.org/ElenaDudum
“Invest emotionally in the secondary characters. They don’t have to spend as much time on the stage as your main players but they have to be compelling.“ More from Dawn Davis, SVP of 37 Ink, an imprint of Simon & Schuster: at.pw.org/AERDavis
September 23, 2026 at 5:02 PM
“Invest emotionally in the secondary characters. They don’t have to spend as much time on the stage as your main players but they have to be compelling.“ More from Dawn Davis, SVP of 37 Ink, an imprint of Simon & Schuster: at.pw.org/AERDavis
“I have memories I’m not ready to abandon to the vault. My preferred literary techniques don’t accept the truth without suspicion, and in turn I notice what my memories obstruct.” #NewNonfiction Joseph Trinidad speaks to the beauty and difficulty of essay writing. at.pw.org/JosephTrinidad
September 22, 2026 at 7:33 PM
“I have memories I’m not ready to abandon to the vault. My preferred literary techniques don’t accept the truth without suspicion, and in turn I notice what my memories obstruct.” #NewNonfiction Joseph Trinidad speaks to the beauty and difficulty of essay writing. at.pw.org/JosephTrinidad
For this week’s #TenQuestions, Kiki Petrosino dives into the process of writing her new collection, Perfect Italian, out now from Sarabande Books. “Writing in syllabics became my ritual. It allowed for the space of the page to hold me.” Read more: at.pw.org/10q4petrosino.
September 22, 2026 at 2:07 PM
For this week’s #TenQuestions, Kiki Petrosino dives into the process of writing her new collection, Perfect Italian, out now from Sarabande Books. “Writing in syllabics became my ritual. It allowed for the space of the page to hold me.” Read more: at.pw.org/10q4petrosino.
#ClipOfTheDay: In this Book Passage event, Téa Obreht reads from her fourth novel, Sunrise (Random House), and talks about her fascination with the American West after growing up in the former Yugoslavia in a conversation with Parini Shroff. Watch: at.pw.org/Sunrise
September 22, 2026 at 12:00 AM
#ClipOfTheDay: In this Book Passage event, Téa Obreht reads from her fourth novel, Sunrise (Random House), and talks about her fascination with the American West after growing up in the former Yugoslavia in a conversation with Parini Shroff. Watch: at.pw.org/Sunrise
#NewNonfiction author Megan O’Grady writes about the process behind her debut, How It Feels to Be Alive, for our latest issue: “I began to envision a more intuitive and open-ended inquiry, one that encircled art and life, looking within before angling outward.” Read on: at.pw.org/MeganOGrady
September 21, 2026 at 7:33 PM
#NewNonfiction author Megan O’Grady writes about the process behind her debut, How It Feels to Be Alive, for our latest issue: “I began to envision a more intuitive and open-ended inquiry, one that encircled art and life, looking within before angling outward.” Read on: at.pw.org/MeganOGrady