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/newsletterhttps://bsky.app/profile/pw.orghttps://bsky.app/profile/pw.org/post/3mu3lnrydb22p“Runestad’s proposal was more ambitious: He wanted me to write new texts on which to base new compositions, and he was willing to pay me using money from his own commissions.” Todd Boss details the creative rewards of setting poetic text to a composer’s music. More: https://at.pw.org/WritingLibretto27 Aug 2026 19:33 +0000at://did:plc:a4iylm33rxlrvxcyudwtis2j/app.bsky.feed.post/3mu3lnrydb22phttps://bsky.app/profile/pw.org/post/3mtzk6dg6iv2f#ClipOfTheDay: In this PBS NewsHour interview, Fred de Sam Lazaro speaks with Daniel Umemezie, who has been named the tenth National Youth Poet Laureate, about how he aims to use his work to inspire social change. Watch: at.pw.org/Umemezie27 Aug 2026 00:01 +0000at://did:plc:a4iylm33rxlrvxcyudwtis2j/app.bsky.feed.post/3mtzk6dg6iv2fhttps://bsky.app/profile/pw.org/post/3mtz36yh3c32zRead about the installations, workshops, and other initiatives celebrating literature in national parks, allowing nature and poetry to illuminate each other. “Poetry and nature have a way of simply reminding us that we are not alone,” writes Ada Limón: at.pw.org/PoetryAndLands26 Aug 2026 19:33 +0000at://did:plc:a4iylm33rxlrvxcyudwtis2j/app.bsky.feed.post/3mtz36yh3c32zhttps://bsky.app/profile/pw.org/post/3mtystpz4fe2k“What I want to see when reading work for Diagram or my other literary projects is evidence of an essential, irreducible, even uncomfortable human weirdness.“ Read more from editor Ander Monson on the thrills of human oddity that AI could never venture: at.pw.org/AERMonson26 Aug 2026 17:03 +0000at://did:plc:a4iylm33rxlrvxcyudwtis2j/app.bsky.feed.post/3mtystpz4fe2khttps://bsky.app/profile/pw.org/post/3mtwkpyzbua2n“The inner critic can be harsh, but we must parry its most negative messages to accomplish our goals. Thankfully this bravery, like a muscle, can be developed and strengthened through practice.” Learn about the numerous benefits of generative writing from Lynn C. Miller: https://at.pw.org/CreateWithoutFear25 Aug 2026 19:33 +0000at://did:plc:a4iylm33rxlrvxcyudwtis2j/app.bsky.feed.post/3mtwkpyzbua2nhttps://bsky.app/profile/pw.org/post/3mtvxjsiujc2wFor this week’s #TenQuestions, Drew Buxton examines the origins of his debut novel, Daytona Teddy Riggs, out now from Hub City Press. “This is my first novel, so I had to have blind faith that it would amount to something, that I wasn’t wasting my time.” Read more: bit.ly/10q4buxton.25 Aug 2026 13:49 +0000at://did:plc:a4iylm33rxlrvxcyudwtis2j/app.bsky.feed.post/3mtvxjsiujc2whttps://bsky.app/profile/pw.org/post/3mtujaveuju2f#ClipOfTheDay: “to speak is not yet to have spoken.” In this video, Carolyn Forché reads her poem “What Comes” for the Dear Poet series, the Academy of American Poets’ educational project for National Poetry Month. Watch: at.pw.org/WhatComes25 Aug 2026 00:01 +0000at://did:plc:a4iylm33rxlrvxcyudwtis2j/app.bsky.feed.post/3mtujaveuju2fhttps://bsky.app/profile/pw.org/post/3mtu2azumrt2w“Falling prey to literary comparison, I asked the dreaded question: Should I have done an MFA in creative writing?” Uttama Kirit Patel asks as she unpacks how to craft a bespoke education as a self-taught writer and how to tailor your literary training to your needs: at.pw.org/SelfTaughtWriter24 Aug 2026 19:33 +0000at://did:plc:a4iylm33rxlrvxcyudwtis2j/app.bsky.feed.post/3mtu2azumrt2whttps://bsky.app/profile/pw.org/post/3mtodhw2ldj2k#PWNonfictionPrompt: Try your hand at recording your own dreams for a stretch of time, perhaps beginning each entry with “I found myself.…” #FromTheArchive: at.pw.org/LastDreams22 Aug 2026 13:01 +0000at://did:plc:a4iylm33rxlrvxcyudwtis2j/app.bsky.feed.post/3mtodhw2ldj2khttps://bsky.app/profile/pw.org/post/3mtmxtyrubu2p#ClipOfTheDay: In this On the Serendipitous Side podcast episode, Deesha Philyaw talks about the twenty-year journey of her first novel, The True Confessions of First Lady Freeman (Mariner Books), and how the story developed with the help of a satire writing class. Watch: at.pw.org/DPhilyaw22 Aug 2026 00:01 +0000at://did:plc:a4iylm33rxlrvxcyudwtis2j/app.bsky.feed.post/3mtmxtyrubu2phttps://bsky.app/profile/pw.org/post/3mtmsr26nbn2cThe Time Is Now to spark your writing! This week we recommend a classic collection of essays offering advice for aspiring writers by Colum McCann, and #PWWritingPrompts on emoji poetics, haunted houses, and tributes. Read more: at.pw.org/TTIN21 Aug 2026 22:30 +0000at://did:plc:a4iylm33rxlrvxcyudwtis2j/app.bsky.feed.post/3mtmsr26nbn2chttps://bsky.app/profile/pw.org/post/3mtmiul6zhf2jIntroducing our 2026 #NewNonFiction authors: Nita Noveno, Phill Branch, Megan O’Grady, Joseph Trinidad, and Elena Dudum! Click the link to read their essays and excerpts from their debut works, plus listen to audio clips of the authors reading from their books: at.pw.org/NewNonfiction2621 Aug 2026 19:33 +0000at://did:plc:a4iylm33rxlrvxcyudwtis2j/app.bsky.feed.post/3mtmiul6zhf2jhttps://bsky.app/profile/pw.org/post/3mtjyfi2dbp2k“I wrote for only a few minutes a day. I wanted to do something with my brain that was just for me.” Deesha Philyaw, whose first novel, The True Confessions of First Lady Freeman, is forthcoming in September from Mariner Books, on the start of her writing journey: at.pw.org/RadicallyEntertaining20 Aug 2026 19:33 +0000at://did:plc:a4iylm33rxlrvxcyudwtis2j/app.bsky.feed.post/3mtjyfi2dbp2khttps://bsky.app/profile/pw.org/post/3mtjjya2skd2t“I wanted to critique what it means to have all this excess and the inequity of capitalism and its codes.” Min Jin Lee discusses American Hagwon, an epic story that offers readers a deeply personal education in the pressures, passions, and pulses of the human heart. Read on: at.pw.org/MinJinLee20 Aug 2026 15:15 +0000at://did:plc:a4iylm33rxlrvxcyudwtis2j/app.bsky.feed.post/3mtjjya2skd2thttps://bsky.app/profile/pw.org/post/3mthwugvkgx2c#ClipOfTheDay: “It’s the most personal novel I’ve ever written.” In this Penguin Random House video, Marlon James talks about his desire to present the world he grew up in through his new novel, The Disappearers (Riverhead Books). Watch: at.pw.org/TheDisappearers20 Aug 2026 00:00 +0000at://did:plc:a4iylm33rxlrvxcyudwtis2j/app.bsky.feed.post/3mthwugvkgx2chttps://bsky.app/profile/pw.org/post/3mthmty7uow2j#ICYMI: Our Sept/Oct issue includes articles on best practices for pursuing writing opportunities, the art of writing libretti, how to create without fear, literature initiatives in national parks, and how to go about charting your path to a literary education. Learn more: at.pw.org/SeptOct202619 Aug 2026 21:01 +0000at://did:plc:a4iylm33rxlrvxcyudwtis2j/app.bsky.feed.post/3mthmty7uow2jhttps://bsky.app/profile/pw.org/post/3mthhwfw7zv2kIn our new issue, you’ll find a guide to pursuing a writer’s education, whether in an immersive MFA program or through any number of self-taught models; an essay on using generative writing to quiet your inner critic; and an article on how a new imprint is redefining the canon. at.pw.org/SeptOct202619 Aug 2026 19:33 +0000at://did:plc:a4iylm33rxlrvxcyudwtis2j/app.bsky.feed.post/3mthhwfw7zv2khttps://bsky.app/profile/pw.org/post/3mthcuawp6e2pOur 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/SeptOct202619 Aug 2026 18:02 +0000at://did:plc:a4iylm33rxlrvxcyudwtis2j/app.bsky.feed.post/3mthcuawp6e2phttps://bsky.app/profile/pw.org/post/3mtgvipd2ko2v“When I feel too close to the work, so close I can’t see it, it’s time we take a break,” writes Kwoya Fagin Maples, author of Long Eye (@hubcitypress.bsky.social). Read more: at.pw.org/WRFaginMaples19 Aug 2026 14:03 +0000at://did:plc:a4iylm33rxlrvxcyudwtis2j/app.bsky.feed.post/3mtgvipd2ko2vhttps://bsky.app/profile/pw.org/post/3mtexhjwtdu22#FirstFiction Novelist Joe Bond discusses how he went about building the collective and singular voice(s) of boys in a treatment home. “You get two teenagers talking after lights-out and you start to understand them. What do they dream about? What are they scared of?” at.pw.org/JoeBond18 Aug 2026 19:33 +0000at://did:plc:a4iylm33rxlrvxcyudwtis2j/app.bsky.feed.post/3mtexhjwtdu22https://bsky.app/profile/pw.org/post/3mteeo74mmk2u“I feel lost and unmoored when I don’t record what I notice both in the external world and in my own head every day.” For this week’s #TenQuestions, Catherine Jagoe discusses writing her memoir, Unbelonging, out now from the University of Wisconsin Press. Read more: bit.ly/10q4jagoe.18 Aug 2026 13:56 +0000at://did:plc:a4iylm33rxlrvxcyudwtis2j/app.bsky.feed.post/3mteeo74mmk2uhttps://bsky.app/profile/pw.org/post/3mtcvxc3x4f2k#ClipOfTheDay: In this Haymarket Books event, Edna Bonhomme reflects on the impacts of colonialism and racial capitalism, and how her world travels informed the writing of her memoir, Tending to Our Wounds: A Diasporic Memoir, in a conversation with Edwidge Danticat. Watch: at.pw.org/Bonhomme18 Aug 2026 00:00 +0000at://did:plc:a4iylm33rxlrvxcyudwtis2j/app.bsky.feed.post/3mtcvxc3x4f2khttps://bsky.app/profile/pw.org/post/3mtcgylpnnz2k“I think there’s a general need for people to just sit down and sit through every hurt they’ve had. And just let it wash over so that they can finally sit and grieve, and then we can make some real shit in the world.” —Phillip B. Williams on the practice of sitting with grief: at.pw.org/ToSingToFeel17 Aug 2026 19:33 +0000at://did:plc:a4iylm33rxlrvxcyudwtis2j/app.bsky.feed.post/3mtcgylpnnz2khttps://bsky.app/profile/pw.org/post/3mt4q65njte2z#PWFictionPrompt: Try writing a short story inspired by the gaps between your core memories. How can you use the slipperiness of memory to craft the perspective of a character? #FromTheArchive: at.pw.org/Remembering15 Aug 2026 13:01 +0000at://did:plc:a4iylm33rxlrvxcyudwtis2j/app.bsky.feed.post/3mt4q65njte2zhttps://bsky.app/profile/pw.org/post/3mt3ejrdi2p2p#ClipOfTheDay: In this virtual Harvard Radcliffe Institute event, Christian Wiman reads a selection of poems and speaks about his latest collection, The Dance (Farrar, Straus and Giroux), in a conversation with Major Jackson. Watch: at.pw.org/Wiman15 Aug 2026 00:00 +0000at://did:plc:a4iylm33rxlrvxcyudwtis2j/app.bsky.feed.post/3mt3ejrdi2p2phttps://bsky.app/profile/pw.org/post/3mt37ijbpok2nThe Time Is Now to spark your writing! This week we recommend a book on the art of short fiction by Grant Faulkner, and #PWWritingPrompts on clowning, awkward propositions, and daily rituals. Read more: at.pw.org/TTIN14 Aug 2026 22:30 +0000at://did:plc:a4iylm33rxlrvxcyudwtis2j/app.bsky.feed.post/3mt37ijbpok2nhttps://bsky.app/profile/pw.org/post/3mt2vlvcf4w2nLooking for noteworthy prose titles to read at the beach? Our latest #PageOne installment includes Ghost-Eye (FSG) by Amitav Ghosh, What I Made for Dinner (Catapult) by Krys Malcolm Belc, and Without Terminus (Graywolf Press) by chaun webster, among other brilliant books. at.pw.org/PageOne2026x414 Aug 2026 19:33 +0000at://did:plc:a4iylm33rxlrvxcyudwtis2j/app.bsky.feed.post/3mt2vlvcf4w2nhttps://bsky.app/profile/pw.org/post/3mswdlovn4727#ClipOfTheDay: In this Vogue Australia video, Mindy Seu shares how authors, such as Annie Ernaux, Lucy Lippard, and Ursula K. Le Guin, shaped her creative practice and influenced the writing of her books Cyberfeminism Index and A Sexual History of the Internet. Watch: at.pw.org/MindySeu13 Aug 2026 00:00 +0000at://did:plc:a4iylm33rxlrvxcyudwtis2j/app.bsky.feed.post/3mswdlovn4727https://bsky.app/profile/pw.org/post/3msvunyqgrc2f“This may be my effort to give myself the easiest narrative in order to move forward in life, but I believe that whatever mistakes my younger self made are what shaped me into the writer I am today. They were all…precious, and meaningful.” —M Lin, author of The Memory Museum: at.pw.org/FFMLin12 Aug 2026 19:33 +0000at://did:plc:a4iylm33rxlrvxcyudwtis2j/app.bsky.feed.post/3msvunyqgrc2fhttps://bsky.app/profile/pw.org/post/3msvm6o2n662y“Because your voice is singular, you have a responsibility to it. Take your writing seriously. Learn how to hear what it’s trying to say.“ Read more from Krista Cox, managing editor of Sundress Publications, on the intrinsic value of every writer‘s voice: at.pw.org/AERCox https://at.pw.org/AERCox12 Aug 2026 17:01 +0000at://did:plc:a4iylm33rxlrvxcyudwtis2j/app.bsky.feed.post/3msvm6o2n662y