If you’re getting ready to send out a poetry manuscript, this post gives you a solid place to start. I walk through how to research presses, what to pay attention to beyond the guidelines, and the kinds of questions that help you understand whether a publisher is truly […]
In March 2025, I read the poem “To Sew a Freedom Suit” by Danielle Legros Georges in The New Yorker. Georges had passed away the previous month. At the time, I’d been in the US for 3 years after relocating from Malta (Europe). I’d viewed the US as […]
In 2025, I returned to submissions after several years away, during which I published a book and had a daughter. I’d drop my daughter off at daycare, go to a cafe about a block away, and amp myself up with caffeine while I tried to bang out five […]
I recently joined Onyemechi “Mechi” Aisosa Nwakonam on the Buildwriting Podcast for a conversation focused on how poets can get their work published in literary magazines. We covered practical strategies for finding the right journals, preparing submissions, understanding editorial expectations, and building a sustainable writing practice that supports […]
O my people—they loved words. Misunderstood bible verses, nursery rhymes, and misquoted lines of Shakespeare. There’s nothing like the early seventeenth century rhythms of King James’ English. It’s why so many folks hold on the KJV, when better translations abound: why should we work to understand something in […]
Poets planning their 2026 submission year are going to love this guest feature from Poetry Bulletin. Emily Stoddard has assembled one of the most comprehensive, thoughtfully organized roundups of poetry book publishing opportunities available anywhere: more than 175 deadlines, spanning contests, open reading periods, first-book prizes, regional presses, […]
Landscape with Womb and Paradox, Erica Goss’s second full-length poetry collection, was published by Broadstone Press in January 2026. My debut, full-length collection of poems, Night Court, took three years and thirty submissions before it found a home at Glass Lyre Press, winning the 2016 Lyrebird prize, with […]
In just a few years, Chill Subs has gone from a beer-sparked idea to one of the most unexpectedly essential tools in the lit-mag world. What began as a scrappy project built in a tiny village in Georgia has grown into a platform tens of thousands of writers […]
As #AWP26 approaches, the energy is already building. Whether you’re joining the conference in Baltimore or tuning in virtually from home, this year’s lineup is overflowing with opportunities to connect, learn, and celebrate the literary community. From powerhouse off?site readings to bookfair signings and panels designed to spark […]
When my book, The Animal at Your Side, won the Airlie Prize in 2019, it was the culmination of a seven-year submissions process in which I often wondered whether to keep going. I finished the book in 2012 and started sending it out in earnest in 2013. I didn’t […]
