Write into the Week: February 17, 2025

“A word after a word after a word is power.”

–Margaret Atwood

Dear Writer,

I hope you’re having a good start to your week. In this newsletter:

• A writing prompt to inspire your creativity.
• Reading and listening recommendations in fiction, nonfiction, and poetry.
• Publishing, residency, and retreat opportunities available now.
• Join our free Friday write-in, and meet our community of writers.

Happy writing this week!

—Elle, Curriculum Specialist & Community Manager

Writing Prompt

Write about something you’ve kept for years. Where did it come from? What does it mean to you? Why can’t you part with it? What power does it hold over you? 

Reading Recommendations:

Poetry:

• “Grownfolk Talk” by Jae Nichelle. Through a refrain of “this talk has an unpleasant taste,” the speaker reflects on inherited struggles, financial burdens, and the quiet endurance of generations bound by routine and silence. 

Fiction:

• “Orientation” by Daniel Orozco. One of my favorite short stories. Orozco’s story is a darkly humorous tale written as an office orientation speech that slowly reveals a disturbing undercurrent beneath corporate monotony. If you’re a fan, this review of the story from Electric Literature is also worth a read. 

Nonfiction:

• “Critical Attachment to Geniuses: Ada Calhoun’s Also a Poet“ by Weishun Lu. Lu’s engaging and quirky review of Calhoun’s memoir will leave you wanting to read more work from both writers. I encourage you to do so! 

Listening Recommendations:

• From the Poetry Unbound Podcast: “Carmen Giménez — Ars Poetica” Giménez’s poem is a stunning waterfall of words, a torrent of dozens of short statements that begin with “I” or “I’m.” 
• From the fiction/non/fiction Podcast, Writing with Andrew: “Lan Samantha Chang on the Risks and Rewards of Literary Personas” Acclaimed novelist and Director of the Iowa Writers’ Workshop Lan Samantha Chang discusses the role that literary personas may–or may not–have played in recent revelations about Alice Munro, Neil Gaiman, and Cormac McCarthy. Chang discusses how writers often develop literary personas as their public profiles grow.

Publishing Opportunities:

• AGNI Literary Journal – Submission Deadline: May 31, 2025. AGNI seeks poetry, fiction, and essays that “catches experience before the crusts of habit form—poetry and prose that resist ideas about what a certain kind of writing ‘should do.’ We seek out writers who tell their truths in their own words and convince us as we read that we’ve found something no one else could have written.” AGNI publishes both emerging and established writers, making it a great opportunity for those looking to share their work with a broad literary audience.
• The Sun Magazine – Submission Deadline: Open/Rolling. Sun Magainze is looking for essays, fiction and poetry by writers who aren’t afraid to be vulnerable, who don’t shy away from difficult truths, and who don’t always deliver what readers expect.

Residency & Retreat Opportunities:

• The Kerouac Project – Application Deadline: April 14, 2025
  This residency provides writers with a free, two-month stay in the historic Kerouac House, along with a $600 food stipend. Residents have the opportunity to focus on their writing projects in a tranquil environment and engage with the local literary community through readings and events.
• Whole Novel Workshop: In-Person Retreat for MG/YA Writers – Application Window: Open
  At the beautiful Highlights Retreat Center in the Poconos. This intensive, transformative Whole Novel Workshop offers writers the rare opportunity to have the entire draft (up to 80,000 words) of a novel read by faculty, with detailed written feedback and two private consultations provided. Attention in an intimate setting makes this program one that guarantees significant progress in preparation for submission. This Whole Novel Workshop is specifically designed for writers of novels for children and teens.

Friday: Free Group Writing Session

Come write with us! Community write-ins are a great way to meet other writers, and carve out space in your calendar for your writing.

Join the Writers.com staff for a 90-minute writing session each Friday from 11 AM to 12:30 PM Eastern time. We will write together for the first hour. In the last, optional half hour, we’ll share our writing with one another and connect.

To add yourself, click here, and we’ll send you a Zoom link the morning of the call. You can also always add yourself to or remove yourself from the “Friday Write-Ins” list at the bottom of this newsletter.