Write into the Week: November 2, 2025

“Instructions for living a life: Pay attention. Be astonished. Tell about it.”
–Mary Oliver

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 Monday and Friday write-ins, and meet our community of writers.
• Note: There will be no Monday writing sessions on October 27 or November 3. We will resume our meetings on Monday, November 10th. 

Happy writing this week!

—Elle, Curriculum Specialist & Community Manager

Writer to Writer: Be Astonished

Mary Oliver’s line is almost a craft manifesto: Observation → Emotion → Expression.

That’s the movement of a scene. The arc of a poem. The shape of a story. What do I mean? Consider: first, something catches our attention. Then, we feel the spark of connection. Only after that can we put it into words.

If the writing feels flat, maybe the attention or astonishment got skipped. Go back. Look again. 

I like how Mary Oliver makes writing sound both easy and daring. On the one hand, she pushes you to notice the mundane, like the way your coffee steams like a tiny weather system. On the other, she tells you to be astonished—which requires being open enough to actually feel something.

Then comes the brave part: telling about it. (Notice how she doesn’t say: write something brilliant, impress the critics, or worry about whether it’s been done before. Just saying!)

This week, try collecting astonishments, both big and small. A single sentence in your notebook counts. Let astonishment be the start of something.

Writing Prompt:

Write about a small moment that made you feel something. Maybe it’s good, bad, happy or sad. It could spark curiosity, delight, longing, ache—even if you’re not sure why. Stay close to the sensory details. Let the emotion reveal itself slowly, if at all.

Reading Recommendations:

Fiction:

• “Audition” by Kate Kitamura. Recently short-listed for The Booker Prize, and a recent favorite read of mine. Audition is an experiment of the novel form. It’s told in two gripping, interwoven narratives that will have you questioning what’s really going on. 

Poetry:

• “Poetry Unbound: 50 Poems to Open Your World” by Pádraig Ó Tuama. This thoughtful anthology brings together fifty striking poems alongside Pádraig Ó Tuama’s generous and conversational reflections. He guides readers through each poem’s craft, and invites us to consider how its meaning might shift something in our own lives.

Nonfiction:

• “The Best Minds: A Story of Friendship, Madness, and the Tragedy of Good Intentions” by Jonathan Rosen. In this heartbreaking and brilliant memoir, Rosen traces the rise and fall of his childhood friend, whose descent into psychosis becomes a searing inquiry into genius and mental illness.

Listening Recommendations:

• From Poetry Off the Shelf Podcast: “We Dream of Each Other” – Poet Kay Gabriel speaks on embarrassment, labor organizing, and the discipline of hope. 
• From The Moth Podcast “Fatherhood: The Moth Radio Hour” – In this hour, stories about fathers and how they show up for their kids. As support systems and sounding boards, buddies and bear huggers. This episode is hosted by Roy Wood Jr.

Publishing Opportunities:

• The Baltimore Review – Submission Deadline: November 30, 2025. Open call for poetry, fiction, and creative nonfiction submissions. As most of their submissions come in at the last minute, they ask that you submit early, if possible!
• The Florida Review’s Jeanne Leiby Chapbook Award – Submission Deadline: January 7, 2026. A unique publication opportunity! Each year, The Florida Review honors former editor Jeanne Leiby with the publication of a prose or graphic narrative chapbook. (Note: This is not open to poetry chapbooks.) More details on their site. 

Residency & Retreat Opportunities: 

• The Philip Roth Residence in Creative Writing – Application Deadline: February 1, 2026. Currently accepting applications for residencies in fall 2026 and spring 2027. A unique offering! This residence offers up to four months of unfettered writing time for a writer working on a first or second book in ANY literary genre (poetry, nonfiction, fiction, hybrid works, graphic fiction, etc.) Accepted residents are provided lodging and a stipend of $5,000.

Monday and Friday: Free Group Writing Sessions

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.

Monday: Write Into the Week with Elle

Note: There will be no Monday writing sessions on October 27 or November 3. We will resume our meetings on Monday, November 10th.

Join me (Elle) for an hour of mindset support, goal setting, community, and dedicated time to write! We’ll meet on Monday at 11 AM Eastern time, at this Zoom link: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/83999379617

Friday: Open Write-In

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, join our newsletter using the join box above, and add yourself to the “Friday Write-Ins” list at the bottom of any email. We’ll send you a Zoom link the morning of the call.

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