Creative Support: January 2025
New books, events, workshops, and publishing advice for poets.
… outside my sleep
a sharp intake of air
a fox in her fox-fur
stepping across
the grass in her black gloves …
- Alice Oswald, “Fox”
Hello and happy 2025, poets.
Welcome to a new monthly post I’m calling Creative Support—a curated roundup of noteworthy books, events, workshops, publishing opportunities, and advice for practicing poets.
New Books
Data Mind by Joanna Fuhrman (Northwestern University Press) explores the internet's role in culture and personal experience. “In this darkly comic and surreal collection, Fuhrman lets herself fall into the internet wormhole of these conflicting realities.” Check out my interview with Fuhrman about the book.
Is There Room for Another Horse on Your Horse Ranch by Cyrus Cassells (Four Way Books) showcases “poetics of merciful vitality and tenderness, celebrating eros … in his understanding of the erotic as an affirmation and preservation of life.” Check out my interview with Cassells about the book.
Brutal Companion by Ruben Quesada (winner of the Barrow Street Press Editors Prize) “is a haunting and visceral collection of poems that explores themes of identity, sexuality, loss, and personal transformation.”
Workshops, Events & More
January 14, 7:00-8:00pm ET — Virtual chat with Carolyn Hembree to discuss her collection, For Today. Hosted by the Writer’s Center in Maryland.
January 15, 12:00-1:00pm MT — 2025 Publishing Strategy, led by Radha Marcum. Monthly class for Poet to Poet Members. For more, see the 2025 class schedule.
January 25, 12:00-2:00pm MT — How to Publish More Poetry in 2025. A hands-on 2-hour workshop with proven strategies to help you place more poems, and/or a chapbook or book, this year.
January 18, 5:00-6:30pm CT (rescheduled) — BookWoman Austin Ecopoetry Showcase with Sasha West and Radha Marcum. Virtual and in person.
January 30, 7:00-8:00pm ET — Virtual chat with Dorsía Smith Silva, author of In Inheritance of Drowning (CavanKerry, 2024). Hosted by the Writer’s Center in Maryland.
February 8, 10:00am-5:00pm — Contemporary Eco-poetries with Elizabeth Robinson, Lighthouse Writers Workshop (Denver, in person). Followed by happy hour and a reading featuring Elizabeth Robinson and Radha Marcum.
Upcoming Deadlines
January 14 — Colorado Prize for Poetry
January 15 — Rattle Chapbook Prize
January 15 — Longleaf Press Book Contest
January 31 — Barbara Deming Memorial Fund grants for feminist writers
February 15 — The James Welch Prize for Indigenous Writers (Poetry Northwest)
Advice
“If you're approaching the poem with a predetermined agenda, the poem can become preachy or feel flat. When I'm teaching poets or talking with other poets, I think it's really important to emphasize the process of discovery, letting the poem develop itself and seeing where it takes you. Robert Frost describes a poem as a piece of ice melting on a hot stove. The ice moves in all sorts of different directions that are organic. You can't predict exactly where it's going to move next.” –Luke Hankins, author of Testament and editor of Orison Books, from Should We All Write Project Books?
Thank you for reading! I hope you found inspiration here to keep your poetry fires burning bright.
Yours in poetry,
Radha
