Creative Support: March 2025
New books, events, workshops, and publishing advice for poets.
…
At a certain height
The tails of kites for a moment are
Covered with footsteps
Whatever I have to do has not yet begun
- W.S. Merwin, from “It Is March”
Hello and happy March, poets.
Welcome to this month’s Creative Support—a curated roundup of noteworthy books, events, workshops, publishing opportunities, and advice for practicing poets.
But first, some congratulations! Join me in celebrating these poets in the Poet to Poet member community and my poetry manuscript coaching clients: Marika Francisco’s collection, Insects of the Data Lake, will be published by Inverted Syntax Press. Nancy Wright’s "The Rescue" will appear in Crab Creek Review.
Are you a member with good news to share? Send it to me at hi at poettopoet.com.
New Books
Amanda Chimera, by Mary B. Moore. The collection “explores our hybrid nature as body and something else––mind, soul, spirit––through poems spoken by and about the persona Amanda. Haunted by her vanished twin, Gloria, who died in utero and some of whose DNA she absorbed, Amanda views herself as hybrid and thus as a monster, a carrier of the dead.” Check out my interview with Moore about her book Dear If.
Everything in Life is Resurrection, by Cyrus Cassells. “Drawn from eight acclaimed books of poetry and spanning forty years, Everything in Life is Resurrection: Selected Poems, 1982-2022, is 2021 Texas Poet Laureate Cyrus Cassells’s long-awaited retrospective volume.” Check out my interviews with Cassells: Earth is a Place of Passion, and The Griefs We Hold.
Sons of Salt, by Yaccaira Salvatierra. “Volcanic eruptions and waves collide in Yaccaira Salvatierra’s explosive debut collection Sons of Salt, which explores the duality of personal and political landscapes as well as legacies of violence within Mexican-American communities. Weaving self-made mythology, mourning, and maternal fear into visual and narrative poems, Salvatierra creates a collection that probes the deepest hurt to ensure the holiest redemption.” I was privileged to preview some of the work in this book prior to its publication. Truly remarkable.
Workshops, Events & More
March 12, 12:00-1:00pm MT — Submissions Systems Made Easy, learn how timely information plus smart tracking paves the way to more acceptances. This is the Monthly Class for Poet to Poet Members, led by me. Become a member to join this and upcoming classes, plus access to our virtual library of videos and resources that help you pursue publication with confidence. Can’t make the live zoom? No problem. Members have access to recordings!
March 22, 4-5 ET — New Works: William Archila and Daniel Borzutsky, an evening of reflection and resistance as they share their latest collections, S is For and The Murmuring Grief of the Americas. Archila’s S is For explores the Central American migrant crisis, the lingering shadows of El Salvador’s civil war, and the displacement of exile. Virtual & free. Hosted by Poets House in NYC.
April 12, 11-2pm ET — How to Revise a Poetry Manuscript. Virtual. $105. In this seminar, we’ll explore the balance between productive revision and perfectionist traps. You’ll learn strategies to approach your manuscript as a body of work, systematically, clarifying its driving themes, subject matters, voice, and stylistic choices. Hosted by Poets House in NYC.
April 19, 12:00-2:00pm MT — Poet to Poet Workshop: Build a Poetry Manuscript That Captivates Editors. Virtual. $155. Whether you’re on the threshold of putting together your collection or refining a manuscript you’ve been working on, this session will provide you with the tools and confidence to create a book that stands out to editors.
Upcoming Deadlines
March 8 (today!) — Lighthouse 2025 LitFest Fellowships
March 15 — Iron Horse Chapbook Competition
March 17 — Poetry of the Plains and Prairies letterpress chapbook award (North Dakota State University Press)
April 1 — The Orison Prize for Poetry
May 31 — Two Sylvias Press Chapbook Prize
June 15 — 42 Miles Press Poetry Award
Advice
“Collaboration involves two key things: permission and loss of control. You can’t control the outcome because the other person is shaping it too, and that unpredictability transforms the work. I tend to write quickly and with a strong sense of what I want, so at times, I found myself thinking, Whoa—this feels uncomfortable and unfamiliar. But I see that as a positive. The seams aren’t always seamless, but hopefully, those very seams open up new possibilities.”
-Elizabeth Robinson, from our conversation A Third Voice Emerges
How do you embrace permission and loss of control in your poetry? Whether you’re collaborating with others or not, that seems like the question, don’t you think?
Yours in poetry,
Radha
