Creative Support: May 2025
New books, events, workshops, and publishing advice for poets.
…
Few of us knew what the bird calls meant
or what the fires were saying.
We took of earth and took and took, and the earth
seemed not to mind
until one of our daughters shouted: it was right
in front of you, right in front of your eyes …
- Marie Howe, from “Postscript”
Hello and happy May—a month of many fruitions, celebrations, graduations.
I hope you enjoy this month’s Creative Support—a curated roundup of noteworthy books, events, workshops, publishing opportunities, and advice for practicing poets.
First, celebrations: Join me in congratulating Poet to Poet interviewee Cyrus Cassells who was recently awarded the prestigious Jackson Award for “observing political violence and sensuous experience with deep humanity” in his poetry. The 2025 prize carries a monetary value of $100,000. Congratulations, Cyrus!
Are you a member with good news to share? Send it to me at hi at poettopoet.com.
New Books
The End of Childhood, by Wayne Miller. “A tender and provocative collection of poems interrogating the troubles and wonders of both childhood and parenthood against the backdrop of global violence.”
The Essential C.D. Wright, edited by Forrest Gander. “Tracing a writing life that spans more than four decades, this book illuminates works that remain empowered by an unrelenting independence, a wry and utterly original lyricism.”
Into the Hush, by Arthur Sze. “Sze harnesses a range of innovative forms to respond to the challenges of our nuclear age—endangered cultures and the exigencies of climate change—exploring what it means to write on a planet struggling against anthropocene, to “make lines/against a void.” Here poems shadow sonnets and appear as haibun and ekphrastic, epistle and twin pantoums.”
Workshops, Events & More
May 14, 12:00-1:00pm MT — Rejection Rx, how to work with the inevitable! Rejection is to be expected, but it doesn’t have to take you down. You can reframe it and use it to empower your process. Learn how in this 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!
June 6, Friday, 9-11am MT — Three Paths to Publishing Your Poetry Book (Lighthouse Writers Workshop LitFest - in person). This seminar explores the three primary paths to publishing a book of poems: traditional (including independent and university presses), self publishing, and emerging opportunities in hybrid publishing. This class demystifies the options and provides clear next steps for poets seeking to publish a body of work. Register.
June 9 Monday, 4-6pm MT — The Art of Iteration: How to Revise Your Poetry Manuscript (Lighthouse Writers Workshop LitFest - in person). This seminar explores the balance between productive revision and perfectionism, drawing insights from poets like Ocean Vuong and Victoria Chang. We’ll challenge the myth of linear progression, embrace curiosity, and help you recognize when your work feels whole enough to share with the world. Register.
July 25-27 — The Annual Taos Writers Conference, in Taos, New Mexico and online. Join me and poets Nick Flynn, Veronica Golos, Aaron Abeyta, and others—plus fiction, memoir, and cross-genre writers—for discussions of craft, manuscript development, and more. Explore the conference.
Upcoming Deadlines
May 31 — Two Sylvias Press Chapbook Prize
June 15 — 42 Miles Press Poetry Award
June 16 — Omnidawn Chapbook Prize
Aug 15 — Grayson Books Poetry Book Prize
Advice
“To listen into, to go on risking my exposure to an expenditure at a loss, to take another step toward the potential to love, to find some place where there and here begin to constitute each other. For me, it’s more query than quest. I want to lay myself out like photographic paper, to stay as open as possible to what is occurring within and without me. To find my way back into the community of others by trying to come to grips with our material environment. To hear more intensively the rumble of the living, the vibrancy of inert things, the whispers of the dead.”
-Forrest Gander, from “In the Thickness of Being” (a conversation with Jorie Graham)
Yours in poetry,
Radha
The Agha Shahid Ali Prize in Poetry had a deadline of 4/15.