Letters
Feedback from readers
Back in the day, I used to subscribe to a teen magazine, and when it came I would hug it to my chest, run inside, and read it cover to cover. Now, as a grown-up writer, I do the same with Poets & Writers Magazine. The July/August 2019 issue spoke to me in every way. I always love the column Page One: Where New and Noteworthy Books Begin, and “First Fiction 2019” was enlightening and inspiring, but it was the cleverness and fabulous writing—and insight—of “Four Lunches and a Breakfast: What I Learned About the Book Business While Breaking Bread With Five Hungry Agents” by Kevin Larimer that undid me. I’m in the process of querying agents, and this article is exactly what I needed. Plus, now, after reading this issue of the magazine, my TBR pile is expanding exponentially.
Leslie Lindsay
Chicago, Illinois
It was wonderful to see Anjali Singh featured in Kevin Larimer’s “Four Lunches and a Breakfast: What I Learned About the Book Business While Breaking Bread With Five Hungry Agents” and to read her comments about the Belize Writers’ Conference. I met Singh when I took my memoir-in-progress to Belize last April. It was the first writers conference I’d ever attended, and I was blown away by the instant camaraderie I felt among writers and agents and by Singh’s generous, insightful, and encouraging attention to mine and others’ work. She says she feels fortunate to have crossed paths with the writers at the conference. The feeling is mutual!
Caroline Wampole
Montague, Massachusetts
Thank you for another outstanding article. Reading about Ocean Vuong’s life and writing journey (“Be Bold” by Rigoberto González, July/August 2019) was eye-opening and inspiring. The quality of writing and range of subjects in the magazine keeps me looking forward to each issue.
Rose O’Keefe
Rochester, New York
Trending
Top tweets, Facebook posts, and other social media ephemera
If reactions on Twitter to the July/August 2019 issue’s special section on literary agents is any indication, agents and editors aren’t the only ones who are hungry. “Just read ‘Four Lunches and a Breakfast’ in Poets & Writers. Now I’m full,” wrote Ginny Fite (@unwrinkledbrain). “Excellent inside info on the book publishing business,” added Karen DeBonis (@KarenDeBonis). “Respect for the great writing,” wrote Renae Gregoire (@WriterRen), “and thanks for giving this newbie a peek into the world of publishing.”
Traffic
Three of the most popular posts from pw.org
1. “Four Lunches and a Breakfast: What I Learned About the Book Business While Breaking Bread With Five Hungry Agents” (July/August 2019) by Kevin Larimer
2. “Joy Harjo Named U.S. Poet Laureate” (6/19/19)
3. “First Fiction 2019” (July/August 2019)
Quoteable Quotes
Lines from the previous issue that got readers talking
“He meditates five times a week and keeps reminding himself of the person he was when he first fell in love with writing. ‘I bring him to the present,’ Vuong explains, ‘not the person who won the awards—he has nothing to teach me.’” —Rigoberto González on Ocean Vuong in “Be Bold” (July/August 2019)