11 POETS & WRITERSPoets & Writers Magazine welcomes feedback
from its readers. Please post a comment
on select articles at http://www.pw.org,
e-mail [email protected], or write to Editor,
Poets & Writers Magazine, 90 Broad Street,
Suite 2100, New York, NY 10004. Letters
accepted for publication may be edited for
clarity and length.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 col-
umn Page One:
Where New and
Noteworthy Books
Begin, and “First
Fiction 2019” was
enlightening and
inspiring, but it
was the clever-
ness 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, MassachusettsThank 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 YorkTRENDING
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- “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 - “Joy Harjo Named U.S. Poet Laureate” (6/19/19)
- “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)Reactions