Community Highlights

Susan Vespoli Publishes “Self Portrait as Mother in Chapters” in Gyroscope Review

January 20, 2023

Congratulations to Susan Vespoli, whose poem “Self Portrait as Mother in Chapters” was published in Gyroscope Review. Read it here. 

Barbara Henning’s “Ferne: A Detroit Story” Listed as a Michigan Notable Book of 2023

January 9, 2023

Congratulations to instructor Barbara Henning, whose book Ferne: A Detroit Story was listed in the Michigan Notable Books 2023 list. 

Tina Barry Publishes “The Little I Remember”

January 4, 2023

Congratulations to Tina Barry, whose poem “The Little I Remember” was featured in Rattle, then reposted by Verse Daily. Read it here.

Susan Vespoli Publishes “I want to focus on light,” in Plum Tree Review

January 2, 2023

Congratulations to Susan Vespoli, whose poem “I want to focus on light,” was published in Plum Tree Review. Read it here!

Susan Vespoli Publishes “Dear 2022” in New Verse News

December 28, 2022

Congratulations to Susan Vespoli, whose poem “Dear 2022” was published in New Verse News. Read it here.

Two Publications by Rudri Patel’s Students

December 21, 2022

Congratulations to Lisa Braxton and Leena Trivedi-Grenier, two students of Rudri Patel’s who both have exciting publications.

Lisa’s piece, called “Our Messes,” was published in The New York Times. Read it here. 

Leena Trivedi-Grenier’s piece, called “Racism Caused Early Graying. Now I Turn It Into Hair Art.”, was published in The Cut. Read it here.

Congratulations to all!

Susan Vespoli Publishes “3 Sonnets from Adam’s Text Messages from 2020 to Day He Died – March 12, 2022” in Anti-Heroin Chic

December 9, 2022

Congratulations to instructor Susan Vespoli, whose “3 Sonnets from Adam’s Text Messages from 2020 to Day He Died – March 12, 2022” were published in Anti-Heroin Chic. 

Liz Mayers Receives Pushcart Nomination

December 5, 2022

Congratulations to Liz Mayers, whose 50 word story “Adopting Catherine” was nominated for the Pushcart Prize by Blink-Ink. Liz credits her courses with Giulietta Nardone and Barbara Henning for bringing out words she didn’t know she had. 

Is there a milestone in your writing that you'd like us to highlight? We'd love to hear about it!

Community Journal

Read poetry, fiction, and essays from our community members in the writers.com Community Journal. New issues published regularly.

Find Us on Social Media

Free Writing Resources


Ebook: Character Development: From Fundamentals to Flesh and Bone

Ebook: Writing With Confidence

Short Story ChecklistShort Story Checklist

editable poetry manuscript exampleEditable (.docx) Sample Formatted Poetry Manuscript

Join Our Newsletter to Access All Resources

For access to these free writing resources, join the writers.com newsletter, where we share new Writing Tips, community highlights, and upcoming course listings.

Publication Opportunities

Drexel’s MFA Program Launches Scholarship for Marginalized Writers

Drexel University’s MFA program in creative writing recently announced a fully funded scholarship for marginalized writers. The goal of the scholarship is to fund writers whose marginalization contributes to the body of work they seek to produce. Drexel defines the term “marginalized” loosely, and seeks to support writers from a variety of backgrounds, including those with disabilities or routine financial hardship. Learn more about the scholarship, and consider applying today!

Pause for Paws

Pause for Paws, a quarterly journal which celebrates love for wild and domesticated animals, is open for submission. The journal welcomes poems by new and established poets. Submissions to the Spring 2022 issue must be sent in the month of February. 

Feeling More Alive

Instructor Giulietta Nardone’s book “Feel More Alive! 30 Brilliant Ways to Reignite Your Inner Spark” is a year old. One way she chose to market the book was to hold a writing contest. The contest will be fun and down to earth, open to writers of all levels. No credentials needed. Creativity welcomed. Judged by a panel of Citrine Publishing authors and editors.

The idea is to read the book, choose a chapter or even a couple, and write a personal essay about Feeling More Alive. Creativity encouraged! Prizes will be art from the book. A print on deep edge canvas ready to hang, a five greeting card gift set or a 144-page writing journal with divider painting on the cover.

Open to those 18 and over. 

Contest closes on February 15, 2022, with notification by the end of March. 

If you need something to get you writing, this contest deadline might be it!

More information on the contest, the rules and where to purchase the book/ebook here. 
https://giuliettanardone.com/fma-writing-contest/

the rialto

Submit to The Rialto’s 2022 “Nature and Place” Poetry Competition

The Rialto invites poets to submit to their 2022 “Nature and Place” poetry competition. Poets are invited to submit poetry that deals with any aspect of nature and place – these terms will be given a wide interpretation by the judge Gillian Clarke.

Poems must be previously unpublished and no longer than 40 lines. There is a submission fee of £7 for the first poem and £4 for every subsequent poem. Prize winners will receive the following: 1st prize – £1000, 2nd prize – £500, 3rd prize – £250. 

Learn more below!

trip fiction

Submit to TripFiction’s “Sense of Place” 2021 Contest

TripFiction is looking for fiction or nonfiction for its 2021 “Sense of Place” competition. All submissions should provide a strong sense of geographic location, launching the reader into a completely different part of the world. Submissions are open until November 6th, and the winning prize is £1,000 / US$1,350!

the letters page

Submit Your Best Epistles to “The Letters Page”

Submissions are now open at The Letters Page, a literary journal based out of the University of Nottingham, UK. Writers are encouraged to send creative writing in the form of a letter to The Letters Page by mail. Submissions are accepted on a rolling basis, and all published writers receive a gift subscription to a literary journal or small press. 

Cesar Egido Serrano Foundation

Submit Your 100 Word Story to The César Egido Serrano Foundation

The César Egido Serrano Foundation is now open for submissions to its 100 word story contest. Stories must be submitted by September 30, and can be written in Spanish, English, Arabic, or Hebrew. The winning story will receive $20,000!

a moment of your time

Read Your Story for “A Moment of Your Time” Podcast

The podcast A Moment of Your Time is seeking 1-5 minute recordings of poetry, fiction, and creative nonfiction, centered around “solidarity and hope.” All submitted work should be uplifting and positive. Cheer the world with your voice!

Recent Student Testimonials

Arnold Doyle – Telling Truth

Ollie was very encouraging and supportive; they not only knew their stuff, but shared feedback in a non-critical manner. This course provided an intimate and challenging opportunity for me to learn about various poetry forms/styles, as well as the experience of writing and sharing unedited, first-draft poems based on prompts provided by the instructor. It forced me to work outside my comfort zone, and that was a benefit in and of itself, outside of the class material.

Nancy LaChance – Telling Truth

Ollie was a wonderful teacher. I think it was through their feedback that I gained the best understanding of how working in this kind of format can truly revolutionize your writing.

Techwashed – Aravinda Garimella

If you are a writer interested in the pervasive effects of tech on society, this course is a must-take. Shankar creates an inspiring space for creativity, critical thinking, collaboration and celebration of each other’s work. I found the generative prompts in this class inspiring. The students in this class were truly amazing people and the course has opened up a whole world of possibilities for my creative writing. Shankar is also extremely generous with resources, so you are learning for long after the class is over

Lori Posdal – Scene Study

Susan is a gifted teacher. She created an atmosphere of safety to express ourselves. Use of strongly written scenes along with lecture on technique was very helpful as a set up for our assignments. I especially enjoyed the break out sessions in class which allowed for time to meet classmates more intimately. I learned quite a bit!

Maria Warner – Scene Study

This class was great. Susan went above and beyond what I expected. Her feedback and workshopping with the other students was extremely helpful. Susan is a gem!

Chris Peterson – Scene Study

Susan Pohlman is very encouraging and her critiques of our work (not just suggestions but reasons for them) were most helpful. She’s warm, welcoming and obviously very knowledgeable and experienced in the writing field, as well as very talented. Her enthusiasm and love of sharing that knowledge is palpable and encouraging in itself.

Anne Samulevicius – Ordinary to Extraordinary

Excellent. Tina gave consistently thoughtful feedback – on various aspects of the poems, from structure to tempo to content – and was able to meet each writer where they are which is crucial, I feel. As a beginner I felt encouraged but also nudged to consider things I hadn’t before.

Joe Medeiros – The Joy of Poetry

Joy is a tremendous teacher and an enthusiastic person who has made me want to write at a time of my life when I wanted to be as far from pen and paper as possible. Her enthusiasm and love of poetry is truly infectious. She challenged us to write on the spot with no pressure or judgement. The way she analyzed poetry made it understandable and accessible. Without a doubt one of the best writing teachers I’ve ever had because she made me want to write.

writers.com Courses Starting Soon:

Next-Level Creative Nonfiction: Elevating Essays, Memoir, Travel Writing & Literary Journalism

August 15, 2014

Elevate your memoir, travel writing, literary journalism, & lyric and personal essays.

The Ongoing Fiction Workshop

November 10, 2014

Many students have attended this 10-week online fiction workshop with Shelley Singer multiple times, completed novels, and come back to finish more books.

Claiming Our Stories: Autobiography, Memoir & Autobiographical Fiction

November 12, 2014

Turn your experience into fiction, autobiography, or creative memoir. Bring forward stories with a powerful truth at their core. Instructor Anya Achtenberg.

Creative Nonfiction and the Personal Essay

November 12, 2014

Gretchen Clark pick axes her way into the volcanic marriage of real life and fiction. Weekly writing with incisive feedback.

Poetic Prose: The Prose Poem

November 17, 2014

Explore the border between prose poetry and flash fiction. For writers of fiction, poetry, essay and memoir.