Huge congratulations to Salaam Green, whose poem "A New American South: Impressions from the Front Porch on Juneteenth" was reprinted on the Academy of American Poets website and included in their newsletter of June 18, celebrating Juneteenth with nine poets. poets.org/poem/new-ame...

Congratulations to Nancy Bell on two recent publications. "Tendrils" in Terrain www.terrain.org/2026/nonfict...

It was great to see Dena Pruett at our MFA Full Residency Readings. She sent me a lit of her recent accomplishments. She's been so busy, I'll have to reply multiple times below to list them. Congratulations, Dena!!

Grace Gibbons has signed a contract with Panhandle Creek Press to publish her thesis memoir, Illegitimate, in September 2027. She is also about to start working for AmeriCorps in September, doing literacy with preschoolers. Congratulations, Grace!!

Tips for New Writers

What a fantastic group of writers gathered for our 2026 Full Writing Residency. 17 students, 4 faculty (and 2 students who came in just to defend their theses, not pictured). We're almost through an amazing 9 days of workshops, seminars, and readings.

We've tried to follow all the past Welty Symposium authors we could find. If we missed you, maybe because your username isn't your name, follow us and we'll follow back!

We're getting on @bsky.app to announce our dates and theme for the 38th annual Eudora Welty Writers' Symposium.

Congratulations to Faith Thiebaud, one of our new MFA students starting this summer, who published a chapbook, I'm Not Hungry, with Bottlecap Press in February. She told me some of these poems were in her writing sample, so I know you'll want to read them! bottlecap.press/products/imn...

We're so proud of our alumni who presented at #AWP26 Beth Kander-Dauphin, Sea Creatures, Space & Words Karol Lagodzki, Writing Beyond the Mother Tongue C. T. Salazar, More than the Sum of Its Parts Celeste Schueler, Divergent Writers

Next week, we'll be heading to #AWP26 in Baltimore. Come talk with us at T984 in the #BookFair. We'll be tabling with @ponderreview.bsky.social and @poetrysouth.bsky.social

Don't miss today's talk by Kris Lee at 4pm Central. If you can't join in person, it will be live streamed on YouTube www.youtube.com/@LLPatTheW/l...

This is not a new leaf to turn, you just didn't know about it. Science Fiction! Look for a new story of mine in the July/August issue of @asimovssfmag.bsky.social #sciencefiction #publishing #writerslife

As the Spring 2026 semester begins, I've added four new students to our map of where we live. Welcome Gina Elia, Salaam Green, Anne Gunter, and Amy Wilson! I'm also thrilled to move Erin Matson and Alexis Jemal to the Alumni group. Congratulations Erin and Alexis! www.google.com/maps/d/u/1/e...

Eudora Welty and Tennessee Williams were featured with other creatives on this year’s float. #writers #mississippi

Hard to believe we've been publishing Ponder Review for 10 years. Be part of our second decade!

Issue 17 is here! #poetry #litmag So many wonderful poets brought together, we can't wait for you to see! Order yours at poetrysouth.submittable.com

Bluesky is finally back in Mississippi! No longer will we have to hitch up the mule and head over to Alabama to post. We did have to verify our age, though. Great for us, but not so great for the mule, who will probably get fat eating all those oats.

Congratulations to Erin Matson, who successfully defended her thesis today! Her reading will be on Wednesday at 6pm CDT on Zoom or our YouTube channel. @brandytwilson.bsky.social

Congratulations and good luck to our Pushcart nominees! Fiction David Williams, "Southern Dogface," 9.1 Rachel Talbot, "Night Park", 9.1 CNF Scott Ortolano, "The Days," 9.1 Rob Rogers, “Morning Coffee,” 9.2 Poetry Xioaly Li, "Making Dumplings"9.2 Bridget Brush, "I Wish I Were a Turtle," 9.2

We always love announcing our Pushcart Prize nominees, though it's always a challenge to make our final choices. Congratulations and best of luck to our six nominees! @pushcartprize.bsky.social #pushcartnominees

We're proud to preview the cover for Issue 17! Poets are reviewing their proofs and soon it will be off to the printer. Order your copy today or send us poems for Issue 18. We are all caught up on submissions and want to start reading again! #submissions #poetry #magazine poetrysouth.submittable.com

We've been hard at work (but not posting)! Issue 17 is nearly done — page proofs were sent to poets this week. We've also caught up on submissions to Nov. 1, so now might be a good time to send us some poems or order your copy of the new issue! poetrysouth.submittable.com

Don't miss our last Welty Symposium session at 9:30 this morning — in person in Poindexter auditorium or live online (if the live stream starts a few minutes late, just wait for us — it's Saturday, y'all!) youtube.com/live/WfOtHW8...

Don't miss tonight's Eudora Welty Writers' Symposium keynote with poet laureate of Alabama, Ashley M. Jones! 7:30pm in Poindexter Auditorium, Mississippi University for Women. If you can't join us in person, you can till watch live youtube.com/live/0MthPTm...

Mississippi Today has a feature on the Eudora Welty Writers' Symposium. The symposium starts this Thursday and is free and open to the public. @mississippitoday.org mississippitoday.org/2025/10/21/a...

For a closer look, here is each panel of the 37th Annual Eudora Welty Writers' Symposium with 12 Southern writers and 5 Ephemera Prize Winners. Each session is free to attend and will be live-streamed on our WeltySymposium Youtube channel. #readings #writerscommunity #mississippi #southernwriters

Two weeks from today, we begin the 37th annual Eudora Welty Writers' Symposium at Mississippi University for Women. Here's our complete schedule! #writers #southernauthors #readings #bookfestival #TheW

Y'all, Monday, 9/15, is our deadline for the next issue of Ponder Review. If you haven't sent us your best writing since before June 15, then send us something soon and don't miss out! #submissioncall ponderreview.submittable.com

So true, and true for our low-res MFA in Creative Writing. We're used to finding work-arounds

Welcome to our new MFA students (Summer and Fall 2025): Betsy Arnett, Asjiah Benoit, Devon Boan, Alexis Ellis, Meriwether Nichols, and Laura Flint. You are now on our map! Besides adding new students, I've moved our recent graduates to the alumni list. www.google.com/maps/d/u/0/e...

Great to see alumna Julie Whitehead with an article on @janefriedman.com Way to go Julie! #writingadvice janefriedman.com/how-being-a-...

I had a great conversation with Lauren Rhoades on the Mississippi Arts Hour yesterday. Our interview will air this Sunday on MPB Think Radio. Listen live on mpbonline.org or later on the Mississippi Arts Hour podcast. arts.ms.gov/events/missi...

Hi everyone, just a reminder that on Friday, July 18 at 7 p.m. at the D & H Canal House Museum in High Falls, New York, there will be a gathering to launch my new poetry collection "Still Life." Some nosh, some drink and some poetry

Congratulations!

Congratulations to L. Lamar Wilson who is featured at Poem-a-Day today for his poem "Lauren Oya Olamina Explains Earthseed to Ernest Hemingway." poets.org/poem/lauren-...

I'm finally back in Mississippi and will be heading to Jackson tomorrow for my reading at Lemuria Bookstore! Looking forward to seeing everyone! I'm bringing extra copies in case the store runs out, so there's sure to be plenty for everyone... It will be a great time! #JacksonMs #poetryreading

It's a big week for Tree Fall with Birdsong with an insightful review by Celeste Maria Schueler in the Clarion Ledger and the Mississippi Books Page. #poetrybook #review www.clarionledger.com/story/entert...

"If 'Tree Fall' is loss — that things change, life ends, meaning is lost — what could represent the opposite qualities of birth, of creation, of fullness. An early poem gave me my answer with 'Birdsong.'" Read more from @ctsalazar.bsky.social's interview with @kdunkelberg.bsky.social!

Congratulations to Christian J. Collier, newly minted MFA (thesis defended, only waiting on graduation) for winning the Summer 2025 Shō Poetry Prize for his poem "Nocturne." #poetryprize @shopoetryjournal.bsky.social shopoetryjournal.com/prize-winners/

Now you can order a signed copy of Tree Fall with Birdsong from my local bookstore, Friendly City Books, and I will come in and sign it for you. www.friendlycitybooks.com/shop/p/signe...

Check out Dominique Lewis's feature article in Mississippi Folklife on HBCU marching bands! Congratulations, Dominique! mississippifolklife.org/articles/mis...

Last night UPS delivered my copies of Tree Fall with Birdsong, but I waited until today for the #unboxing. #bookreveal #poetrybooks

Congratulations to Alexis Jemal, AWP Intro Journals Prize Honorable Mention in Prose for “Lost Identity or Evolution?,” Creative Nonfiction @awpwriter.bsky.social #IntroJournalsProject www.awpwriter.org/AWP/Contests...

Look who was just featured at the Poetry Society of Tennessee's 68th annual Poetry Festival. Congratulations, Christian! #poetry poetrytennessee.com/2025/03/07/6...

The Twentieth Issue of Booth is a bonafide beaut! 😍Such a dazzling delight to have my “Thriller” story and I, as part of this stellar issue. Thank you so much! The artwork? 🤌🏽 Swoon! Twenty Issues! 🥳 Congratulations, Booth Fam! 💜💚🧡 #Writer #Thriller #SouthernFiction #MichaelJackson

Congratulations to Katrina Byrd, whose essay, "The Language of Forgiveness" appears in Speaking ALS: An Anthology. Her work with ALS advocacy is an inspiration. ourfamilylines.ca/speakingals/

Congratulations (again) to Karol Lagodzki, who is now one of five finalists for the PEN/Hemmingway Award for Debut Novel! Way to go, Karol and Controlled Conversations!

See you in Jackson, Tennessee, on April 15 for a poetry reading at Jackson State Community College, 2pm in the Science Auditorium. I'll be reading from my books, past and future for Arts Week. #poetry #reading #TN

Reading poems with Voices of Tacoma last night 🩵