"When you’re from Mississippi, you are Mississippi. Which means, I find Mississippi to be an intricate and complicated topic to talk about because I find it hard to separate myself from it."

Why receiving a fellowship prompted me to finish a sestina and how I did it.

In this overgrown yard poem, Kendall Dunkelberg answers a neighbor’s complaint with a Mississippi haibun about wildflowers, bees, and beauty.

YouTube video by Scott Colom

Jane Friedman reviews changes to the American Association of Literary Agents rules that could affect how authors and agents interact.

I've added new video links for last year's MIssissippi Book Festival panel and others.

In her lovely lyric essay "Tendrils," Nancy Bell weaves science and memory, wonder and strangeness, dreams and possibilities.

Another scam targeting writers, this tiem from someone claiming to represent the PGH Book Fest.

A review of the reading I did with John Miller at Ernest and Hadley Books in Tuscaloosa this February provides another bright spot.

Actually, I'm not sure these scams are new, but they are new to me, and since people seem to be interested in this kind of thing, I'll write about them. I've been super busy lately (hence, very few blog posts, sorry!) so my junk mailboxes have really piled up. Tonight I finally got ahead enough that I could take a few minutes to go through them, and as I did, I took note of two scam emails.

By John Zheng Poet Kendall Dunkelberg’s Tree Fall with Birdsong is a collection of flora and fauna imbued with a sense of place, memories, experiences, meditations or associative thinking. It invit…

Tonight, news reached me that my post about Fake Elena Ferrante got me mentioned in The Observer.

Her name attracts a steady stream of fakes. From death hoaxes to impersonators, the phenomenon reveals an uneasy truth: in an age that demands constant visibility from writers, Ferrante’s refusal to a...

How I happened upon a recent user review of my recent collection of poetry.

'Arsenic and Old Lace,' 'A Doll's House -- Part Two,' choreographers' showcase, poetry readings and more.

In which I discuss the cons of using AI in your MFA application. Just don't, and this is why.

It's been a quiet start to the year, but I have an event in Tuscaloosa this week and will be at AWP in Baltimore the following week. I also got news of a nomination.

Trying to learn more about an MFA program? Don't overlook one of their main products, their literary magazine.

In this installment, I consider that intimidating and impossible list of what writers you're reading that we all ask you to include.

Returning to writing advice for applicants to MFA programs in Creative Writing, I start with the benefits and challenges of attending #AWP26

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In which I wonder about the dark forces that may be behind the rash of scams directed at writers and offer some thoughts on how to respond.

we looked upon a world unknown

Now that the second edition of A Writer's Craft has been sent to my editor at Bloomsbury, I reflect on the semester-long process of revising.

It was nice to get such a complimentary email about my work, at least until I started to question whether it was legit. It seems I'm not the only writer to get suspicious praise from the mysterious Elena Ferrante.

How's my little book of poems doing after six months out in the world?

An update on Oleada and first look at three new submission platforms for magazines and writers

Every now and then, I use this blog to post a rant about customer service or tech issues. Since I've just spent a good 30 minutes on a chat with Walmart, I thought it might be good to relate my experience here, so apologies in advance for the rant. I hope it might help someone else in a similar situation.