In a blue and orange graphic, with the Maynard Book Festival Logo (a stack of books holding up the clock tower), the following information is displayed: Maynard Book Festival Celebrating our 10th Festival! Thursday April 9, 6 PM @ Felixology. Mill Town // Mill City Poetry & Photography Featuring Stephan Anstey, Hazelyn Aroian, Rebecca Kirk Connors, Rikhav Kothari, Meg Smith, Julia Story. With Photographs by Cris Antonio, David Brow, and Sarah Measures. Visit maynardbookfestival.org to learn more.

Come see me next Thursday! As part of the Maynard Book Festival, I will be co-hosting a reading featuring Maynard-area and Lowell poets at 6 PM at Felixology, with a reception at Barrels & Vines at 4:30 PM. Learn more here: maynardpubliclibrary.assabetinteractive.com/calendar/may...

a smartphone graphic showing reminders for materials needed for a Solstice MFA application, including a personal statement, writing sample, transcripts, and 2 recommendations, all due in six weeks Text that reads Solstice MFA upcoming deadlines: Fellowship consideration on April 27 and general applications on May 11

Summer/fall '26 deadlines are approaching! Apply by May 11 (April 27 for fellowship consideration). Decisions in as few as 10 biz days if we have your personal statement, writing sample, and 2 recommendation forms. (Transcripts are due July 1 at the latest.)

More info: buff.ly/9osPRIt

100% agree.

Donald Trump is handing nearly a billion dollars in taxpayer money to stop a job-creating, clean power-generating wind farm from being built off the East Coast.

He is putting America in reverse and selling us out to his Big Oil donors.

pencil, pen, coffee, and notepad with text CARRIE WATSON LEGACY FELLOWSHIP for Young People's Literature, Apply by April 27 "The Carrie Watson Legacy Fund is a testament to the woman who ignited my love of storytelling: my mother, Carrie Elizabeth Watson. She was my first and greatest supporter. With every grant awarded, her legacy lives on. It is my deepest honor to pass her steadfast encouragement forward to new writers as they pursue their own dreams." –Renée Watson Watson Fellowship Underwriter $1,500 Award

Applying to our MFA program to start this summer? Check out our Carrie Watson Legacy Fellowship for Young People's Literature. Apply by April 27 to be considered. The selected writer receives a $1,500 discount on first-semester tuition. See more details here: www.lasell.edu/graduate-stu...

Icon graphics of two people sitting at laptops with Q and A in speech bubbles. Solstice MFA Virtual Info Session, March 18 at 12 p.m. Eastern

Join us for our next virtual info session on March 18 at 12 p.m. ET to learn about program start dates, faculty, and more. Register here: applygrad.lasell.edu/register/?id...

Line of people waiting outside an entrance to a building. On the wall of glass windows, a banner reads 2026 AWP Conference and Bookfair

Table featuring branded Solstice MFA signage and paraphernalia

Two smiling Solstice MFA staff and faculty standing together and smiling

Hello #AWP26! We’re in Baltimore and ready to meet you. See you tomorrow in the bookfair at table 1164.

We’ve already spotted our Associate Director Quintin Collins and faculty member @jennifermurvin.bsky.social!

SOLSTICE MFA at AWP 2026 in Baltimore: Bookfair Table 1164, Thursday, March 5 12:00pm Incidental Pollen Book Signing featuring Solstice alum Ellen Austin-Li Bookfair Booth 626, Baltimore Convention Center 12:10pm Alternative Nation, or Whatever: Gen X Perspectives on the Writing Life featuring Solstice Faculty Member Tara Betts Room 317, Level 300, Baltimore Convention Center 02:00pm All the Possible Bodies Book Signing featuring Solstice Faculty Member Iain Haley Pollock Bookfair Booth #1044, Baltimore Convention Center 04:00pm Adverse Abstraction Offsite Reading featuring Solstice Faculty Member Iain Haley Pollock Meander Art Bar FRIDAY, MARCH 6 09:00am Beauty vs. Fidelity: The Poetry Translator’s Gamble featuring Solstice Writer-in-Residence Dzvinia Orlowsky Room 323, Level 300, Baltimore Convention Center 01:45pm Sustaining and Building Robust Literary Partnerships featuring Solstice Faculty Member Gina Chung Room 302, Level 300, Baltimore Convention Center Rewriting the Archive: Poetic Voices on Who Defines History featuring Solstice Faculty Member Iain Haley Pollock Ballroom I, Level 400, Baltimore Convention Center 03:20pm Widening the Bridge of Ekphrasis: Writing the Saturation Poem featuring Solstice Faculty Member Jennifer Jean Room 326, Level 300, Baltimore Convention Center

Attending AWP26 in Baltimore next month? Come see us at bookfair table 1164 to learn more about Solstice and earning an MFA in Creative Writing with us. Plus, you can check out on- and off-site events featuring our staff, faculty, and alums below.

Hey, aspiring writers & comics creators: TODAY, 6 p.m. Eastern!

Solstice MFA Virtual Info Session, February 11 at 6 p.m. Eastern

Ready to prioritize your writing life? Join us for our next virtual information session to learn more about what it takes to earn an MFA with Solstice. We're excited to see you on February 11 at 6 p.m. ET. Register here: applygrad.lasell.edu/register/?id...

"It seems weird to say so, but we need more poems now." Read more from Charles Baxter in @literaryhub.bsky.social:

“Everything We Do Matters.” Minneapolis’s Moon Palace Books is a Hub For Anti-ICE Resistance Angela Schwesnedl from Moon Palace Books in Minneapolis picked up my phone call on Saturday almost two hours to the minute after Alex Pretti was murdered in the street by ICE officers. “If you have…

How Moon Palace Books became a hub of anti-ICE resistance.

ICE Agents Will Join Olympics Delegation in Italy. Many Italians are Angry. The Italian government said it had requested clarification from American diplomats after D.H.S. said that ICE agents would help secure the U.S. Olympic delegation next week in northern Italy.

ICE will accompany the U.S. delegation to the Winter Olympics in Italy next month, the Department of Homeland Security confirmed on Tuesday, stoking a backlash among Italians angered by agents' conduct in Minneapolis.

How to Rein in ICE–NOW | Indivisible Act now with Indivisible to demand Congress rein in ICE, end aggressive enforcement, restrict ICE and Border Patrol funding, and protect communities.

Democrats in the Senate must grow a spine. They can rein in this murderous regime next week. Why on Earth would they continue to fund this tyranny?

Call your senators now: indivisible.org/campaigns/ho...

Ian Austin, an Army veteran, was arrested for protesting ICE in Minneapolis. But he’s continued protesting. Senior reporter @julialurie.bsky.social spoke to him.

“When they say, ‘Why would you be out here?’ How the fuck could I not be out here?” he says. “My nation is under attack."

There's no place like Solstice! #writingcommunity #lowres

“This Moment Is Our Proof”: Poet Cornelius Eady Stuns Crowd at Mamdani's Inauguration | AC1G YouTube video by DRM News

"This Moment is Our Proof" by Poet Cornelius Eady.
youtu.be/vTjdjw6a-is?...

Trump 2.0’s second year may be even worse than the first. So, what can you do? Here are the 10 most important actions you can take in 2026. robertreich.substack.com/p/what-you-can-do-in-202...

Solstice MFA Reading Series 131 Woodland Road, Auburndale, MA 02466 and livestreamed on Zoom January 9, 7:30 p.m. Eastern Ellen Austin-Li, Venise Berry, Jennifer Murvin January 10, 7:30 p.m. Eastern Ethan Gilsdorf, Meg Kearney, Adi Rule January 11, 7:30 p.m. Eastern Quintin Collins, Iain Haley Pollock, Amy Alvarez January 12 (online only), 7:30 p.m. Eastern Kathleen Aguero, José Angel Araguz, Beth Cho Little, Nicole Terez Dutton, Stephanie Elizondo Griest, Shane Hawk, Uchechi Kalu, Anne-Marie Oomen, Hector Rodriguez III, Arriel Vinson January 13: Graduating Students, 4:30 p.m. Eastern Marissa Trunfio, Louis LaCivita, Sr. Allison Regina Gliot, Amjed McDonnell, Patricia Achiro Olwoch, Katie Nelson, Ryan Thomas LaBee January 14, 7:30 p.m. Eastern Josh Neufeld, Kassie Rubico January 15, 7:30 p.m. Eastern Jennifer Jean, Steven Huff, David Yoo January 16, 7:30 p.m. Eastern Laura Williams McCaffrey, Gina Chung, Terrance Hayes

Join us for our January 2026 reading series, which runs Jan. 9-16. Readings start at 7:30pm ET (except Jan. 13, which starts at 4:30pm ET) in the Arnow Campus Center 1851 Lounge at Lasell University.

Register for in-person or livestream attendance here: events.lasell.edu/event/solsti...

Books Launching in December 2025 - Community of Literary Magazines and Presses Support independent literary publishers by picking a read from the list below, which features new books forthcoming in December 2025 from CLMP members.   Bite More Smash More Red Ogre Review |…

Doing your holiday gift search? Browse these new reads for the book lovers in your lives—coming out this month from more than 20 indie presses: www.clmp.org/news/books-l...

Amazing line-up of writers! And the live stream has terrific sound. See you in January in Newton, MA, or Zoom!

Life-Giving, Imaginative and Underfunded: Small Press Publishers in Crisis A recent letter co-written and signed by small press publishers has highlighted the significant pressures they face, threatening them with closure and potentially damaging the literary ecosystem ir…

Excellent round-up of small press leaders on the current crisis, interviewed by @lucymercer.bsky.social @twoseriousladies.bsky.social in @literaryhub.bsky.social, including my publisher @tiltedaxispress.bsky.social

lithub.com/life-giving-...

“When participants used ChatGPT to draft essays, brain scans revealed a 47% drop in neural connectivity across regions associated with memory, language, & critical reasoning.

Their brains worked less, but they felt just as engaged—a kind of metacognitive mirage.”🧪

New Digital Resource to Help Publishers, Journalists and Literary Agents Work Directly with Incarcerated Writers The Prison and Justice Writing Program at PEN America launches Incarcerated Writers Bureau, a digital resource that will help make professional and creative opportunities more accessible to writers in...

Today, PEN America introduces the Incarcerated Writers Bureau, a digital resource for professionals seeking to work with writers and journalists in US prisons. The website features a database of best practices, a submission hub, and writer profiles. Read more here: pen.org/press-releas...

How Is America Changing Under President Trump? We Want to Hear From You. A New York Times reporter wants to hear from you about changes you are seeing in your community since Mr. Trump took office.

The New York Times is interested in hearing how President Trump’s sweeping changes — for example, on immigration, education, health and the economy — are affecting communities all over the U.S.

Are these changes making your life in America better or worse? Tell us in the form below.

On the Infinite Lives of the Library One might say that a library’s most abundant resource—what it lends most freely—is not books and information but time. Time to think, breathe, be, and become. Last spring, in exchange for my servic…

Why a library’s “most abundant resource” isn’t books, but time.

Crumpled paper background with a photo of Darren Black in a torn paper frame with accompanying text: Darren Black, Recipient of the Doug & Betsy Sholl Poetry Fellowship, $1,500 award. The quote from Darren reads: “I am deeply honored to receive the 2026 Sholl Poetry Fellowship, a validation of dedication to the creative life. It is a distinction I will carry with joy, gratitude, and literary purpose throughout my Solstice MFA journey.”

Crumpled paper background with a photo of Millie Sullivan in a torn paper frame with accompanying text: Millie Sullivan, Recipient of the Dennis Lehane Fiction Fellowship, $1,500 award. The quote from Millie reads: “I am so very happy and honored to have been awarded this fellowship. It’s given me encouragement that my decision to follow my heart and pursue an MFA was the right choice, and I am hopeful that it will mark the beginning of a long career.”

Crumpled paper background with a photo of Patricia Achiro Olwoch in a torn paper frame with accompanying text: Patricia Achiro Olwoch, Recipient of the Michael Steinberg Nonfiction Fellowship, $1,500 award. The quote from Patricia reads: “Receiving the Michael Steinberg Fellowship is a profound affirmation of my voice. It allows me to continue writing the stories of exile and resilience that I feel called to bring into the world.”

Congrats to our spring 2026 fellowship winners! Incoming students Darren Black and Millie Sullivan and incoming certificate program student Patricia Achiro Olwoch each receive $1,500 awards.

Text reads: 2026 Lammy Awards Submission Deadline Extended: December 7. Background is lilac, a large Lambda Literary Awards golden seal is in the center, surrounded by brightly colored, flat icons of encouragement: Well done, good luck, and an hour glass and laptop icons in the same style.

💌Great news: Lammy Awards submission deadline extended! If it's been a busy fall, you've got an additional week to get your Lambda Literary Awards book submissions in! Submissions are now open until 11:59pm ET on December 7th. Submit here: lambdaliterary.org/awards/lammy... #LammyAwards #Lammys2026

Writers Helping Writers: Solstice MFA Scholarships Join me and make a gift to Writers Helping Writers: Solstice MFA Scholarships

We're more than 96% funded toward our goal! As of this post, we've raised more than $4,830, meaning we have less than $200 left until our target.

We're so close to $5,000 with six more weeks left in the campaign. Gift a $25, $50, or $100 gift today to bring us over the line.

"Like an ancient cyborg culling through the ruins of a post-apocalyptic planet (twitter, derogatory), Joyce Carol Oates recently fired her full-power death ray at aspiring trillionaire Elon Musk."