Hey poets, we have something for you too🖤
Plus TWO DEADLINES fast approaching! | Write or Die Weekly #75
We have two big deadlines fast approaching this week! Our FIRST EVER FICTION CONTEST closes on July 1— have you submitted yet?!
Cash prizes!
Nora Lange reads your work!
A fancy spot in Write or Die Mag!!
Also, Haley Swanson is hosting a super cool 6-week Speculative Nonfiction workshop, and the deadline to apply is June 25! And yes, you can bring speculation to nonfiction! She will show you how!
Details for both opportunities are below ↓
🌋 POETRY | Crafting Hold-Your-Breath Tension
with Kelly Grace Thomas | Saturday, June 21 | 1- 4 PM (EST)
Every great poem is a tug of war. Join award-winning poet Kelly Grace Thomas for a generative workshop that examines and explores the effectiveness and impact of tension in poetry.
In this three-hour workshop, we will use strategy and structure to examine opposition and juxtaposition. Expect to write poems full of balance and risk, charisma and charge. We also will read and discuss poems by Franny Choi, Chen Chen, Shira Erlichman, and more.
In this workshop, you will…
Explore the balance between contrast and emotional risk
Learn how to hook the reader through syntax, sound, and surprise
Use juxtaposition and opposing forces to create unforgettable moments
Leave with three new drafts that push and pull
*This workshop will be recorded for the convenience of those unable to attend live. The recorded session will be emailed to participants the following day.
🪐 6-Week Advanced Nonfiction Workshop: Speculative Nonfiction
with Haley Swanson | July 9 - August 13 | 8:00 - 10:00 PM (EST)
So much of our life experience, or rather how we reflect back on it, is the “what if.” What if we’d left earlier, spoken louder, moved here or there, known our parents before they had us, known our lovers before we loved them, known our adult selves as children? These are the scenarios our minds often flip through—however impossible they are in reality. How do we ethically bring these speculations into our nonfiction?
In this six-week speculative nonfiction workshop, we’ll explore how impossibilities and imagined alternatives can deepen personal narrative. Through readings from Jo Ann Beard, Carmen Maria Machado, and others, we’ll examine how writers speculate ethically and powerfully within memoir and essay. Writers will workshop one essay and leave with sharpened tools for weaving speculation into nonfiction. Applications are accepted on a rolling basis.
Deadline to apply is June 25! ↓
💌 Ready to Query Your Book? Let’s Make Sure You’re Set Up to Succeed.
Crafting the perfect query letter and finding the right agents can be overwhelming—but you don’t have to do it alone.
Whether you’re polishing your pitch or starting from scratch,
offers personalized query support to help you move forward with clarity and confidence.Here’s how we can work together:
Query Letter Edit Only
Get thoughtful margin notes to strengthen tone, structure, and clarity—so your letter stands out in a crowded inbox.Query Edit + 5 Handpicked Agents
Includes everything above, plus a curated list of 5 agents who are a strong match for your manuscript, with notes on why they’re a fit and how to tailor your pitch.Query Edit + 10 Handpicked Agents
Want more options? This includes 10 agents with in-depth reasoning, pitch suggestions, and personalized notes for each.
💌 Spots are limited—if you’re gearing up to query, let’s make sure your materials are working for you.
💕 You've Finished Writing It...Now What?!
with Najya Williams | Sunday, June 22 | 12 - 3 PM (EST)
You’ve finished writing your magnum opus! The words dance across your page and sparkle in your eyes – you’ve finally popped that bottle of bubbly in celebration of this huge accomplishment! Yet, once the excitement wears off, you’re left with an humbling question: where do I go from here?
This workshop is an interactive experience that will teach you the ins and outs of pitching vs. querying your project, strategies for contests, building an online presence, and solidifying your consumer base before your project actually hits the shelves. You will have the opportunity to draft your own materials using instructor provided templates and by the workshop’s end, have compiled a personalized toolkit built for your success and longevity.
💡 How to Never Run Out of Essay Ideas
with Kayla Kumari Upadhyaya | Tuesday, July 8 | 6- 9 PM (EST)
Have a biweekly newsletter that's losing steam? Itching to pitch but fresh out of exciting ideas? This workshop is designed to give you the tools to find inspiration for creative nonfiction even when you think the well is dry (spoiler alert: the well is never dry). Through readings of unconventional essays and prompts designed to help you pull inspiration from unexpected places, I'll give you the tools, confidence, and discipline to keep finding things to meaningfully write about from your everyday life, memories, and environment.
🇫🇷 The Urgency and Intimacy of French Autofiction
with Frances Badalamenti | Saturday, July 19 | 1- 4 PM (EST)
Through curated excerpts and essays shared in advance, we’ll explore the deeply personal, stylistically daring tradition of autofiction, with a special focus on French writers who pioneered and evolved the genre.
Together, we’ll examine the work of contemporary authors such as Marcel Proust, Roland Barthes, Marguerite Duras, Annie Ernaux, Édouard Louis, Hervé Guibert, Emmanuel Carrère, and Nina Bouraoui. Through group discussion, we’ll investigate how French autofiction blends personal narrative with broader cultural and political currents, and what sets it apart as a literary form.
Only TWO weeks left to submit! ↓
