One of my favorite things to do each year is choosing the winner of the Writer's Digest Poetry Awards. In 2023, there were more than 900 entries covering a range of forms, subjects, issues, and themes. In the end, I selected Calloway Song's "Songs of Gideon" for the First Place Prize of $1,000, publication in Writer's Digest, and a 20-minute consultation with yours truly.
Calloway Song is a writer and poet from the Bay Area who is pursuing a BA in linguistics from Duke University. For me, his poem "Songs of Gideon" feels like an earnest attempt to wrestle with the paradox of trying to reason one's way to faith. The slashes help break up ideas and language and force me to consider each separately and together. As with many great poems, I leave it with more questions than answers.
Here's a quick Q&A with poet Calloway Song.
What are you currently up to?
My frequency of writing can likely be graphed as a wave function. Some days, I will write enough poems to fill up half a notebook (most of which I end up salvaging). Most other days, I just try to appreciate the things I write. Life is too short to put yourself down all the time.
How long have you been writing?
This story is from the July - August 2024 edition of Writer’s Digest.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber ? Sign In
This story is from the July - August 2024 edition of Writer’s Digest.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Sign In
Writing for a Warming World - Imagining the overwhelming, the ubiquitous, the world-shattering.
Climate change is one of those topics that can throw novelists—and everyone else—into a fearful and cowering silence. When the earth is losing its familiar shapes and consolations, changing drastically and in unpredictable ways beneath our feet, how can we summon our creative resources to engage in the imaginative world-building required to write a novel that takes on these threats in compelling ways? And how to avoid writing fiction that addresses irreversible climate change without letting our prose get too preachy, overly prescriptive, saturated with despair?
Kids' Author Meg Medina Inspires Readers
WD chats with the National Ambassador of Young People’s Literature.
The Horrors of Grief
Whether hot off the presses or on the shelves for years, a good book is worth talking about.
The Mystery of Growing Up
New York Times-bestselling author Jasmine Warga tackles a new genre with her signature blend of empathy for her readers, agency for her characters, and the belief that art is the great connector.
Education
Even if it's not your thing, you're probably familiar with the term dark academia.
A Do-Over Romance
Karin Patton, the first-place winner of the 24th Annual Writer's Digest Short Short Story Awards, shares a funny story about secondchance love and a brief Q&A.
Everyday Wonder
How to mine awe from the mundane
From Ordinary to Extraordinary
Unveil the hidden beauty in the facts and transform your nonfiction with the power of wonder.
Childhood: Our Touchstone for Wonder
How to get in touch with Little You and create big new work for today.
Agent Roundup
22 agents share details, about what kind of writing will pique their interest and offer tips for querying writers...
