I spent a little time with the latest Southern Indiana Review and came away especially glad to have read Jim Whiteside’s “Pin Me.” It’s a good reminder that journals often give you one poem you weren’t expecting to meet that day. Ask your local library to subscribe: buff.ly/Kg514bR

You are not here, you are not here in Birmingham, where they keep your name, not in Elmwood's famous plots or the monuments of bronze or steel . . . from "Letter Already Broadcast into Space" by Jake Adam York buff.ly/veRzEyH

You can get there from here, though there’s no going home. Everywhere you go will be somewhere you’ve never been. Try this: head south on Mississippi 49, one— by—one mile markers ticking off another minute of your life . . from "Theories of Time and Space" by Natasha Trethewey buff.ly/m8navtN

Greek olives in oil, fine beer, the respect of colleagues, the rapt attention of an audience, pressed white shirts, just one last-second victory, sympathy, buttons made to resemble pearls . . . from "Among the Things He Does Not Deserve" by Dan Albergotti buff.ly/02RNnXB

Just finished the Summer 2026 issue of Nimrod, and David James Poissant’s “Dénouement” is still with me. That’s one of the pleasures of a strong literary journal issue: you close it, but one story keeps unfolding afterward. Ask your local library to subscribe to Nimrod: buff.ly/ZR3V9of

Just finished Rattle Issue 92, and Matthew Thorburn’s “Only Me” is still knocking around in my head. That’s one of the pleasures of a strong issue: you close it, but it doesn’t quite close with you. Ask your local library to subscribe to Rattle so you can read it too: buff.ly/3qHzeUi #Rattle

29th 1st Day of Workshop w/ this guy #UNCG #CreativeWritng #MFAGreensboro #Poets

ICYMI: "Gizzards & Hearts," the debut short story collection by N.C. author Matthew Fiander is now available for pre-order from ELJ Editions. buff.ly/ai10FJr In Gizzards & Hearts, people look for any escape as their world closes in around them.

ICYMI: "Another Man," the award-winning collection by UNCG Creative Writing alum Jim Whiteside, is now available for pre-order from the University of Wisconsin Press buff.ly/6jHiyPB

I’ve just finished AGNI 103, and it has that great feeling of an issue you can enter from several directions and leave with several new obsessions. Exactly the kind of literary magazine reading that expands the day. Read the latest issue: buff.ly/I2VfKWb

Happy Publication Day to my pal George Singleton! George’s new story collection, Wounded Boarders, is out now from Dzanc Books. Kirkus Reviews calls George “a Southern comic master in top form.” Read more / order here: buff.ly/51H3GnA

Wrapped up reading Pembroke Magazine and Matt Barrett’s “Men in White Shirts” has that quiet, unfolding tension that stays with you after you’ve moved on from the page. You might nudge your local library to add Pembroke Magazine to its subscriptions. buff.ly/rCChTQP

I just spent some time with the latest print work from Puerto del Sol, and Tara Bray’s “Birds: A Catalog” is still hovering around in my head. The best literary journals make room for that kind of afterimage. Read the latest issue: buff.ly/3CBoddt

ICYMI: "Guilt Ledger," the prize-winning collection by North Carolina poet Ross White is now available for pre-order from Blair. buff.ly/BHzuPSi

Spent some time with New England Review Vol. 47, No. 2, and Jennie Malboeuf’s “The Bible Isn't Kind to Dogs” felt like one of those pieces that quietly unsettles you long after you’ve set it down. Ask your local library to carry New England Review so you can read it too: buff.ly/WaWYdX3

Just finished the current issue of Southern Humanities Review, and Adam Vines’s “Residency:Still Life: Two Sunflowers” is lingering with me. I love when a journal issue leaves one poem lit up in the mind afterward. Ask your local library to subscribe to Southern Humanities Review.: buff.ly/AFHKrxh

Happy Publication Day to my friend Jen Julian! Jen’s novel The Winter Folk is out now from Hachette Book Group. Read more / order here: buff.ly/DKym75e

I’ve just finished the Spring 2026 issue of The Southern Review, and Jennie Malboeuf’s “If Only” is the poem I keep returning to. A good issue has a way of sending you back into individual pieces again and again. Ask your local library to subscribe to The Southern Review: buff.ly/t1edAT2

Just finished Third Coast Issue 55/56, and I’m reminded how much I love a journal issue that feels carefully gathered—work speaking across genres, moods, and obsessions. Read the latest issue: buff.ly/50FRlbg And ask your local library to subscribe to Third Coast.

ICYMI: "Another Man," the award-winning collection by UNCG Creative Writing alum Jim Whiteside, is now available for pre-order from the University of Wisconsin Press buff.ly/6jHiyPB

Closed out the morning with Volume 67, Issue 2 of The Massachusetts Review, and Jaimee Hills’ poem “On Mistaking Flowers for Active Shooters” is still lingering in a way that resists easy summary—unsettling, precise, and hard to shake. Worth asking your local library to subscribe buff.ly/H4ZsE7m

Just finished reading the latest from The Journal, and I’m carrying that good lit-mag feeling: a little unsettled, a little sharpened, and grateful for the editors putting these voices in conversation. Ask your local library to subscribe: buff.ly/Fw4lqYa

ICYMI: "Gizzards & Hearts," the debut short story collection by N.C. author Matthew Fiander is now available for pre-order from ELJ Editions. buff.ly/ai10FJr In Gizzards & Hearts, people look for any escape as their world closes in around them.

we are not that kind of country. We are sanctuary for the hungry, the homeless, the huddled, held together by an idea our immigrant fathers believed in. Rendered, it meant independence. from "There Are No Kings in America" by Aileen Cassinetto buff.ly/QTcvd7K

Allegiance to the flag is a start. A promise. Begin there, says the teacher. Come, and we’ll climb the Hill at sunup, Daring, not disruptive. Dusk metes out mornings for Everyone who makes room For freedom to mold another day . . . from "Anthem for America" by Varsha Saraiya-Shah buff.ly/IdjdIRT

America, I sing back. Sing back what sung you in. Sing back the moment you cherished breath. Sing you home into yourself and back to reason. from "America, I Sing Back" by Allison Adelle Hedge Coke buff.ly/l64hIsF

When sleepless, it’s helpful to meditate on mottoes of the states. South Carolina, “While I breathe I hope.” Perhaps this could be the new flag on the empty flagpole. Or “I Direct” from Maine—why? from "United" by Naiomi Shihab Nye buff.ly/QxvkHaI

As I lifted the kettle from the hob, I heard the sound of drums from far away. I paused a moment. Then that hot water got heavy. But I listened while I worked: a steady rhythm, now and then a fife. from "The Continental Army" by Marilyn Nelson buff.ly/a8BfxI7

Do you remember our earnestness our sincerity in first grade when we learned to sing America The Beautiful along with the Star-Spangled Banner and say the Pledge of Allegiance to America from "Ghazal: America the Beautiful" by Alicia Ostriker buff.ly/RLIAdmj

There were packs of dogs to deal with and broomsticks whacking rubber balls and everyone stopping for aeroplanes and chasing fire engines and standing around where sidewalks on hills turned almost level . . . from "Independence Day" by Gerald Stern buff.ly/JjKSQE1