Blackbird Weekly Recommendation

“Ghost Letter” by Emily Franklin

each new growth a reminder of hardy old ones
and that underneath lives another ghost letter only
I cannot read the writing or hear the voice

blackbird.vcu.edu/v21n1/poetry/f…

We’ve got a weekly Blackbird writing prompt for you! Tag us in your responses.

Today’s prompt:

Write about a ring.

Blackbird Weekly Recommendation

“The Recipe For Making Blood” by Bruce Kilstein

With the monitors and television off, there was nothing but the sound of his own breathing and the hiss of the ventilator as oxygen snaked through tubes.

blackbird.vcu.edu/v21n1/fiction/…

We’ve got a weekly Blackbird writing prompt for you! Tag us in your responses.

Today’s prompt:

Write about the funniest joke you have ever heard.

Blackbird Weekly Recommendation

“Antediluvian” by Emilia Phillips

As my husband cut
trees, I’d wait
for their leaves
quartzed
with condensation.

blackbird.vcu.edu/v21n1/poetry/p…

We’ve got a weekly Blackbird writing prompt for you! Tag us in your responses.

Today’s prompt:

Write about something lost.

Blackbird Weekly Recommendation

“Ulcerations” by Catharina Coenen

He still carries the photographs Lotte sent that year, the faces stenciled into his brain: Elfriede’s topknot and pinched cheeks, Anna’s round chin.

blackbird.vcu.edu/v21n1/nonficti…

We’ve got a weekly Blackbird writing prompt for you! Tag us in your responses.

Today’s prompt:

Write about things that bring you from one place to another—doors, paths, cars, etc.

Thanks, Blackbird, for the Best of the Net nomination. Glad to share space with so many beloved superstar writers, including Noah Arhm Choi ! ⭐️⭐️⭐️

Thank you Blackbird Journal for allowing me to share my creative nonfiction - and for giving me one heck of a present on my birthday! Congrats to all the other nominees!

Announcing our nominations for the Best of the Net Anthology! You can find these works in our latest two issues. Best of luck to all of the nominated writers!

Blackbird Weekly Recommendation

“People Like Us” by Patricia García Luján

The intimacy feels forced. I slip my hand away from hers and take a sip from my glass.

I’m conscious of the arrangement I’d be entering.

blackbird.vcu.edu/v21n1/fiction/…

Congratulations to former Blackbird contributors Roger Reeves and Jenny Xie, whose books have been longlisted for the 2022 National Book Award in poetry.

We’ve got a weekly Blackbird writing prompt for you! Tag us in your responses.

Today’s prompt:

Write about someone who was like a parent to you.

Blackbird Weekly Recommendation

“Trace” by Kathy Fagan

We were ashamed of each other
in ways only intimates can be.
They say you cannot love another
until you love yourself,
but I’m not sure that’s true.

blackbird.vcu.edu/v21n1/poetry/f…

We’ve got a weekly Blackbird writing prompt for you! Tag us in your responses.

Today’s prompt:

Write about a situation in your past that you never thought you would escape from.

Blackbird Weekly Recommendation

'Elegy' by Katharine Coles

Like all the swells you don’t notice
Because they keep coming, that’s

What the sea looks like. Who understood
Beauty’s force as she did, for whom

Beauty was never a given?

blackbird.vcu.edu/v21n1/poetry/c…

Blackbird News

Blackbird contributor Bruce Bond has won the Richard Snyder Memorial Prize for his book Vault, which is set to be published by Ashland Poetry Press next year.