Congratulations to Jason Prokowiew. His book War Boys: A Father and Son Memoir will be published in July by Trio House Press. Read an interview with him on the Straw Dog Writers Guild website. War Boys braids his personal story of growing up queer with an abusive father, and his research into his father's history as a survivor of the Nazi invasion of Belarus in 1941.

Congratulations to Deborah Majors. Her poem "Just What Do You Do All Day While I'm at Work" was chosen by former US Poet Laureate Ted Kooser as the winner of the 2026 Bill Hickok Award for Humor Poetry, sponsored by I-70 Review. The most recent submission period for this $1,000 prize was January 1-February 28.

Congratulations to Stephen Billias. His novel The Zen Time Traveler: A Pilgrim's Journey Through the Koans, a work of spiritual speculative fiction, will be published in June by Discovery Publishers. Pre-order at Barnes & Noble here. The book launch is scheduled for Sunday, July 12, at 2:00 pm at the Engaged Mindfulness Institute, 595B River Road, Deerfield, MA. Visit his website to learn more.

Congratulations to Noah Berlatsky. His poetry chapbook Someone Else was published by LJMcD Communications and is available as a free digital download.

Congratulations to Lesléa Newman. Her picture book Something Sweet: A Sitting Shiva Story is now out from Charlesbridge, with illustrations by Sarita Rich. In this story, a child learns about Jewish mourning customs by helping her friend grieve for his grandfather. In addition, Lesléa's picture book Rainbow Cookies was published by Levine/Querido, with illustrations by Z.B. Asterplume. A bakery of holiday-themed sweets celebrates Pride Month, but not everyone in the community is supportive.

Congratulations to Ranjith Sivaraman. His poetry collection An Earth Full of Gratitude was published by Wipf & Stock. Visit his website to learn more about his work.

Recent Publications

Ana M. Mahomar's poems "Palestine Sings" and "I woke up dreaming" were published in Toyon Multilingual Literary Magazine, an abolitionist and anti-colonial literary arts journal edited by students at Cal Poly Humbolt.

Louisa Prince's flash fiction "The Pearl Choker" was published in Sky Island Journal, Issue #35 (Spring 2026).

Rosetta Dorsa's poem "Rush Hour in NYC" was published in Superpresent Magazine (Spring 2026). The theme of this issue was "Beginnings".

Patricia Lee Lewis will be the featured reader at WOW (Westfield on Weekends) Writers Out Loud Guest Author Series on Thursday, May 21, at 7:00 pm at the WOW Center, 105 Elm Street, Westfield, MA. She will be reading from Thorns of the Mesquite (Levellers Press, 2025), her historical novel about a rancher's wife taking a stand against the Klan in 1930s Texas. Profits from the book sales will be donated to the ACLU and the domestic violence shelter Safe Passage. Patricia's work will also be featured in the event "Storytelling as Healing", sponsored by Safe Passage's Survivor Anthology Project, on Thursday, May 28 from 6:00-8:00 pm at the Northampton Center for the Arts, 33 Hawley Street, Northampton, MA. Reserve your free ticket here.

Eileen P. Kennedy will launch her poetry collection Dread and Splendor: Paintings and Poems for a New Earth (Shanti Arts, 2026) at a reading on Sunday, June 28, at 2:00 pm at Cherry Hill Cohousing, 120 Pulpit Hill Road, Amherst, MA. The collection is an ekphrastic response to works by Norwegian artist Irene Christensen, who will also give a talk at the event. A poem in this collection, "Migration", was a past winner in our Tom Howard/Margaret Reid Poetry Contest. Jane McPhetres Johnson, a Cohousing resident, will read from her book Maven Reaches Mars. To attend online, email EileenPKennedy@yahoo.com for the Zoom link.

Michael Bondhus's poem "Body of Christ" was published in South Carolina Review. His poem "My Penis as a Bullet" was published in New York Quarterly.

Robert L. Giron was interviewed by Jim Masters at Close Up Radio about his work as editor of Gival Press and the literary journal ArLiJo. Listen to the two-part podcast here and here.