WWPH WRITES ISSUE 103
WWPH Writes 103…features our annual special issue of TINY POEMS…this year: AMERICAN HAIKU on celebration, resilience, and rebellion. These hemes resonated with many, and we received over a hundred submissions! In this issue and our next, you will discover a cross-section of thought-provoking American Haiku from across the DMV.
Our next big project, AMERICA’S FUTURE: poetry & prose in response to tomorrow, is coming soon! This is our most ambitious anthology ever–featuring 164 writers, including an opening from Congressman Jamie Raskin, a first poem by iconic master E. Ethelbert Miller in collaboration with Mihos Kinnas, and so many more literary responses to today’s anxiety and tomorrow’s hope. While the official pub date is September 9th, we’re having a ‘sneak preview’ end-of-summer WWPH Literary Salon on Tuesday, August 26th from 5-8 pm at the DEN downstairs in Politics & Prose (Connecticut Avenue). WWPH Literary Salons are free, three-hour gatherings that feature creative writing, readings, and discussions. Join us as we write/speak/discuss some truth to power. Please RSVP. See below for link.
On Wednesday, September 10th, from 7-8:30 pm, we are celebrating the official publication of AMERICA’S FUTURE with a VIRTUAL (ZOOM) reading under the Writer’s Center banner. Please join us. Link below. And stay tuned! We have events planned throughout the DMV through the fall, including at the Enoch Pratt Library in Baltimore on September 27th (yes, see below for details!)
Plus, we are busy reading manuscripts in poetry, poetry in translation, and fiction– a record number. Thank you to all who submitted! And we are loving the new books from our WWPH press-mates: Elizabeth Knapp, Holly Karapetkova, Steven Leyva, and Brandel France de Bravo. See below for shout-outs to their works from other notable small presses.
We hope to see you at one of our upcoming events. Read on!
Caroline Bock & Jona Colson
co-presidents/editors
Homage to the land
Ancestral
Abuelita’s ways
Luz Schweig is a poet raised in Mexico-Tenochtitlan, whose work participates in reviving Indigenous eco-spirituality and anthologizing marginalized voices, especially those of women. In 2024, Luz edited Somos Xicanas, an anthology that sparked a revival of resistance literature by Mexican American women.
Barbie Girl
Barbie doll hair,
Now cropped to the skull.
I’m no plaything.
Mickey Black is a Poet from Richmond, Virginia, who writes primarily about mental health.
No Kings Protest
Langston Boulevard, Arlington, VA, June 14, 2025
For 5.2 miles
we stretch out
this human chain of hope
Holly Karapetkova’s most recent book is Dear Empire from Gunpowder Press.
June 14, 2025
Tanks line up
I listen to poets read
My personal activism
Susan Bucci Mockler’s poetry has appeared in numerous literary journals. She lives in Virginia.
The sole king
I want to see here:
a drag king.
Jane Palmer (she/they) writes poetry, creative non-fiction, picture books, radical love notes, and academic journal articles. She has lived in the DC region since 2009.
Shaming sweet queer kids
“Act of grace”
Your halo, manging
Shaylynn Marks is an MFA student whose poetry and prose have been published internationally in various literary journals.
Libraries serve all
Search the variety of volumes
Celebrate your reflection
Lois Perch Villemaire is the author of My Eight Greats and enjoys writing poetry, loves reading books, and volunteers at the local library.
Aster, salvia, rose
dahlia,
fireworks for bees
Christina Daub is a Best of the Net and Pushcart Prize-nominated poet in Maryland. She cofounded The Plum Review. christinadaub.com
Pigeonholed voices
Squawk; whispers
Funnel through wormholes.
Piérre Ramon Thomas is a Black, gay poet who’s never written a haiku before until now. More from him will come.
A president drops
bombs, blind to the consequences
—let freedom ring
Gabby Gilliam is a writer, a teacher, and a mom who lives in the DC metro area with her son.
If you are craving more TINY POEMS, find our issues from last year featuring TINY ODES: here…and more here!
Stay tuned for more TINY POEMS: American Haiku in our next issue.
WWPH NEWS
WWPH LITERARY SALON: AMERICA’S FUTURE EDITION! Join us for a FREE 3-hour literary salon on Tuesday, August 26th from 5-8 pm in THE DEN at Politics & Prose. SPACE IS LIMITED (30 out of 60 SEATS ARE NOW RESERVED). Please RSVP HERE.
COMING SOON. THE FUTURE. Join us at our Virtual Launch on Wednesday, September 10th from 7-8:30 pm, ET. Hosted by the Writer’s Center. Free and Open to All. RSVP for the link here
Looking ahead, we are planning a number of readings and events to mark the publication AMERICA’S FUTURE: poetry & prose in response to tomorrow, including this event in Baltimore with our friends at the ENOCH PRATT Library on Saturday, September 27th at 3 pm. Please join us for what promises to be a bold literary look at America’s Future. FREE and open to all, but please RSVP. A reception with treats for all will follow the readings and discussion. Baltimore, and all, RSVP here.
A RE-CAP of all our upcoming FREE literary readings/events/happenings (and there’s more to come in October and November!)
We are thrilled when our WWPH press-mates have new books out from other noteworthy small presses… we highly recommend the following books (and you can click to order them directly!)
LOOK FOR MORE TINY POEMS: AMERICAN HAIKU IN OUR NEXT ISSUE!
WWPH WRITES is open for submissions! We now pay $25.00 for poetry (up to 3 poems) and prose (up to 1,000 words of fiction or creative nonfiction). We currently have only 2 open slots for prose remaining for 2025 (think November/December holidays, however warped!). Thank you for submitting! Free to submit. More details regarding all our calls for submissions on our Submittable page here.
Thank you for being part of the Washington Writers’ Publishing House’s community!