by Natalia Ortiz Lopez Elisa del Valle walked into town with clean brown shoes and splintered feet. She came from a region in South America whose name English speakers couldn’t spell or pronounce correctly, much to her relief. She liked that nobody could remind her of home. Leaving had meant…
Word for Word Welcomes Bestselling Author Courtney Milan On Wednesday, April 15, 2026, the Word for Word online literary series welcomed bestselling writer Courtney Milan. Milan began her career with a starred review in Publishers Weekly and has never looked back. A self-publishing pioneer, she has gone on to become…
We’re back with Part II of last month’s Word for Word Publishing Panel, featuring industry experts Jane Friedman and Laura Stanfill. You can read Part I here. Jane Friedman needs no introduction to aspiring writers. Her book “The Business of Becoming a Writer” is used as a class text in…
A highlight of each year’s Word for Word literary series is the publishing panel, in which we leading voices in the publishing industry come to speak about the latest trends and information that writers need to know. This year the panel took place on Wednesday, March 18, and featured two…
On Wednesday, February 18, 2026, the Word for Word Literary Series welcomed award-winning writer Malinda Lo! Lo is the New York Times bestselling author of seven novels, including, most recently, A Scatter of Light. Her novel Last Night at the Telegraph Club won the National Book Award, the Stonewall Book Award, the Asian/Pacific…
Michelle Shreeve ’15G ’16G was a child when she lost her mother, and resources were limited for young families coping with the death of a parent. This experience fueled her desire to help others deal with similar grief, and through her love of writing, she addressed what hadn’t been available when…
On Wednesday, January 14, 2026, the Word for Word Reading Series at Southern New Hampshire University (SNHU) featured the winners of the Penmen Review’s eleventh annual Fall Fiction Contest. This year’s contest had more than 900 submissions, from which five winners were chosen: First place, “How to Eat a Pomegranate,”…
The 11th annual Southern New Hampshire University (SNHU) Fall Fiction Contest brought writers from across the country together for a chance to win a scholarship to SNHU and publication in The Penmen Review. After receiving hundreds of submissions, a panel of creative writing experts considered several factors during their review,…
On Wednesday, May 14, the Word for Word Literary Series welcomed literary agents Joshua Bilmes and Lucienne Diver for a wide-ranging discussion about literary agents and their role in the publishing industry. Joshua Bilmes is the president and founder of JABberwocky Literary Agency, which celebrated its 30th anniversary in 2024….
On Wednesday, April 23, the Word for Word Literary Series welcomed award-winning author Tananarive Due. A leading voice in Black speculative fiction, Due has won an American Book Award, an NAACP Image Award, and a British Fantasy Award. Her books include The Reformatory (winner of a Los Angeles Times Book…
On Wednesday, February 19, the Word for Word Literary Series welcomed award-winning author Jeffrey Ford. He is the author of the novels The Physiognomy, Memoranda, The Beyond, The Portrait of Mrs. Charbuque, The Girl in the Glass, The Cosmology of the Wider World, The Shadow Year, The Twilight Pariah, Ahab’s…