Erika Dreifus

Three quick things.

1. I love to receive good news from readers of my newsletter and/or “markets & jobs” blog posts anytime, but I’ll be frank: I’m appreciate those “success stories” even more right now. And despite all of the otherwise sad and scary stuff that’s out there, there’s been a veritable deluge of good reports coming in (two more just yesterday!). I think that we can all use a healthy dose of happiness, so as I’ve begun working on the next (May) newsletter, I’ve decided to devote the entire feature-article space there to sharing those accounts; if your writing practice has reached some success/publication/award with a little lead from our resources, please do let me know!

2. I’ve also been moved this past week by a lot of wonderful feedback about my own work. Some people, who shall remain nameless (but are appreciated!) have taken the time to send me some truly beautiful messages about Birthright: Poems (and about my recent online reading, a recording of which is now available). And then there’s Yi Shun Lai’s lovely post “Six Poets I Love Beyond Their Poetry.” Thank you, all!

3. At this point, I’m tempted to say, “Dayenu.” All of the aforementioned is sufficiently inspiring, right? But between Passover, National Poetry Month, and—as odd as it may seem—some additional pandemic-prompted attention to books, Birthright has been receiving a lot more ink/bandwidth lately. And so, I’ve updated and reorganized relevant coverage for anyone besides my mom (not that you aren’t invited to look over the page, too, Mom, but you’ve managed to stay pretty well-informed all along the way!) who may be interested in it.