The 15 Most-Read Pieces of 2025

Revisit (or discover) some of our readers’ favorite TWC contributions from last year!

1. Are the Big Guys Always the Bad Guys? (February)
   Courtney Maum debates the viral “The Big Five Publishers Have Killed Literary Fiction” Substack article. 
   
   
2. The Big Conversation: The New MFA? (August)
   Blake Kimzey of WritingWorkshops.com, Rebecca Makkai of StoryStudio Chicago, Julia Fierro of Sackett Street, and G. E. Patterson of the Loft Literary Center discuss accessible alternatives to graduate school in creative writing. 
   
   
3. The Big Conversation: AI and the Writing Classroom (October)
   Douglas Dechow, Lillian-Yvonne Bertram, Hannah Grieco, Anna Leahy, and Nora K. Rivera discuss generative AI’s effects on teaching, learning, and creative writing. 
   
   
4. The Big Conversation: Publishing in a Time of Unrest (June)
   Agents Rebecca Podos, Jim McCarthy, and Stefanie Molina-Santos join authors Tehlor Kay Mejia and Tamika Thompson to discuss how publishing has and has not responded to social and political upheaval.
    
5. The Big Conversation: Marketing Your Poetry Collection (December)
   Natasha Kane of Trio House Press, Justine Alfano of BOA Editions, and Karisma “Charlie” Tobin of TRP: The University Press of SHSU share insights they’ve gleaned about what puts poetry books in the hands of readers.
    
6. A Very Unlikely Author (August)
   Princess Joy L. Perry overcomes self-doubt and setbacks in the thirteen years between starting and publishing her debut novel.
    
7. Prompted: Kathy Fish, Melissa Fraterrigo, and Court Harler (August)
   Writers share favorite prompts in a variety of genres.
    
8. Studying the Effects of AI on Creativity (December)
   J.T. Bushnell considers the results of his university-funded study of what AI can and cannot do for creativity.
    
9. The Small Press Report Card (February)
   Wendy J. Fox examines results of the inaugural survey of small press authors.
    
10. A Field Guide to Genre Fiction (June)
    Jennifer Pullen offers a mini handbook for anyone wary of letting genre fiction into their classroom.
     
11. Trying to Write in a Terrible World (June)
    Susan Muaddi Darraj reconsiders her relationship to the page through the Palestinian value of sumud.
     
12. Narrative Medicine: Building Bridges Between Creative Writing and Health Care (December)
    Renée K. Nicholson explores new and evolving methods by writing programs, medical schools, and hospitals to link healing and storytelling.
     
13. Prompted: Melissa Llanes Brownlee, Katie Darby Mullins, and Corrie Lynn White (October)
    Writers share favorite prompts in fiction, creative nonfiction, and poetry.
     
14. Imagining the Truth: Speculative Nonfiction as a Way Through (October)
    Nicole Walker expands the boundaries of creative nonfiction when facts can’t tell the whole story.
     
15. The Workshop as a Beloved Community (October)
    Philip Metres upends the academic workshop model to create communal spaces of safety and trust. 
    
    

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