Introduction

This special Emerging Writers issue features forty poets and ten fiction writers who have yet to publish a full-length book, nominated by authors who have. When we put out a call for submissions to the issue, our hope was that writers who had already established their literary careers would be inclined to help others get their start, and we weren’t disappointed. It was enlivening to see such a spirit of generosity out there, with hundreds of teachers, mentors, and colleagues willing to offer their enthusiastic support. Admittedly, however, this structure was not perfect. Namely, it excluded writers who lacked sponsors with published books, particularly those unconnected to M.F.A. programs. Yet our door is open to all comers during our regular reading period, and, in a less formal yet equally mindful way, this is what we try to do every year, all year—discover and promote new voices.

This issue was edited by the Ploughshares staff editors: the poetry by our then Associate Poetry Editor, Susan Conley, and me; the fiction by Don Lee, Maryanne O’Hara, and Gregg Rosenblum. As expected, we received nominations from a variety of writers, from famous elder statespersons to younger authors who themselves were just a short step away from those they nominated. And, as we’d hoped when we conceived of this issue, the nominators’ letters of endorsement (excerpts of which are available on our website at pshares.org) provided a fascinating glimpse of their tastes, their relation to the world of letters, and, above all, their passion for unheralded work. I hope this passion, while echoing the mission of Ploughshares’s founders, will provide both encouragement and solace to writers at any stage of their careers. The poems and stories brought together here offer up their own passions, of course, and a variety of pleasures as well, not the least of which is the promise of good things to come. Since the work in this issue represents just a fraction of the worthy, eminently publishable work we received, the promise seems to be a very great one.