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Dr. Maya C. Popa

@mayacpopa

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Editor @publisherswkly
IF YOU LOVE THAT LADY @w.w.norton
Founder @consciouswriters

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In 2021, I came across a letter written by John Miller, a pastor, to Sally McDowell, ex-wife of the former governor of Baltimore. The letter—charming, intimate, wry—contained an itemized list of things he was certain of: #1—that he loved her. Their courtship was full of idiosyncratic allusions and the kind of genuine vulnerability we seek but seem, in an age of performance and multiplying distances, unable to sustain with each other.

McDowell and Miller exchanged hundreds of letters in the five years leading up to the American Civil War. The pace of these exchanges reminded me that desire needs silence, room for the mind to risk itself in imagination. It is *the* act of the imagination that our lives are built upon. Reading their correspondence, I witnessed the slow forming of a transformative and lifelong bond in an America on the brink of implosion. I too am—we all are—writing in an America on the precipice of self-actualization or demise.

IF YOU LOVE THAT LADY is my third book, and it’s an ode to every writer’s invention of love and of the beloved. It’s also about the sometimes-wrong invention of this country, and how we quietly safeguard ourselves against it and stay human. I’m so grateful to @jillbialosky at @w.w.norton and Colette Bryce @picadorbooks for believing in this book, and to the generous words of its earliest readers, @ocean_vuong and @robgmacfarlane. by @mayacpopa

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a year ago

Very grateful to have a poem from IF YOU LOVE THAT LADY in this week’s issue of @newyorkermag. 🤍 taken in New York, New York by @mayacpopa

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a year ago

A total dream to discuss one of my favorite poems by @brendashaughnes (and one of my own poems from a past issue) with @thehungryear for @newyorkermag.

Thank you to @jonlemay and anyone who listens to the episode. Grateful to talk about poems and poets all day, every day. 🤍 by @mayacpopa

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7 months ago

Nashville, you were 💙.

Thank you, Jack — I think we converted any skeptics and there are more poets today than there were on Thursday. Loved reading and talking with you about our craft. Your words and your candor are a gift (pls record an audiobook of Richard III so I can hear that speech again). x

@chet_weise, Patrick, and everyone at @thirdmanrecords and @thirdmanpressing — thank you for making this so memorable, so smooth, so fun and well-organized from start to finish. I already miss the yellow rooms and the bison.

If you chatted with me after the event, please know how much I loved it. The energy was something else—you could feel how much everyone loves this art, and how much we all admire what Jack has done throughout his extraordinary career. Thank you. 🙏🏻🤍

#jackwhite taken in The Blue Room at Third Man Records by @mayacpopa

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2 days ago

Jack White and Maya C. Popa: Poems and Conversation (Presented by Southern Festival of Books and Third Man Books)

Join us October 15 @theblueroomnashville for an evening of poetry, conversation, and community with Jack White and special guest poet Maya C. Popa. The poets will be reading their poems, followed by an in-conversation between the two writers, and book signing.

Doors: 7:00 PM
Reading begins promptly at 7:30 PM
Tickets: thirdmanrecords.com or link in bio
Limited capacity

Your ticket includes:
• Admission to the event
• A donation to @sofestofbooks
• A copy of White’s most recent book (hardcover)- Jack White Collected Lyrics and Selected Writing
• White will sign books following the reading
.
Please note: White will only be signing copies of Jack White Collected Lyrics and Selected Writing. Please do not bring posters, memorabilia, records, or other items for signing. Also, Maya C, Popa will have her books available for purchase and will be signing after the event.

About the poets:

@officialjackwhite is the author of Jack White Collected Lyrics and Selected Writing (Third Man Books, 2026), The White Stripes Complete Lyrics (Third Man Books, 2023) and the children’s book We’re Going to be Friends (Third Man Books, 2017). He is also a twelve-time Grammy-winning master musician, producer, actor, and publisher. He is best known for his work in the bands The White Stripes, The Raconteurs, The Dead Weather, and as a solo artist.

@mayacpopa is the author of three poetry collections: If You Love That Lady (W. W. Norton, 2026), Wound Is the Origin of Wonder (W. W. Norton, 2022), named one of The Guardian’s best poetry books, and American Faith (Sarabande, 2019), winner of the North American Book Prize. Her writing has appeared in The New Yorker, The Atlantic, The Paris Review, and Poetry. She has created commissioned works for the United Nations and Van Cleef & Arpels, among other organizations. She is the Poetry Editor of Publishers Weekly and founder of Conscious Writers Collective, an international literary community serving more than 400 writers.
#jackwhite #mayacpopa #southernfestivalofbooks taken in The Blue Room at Third Man Records by @mayacpopa

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20 days ago

It’s Taco Tuesday in Copenhagen AND my third book of poems is out today. ✌🏼

I’m a full time hype person for poetry, but every few years, I have to shop my own wares. I’m full of gratitude for the friends who make this mostly tolerable; the team at @w.w.norton (@jillbialosky, @julianansorge, @elliebrow.n — infinite thanks); my digital phantom first reader and dearest Declan Ryan, as well as Matthew Hollis and @emdeedoo.

Enormous gratitude to @ocean_vuong, @robgmacfarlane, @gabbat, and @elizabeth_gilbert_writer for their beautiful words on the book, and for their writing and friendship.

To @anne.tate.pearce, @emroxx, @krodigas — thank you for keeping me organized/full of ice cream.

To the writers who inspire me daily in @consciouswriters—you can’t imagine how grateful I am to learn alongside you.

For my family, the center that holds. ❤️

If you buy this book, thank you. If you write your own books, thank you.

Now back to 🌮 taken in Copenhagen, Denmark by @mayacpopa

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3 months ago

Everyone loves giving writing advice. “Just write,” they say. “Read more,” they say. But what if it doesn’t work? And what does?

@mayacpopa, poet and founder of @consciouswriters, shares 3 things over a decade of teaching has taught her about how writers actually improve →

When I first started teaching creative writing, I ended the semester with the usual placid advice: if you want to write, read.

Today, after working with hundreds of writers as a teacher, editor, and founder of Conscious Writers Collective (CWC), I concede that I no longer think that advice is sufficient.

For writers pursuing MFAs and seeking publication, advising them to “read” feels lazy when I know a student’s “what now?” is collapsing two questions: How do I get better at this? How do I get published? Reading passively won’t bring about the transformation most are after.

You need to figure out what makes development possible for you. How will you keep writing and refining your writing after the one-off workshop, five years after the degree, or 30 years into your practice?

It matters how you read if the goal is to develop your craft. Trying something once is not the same as making that knowledge available to you as a kind of muscle memory when you need it. It takes slowing down to metabolize, then put into practice, what you are learning. We’ve talked about this at length in @consciouswriters Office Hours.

Our strength can become our limitation. A beginning writer’s weaknesses are easy to see and address. Growth often happens by default at first, and less so as time goes on.

It gets harder to improve. I often describe it as turning a screw: the more tightly it’s already wedged in, the greater the resistance. So writers cultivate a kind of shorthand of rhythms, gestures, and ways of making meaning that become their signature. But there’s little growth in repetition.

This is one reason @consciouswriters exposes writers to multiple instructor perspectives. The best literary community isn’t a room where everyone shares the same taste—that would risk becoming an aesthetic echo chamber. The goal is to learn to trust your own compass.

I was adamant about wanting to build a space where wr by @mayacpopa

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17 days ago

McNally, BKBF, U of H, Gulf Coast, Decatur Book Fest. A blessedly packed week of poetry.

Got to hear @ohtheinertia and @poemsandcake and @asgharthegrouch read for the first time — my goodness. If any one of these wonders is reading near you, drop what you’re doing to be in the audience. Seriously. Got to celebrate @poet.erin.belieu’s birthday. Got to eat the best three-chocolate chip cookie of my life (@guardandgracehouston).

Reading with @phillipbw_author’s next week in NYC. His latest is 🔥, one of my favorite books published this year. Hope to see you. 🤍 by @mayacpopa

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15 days ago

In episode 206 of the London Writers’ Salon Podcast we chat to poet Maya C. Popa on writing with wonder, the ruthless craft of revision, and building a sustainable life in poetry.

Here she chats to Lindsey about the process of drafting poetry and the importance of knowing that you don’t have to “complete” a poem.

Comment below for the link to the full episode.

Matt & Parul ❤️ by @mayacpopa

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a month ago

In episode 206 of the London Writers’ Salon Podcast we chat to poet Maya C. Popa on writing with wonder, the ruthless craft of revision, and building a sustainable life in poetry.

Here she chats to Lindsey about not beating ourselves up over our writing schedules.

Comment below for the link to the full episode.

Matt & Parul ❤️ by @mayacpopa

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18 days ago

73(ish) Questions: Poet Edition.

We have questions, and Maya C. Popa delivers some excellent answers! Perhaps you can ask her more at the Brooklyn Book Festival on September 27th.

Find the full list of #BKBF2026 authors at the link in our bio 🔗 by @mayacpopa

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3 months ago

I've long admired the @divedapper_poetry interview series and am so grateful to have spent a leisurely hour with the wonderful @gnatalielouise. by @mayacpopa

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a month ago