Two Exciting Announcements
Dear Reader,
At Wiseblood Books, our commitment to fostering great literature takes many forms—from bringing forgotten works back into print to publishing the finest contemporary work from new and seasoned authors. Our Writer-in-Residence program and open submission periods are two of the ways in which we nurture and bring into being contemporary literature that seeks to endure.
Wiseblood Writer-in-Residence Program
Each year (minus one) since 2020, Wiseblood Books has supported a writer who may otherwise not have the time and the means to bring a manuscript to completion through our Wiseblood Writer-in-Residence Program. We send that writer a small library of books on craft and literary works that correspond well with his or her vision. We pay for some combination of room and board for a Residency of approximately ten days. We pair that writer with a successfully published author to cultivate an important project that would not see fruition without encouraging, exacting mentorship. If the final manuscript reaches its fullness, Wiseblood offers a book publication contract. In past years, this program has led to two brilliant and well-received novels: Katy Carl’s As Earth Without Water and Sally Thomas’s Works of Mercy; a stellar collection of short stories from Australian-American author Lucas Smith, Spare Us Yet; and, in September, we’ll release the third novelistic fruit of the Writer-in-Residence program, Trevor Cribben Merrill’s The Comforts of Exile.
Some writers do not, for various reasons, have the opportunity to complete a Master of Art program or to perfect a manuscript without outside assistance, and yet their evident talent just begs to be developed. Wiseblood’s founder and Editor-in-Chief Joshua Hren, who subsequently co-founded the MFA at the University of St. Thomas, first conceived of our Writer-in-Residence Program as a remedy for gifted writers seeking immersion in the art and craft of fiction. Choosing our Writer-in-Residence is always a challenge because there are many gifted writers out there, but when a promising manuscript lands on our desks from a writer we know has limited opportunities to complete it, we want to find ways to help him or her. Sometimes that comes as feedback from one of our reviewers, developmental editing, or the opportunity to be the Wiseblood Writer-in-Residence. Always these residencies are funded by donors who see the goods at work and rise to the occasion to make them multiply.
This year, we’ve chosen Steven Knepper as our Wiseblood Writer-in-Residence–our first poet after a run of fiction writers As a husband, father of three, full-time professor at Virginia Military Institute, associate editor for the Robert Frost Review and founding editor of New Verse Review: A Journal of Lyric and Narrative Poetry, most of Steve’s spare hours are accounted for. But even with all the demands on his time, his work as a poet and a critic is impressive. Our Deputy Editor Mary Finnegan read an early draft of Steve’s manuscript and knew that, once completed, it would be a perfect fit for Wiseblood Books. Katie Hartsock had this to say about Steve’s work:
“If you are looking for contemporary blank verse that is exquisitely crafted and full of heart’s complexities, a sense of place, and compelling portraits, look no further than Steve’s poetry.”
In the coming months, Steve will be given time to focus exclusively on his manuscript with the goal of publication. We know that Steve’s friends and fans will be cheering him on, anxious to read the final product.
Open Submissions for Fiction
Hear ye, hear ye: Wiseblood will hold an open submission period for full-length fiction manuscripts from September 21-October 16, 2026. Submission guidelines are available HERE. Please read them closely as any submission that does not follow these guidelines will not be read.
Wiseblood Books fosters works of fiction, poetry, and philosophy that render truths with what Flannery O’Connor called an unyielding “realism of distances.” Such works find redemption in uncanny places and people; wrestle us from the tyranny of boredom; mock the pretensions of respectability; engage the hidden mysteries of the human heart, be they sources of either violence or courage; articulate faith and doubt in their incarnate complexity; dare an unflinching gaze at human beings as “political animals”; and suffer without forfeiting hope. We wish to cultivate a contemplative realism, so rare in our national literary culture, so necessary if our depth perception is to be restored.
Help Us to Bring Beautiful Books into the World
Do you love what Wiseblood is about? Your almsgiving has many claims and many worthy endeavors need funding as the mighty forces of modernity attempt to overshadow small ventures like Wiseblood Books. Every dollar you donate to Wiseblood—from a “Widow’s Mite” to a “Seraphim Donation”—goes towards the making of beautiful and praiseworthy books. Giving to Wiseblood means that you participate in this work with us: you help to increase the number of reviewers whose eyes alight on our latest titles; you help us to pay our book designers and typesetters, our proofreaders and copy editors; and you contribute to the launch of new authors and the rediscovery of a lost literary inheritance. Without your alms we would cease to exist–and we are ineffably grateful for the support you have shown us. As we continue the work of bringing you worthy books, we hope you will consider giving a tax-deductible donation today.
As always, thanks for reading,
The Editors at Wiseblood Books
P.S.
While every donation helps, when you send a check to us, the credit card processing companies cannot take a cut. This means that every dollar you send goes to Wiseblood. Checks can be made out to Wiseblood Books and mailed directly to us at: P.O. Box 870 Menomonee Falls, WI 53052.
As always, thanks for reading,
The Editors at Wiseblood Books
This is remarkable and such a perfect choice!
We are really thrilled!