Rose O'Neill Literary House @ Washington College

TODAY at 6pm ET, the Lit House sponsors a visit by @johnjharwood.bsky.social to Washington College to deliver the Richard L. Harwood Lecture in American Journalism. Harwood's talk will center on "truth in unsettling times." A livestream is available here: www.youtube.com/live/BlBI3TX...

We're pleased to announce our first Light of Day Intern for spring 2026 is Olivia Lee, who'll be interning this semester with Alice James Books! Read on for more about Olivia and about Alice James @alicejamesbooks.bsky.social

Learn more about Jessica Kelso '27 and her Light of Day Internship experience with the American Literary Translators Association.
For more information about the Light of Day program, visit www.washcoll.edu/lightofday

Wishing everyone a very merry & literary holiday season from Chestertown!

A color photograph of two trees at the top of a steep hill covered with long green grass. The sky is cloudy but bright. From a distance it looks like a single tree, and then you arrive and see truly.

It was a long fast walk across the moors up to Top Withens, where Emily Brontë set Wuthering Heights. I thought no one would join me, gave the students plenty of outs. 5 came anyway. 1 said, "We want to see why you care so much.” I’ll remember that.
📷📸✒️📓🧭🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿
#topwithens #haworth #photography #clarity

Know a high school writer looking for a terrific writing college? Washington College in idyllic Chestertown, MD is that place! We're home to the $86,000 Sophie Kerr Prize. But the Prize is only half our story. Check out our Sophie Kerr Saturday Preview on 2/7/26.

www.washcoll.edu/academics/de...

The Literary House is our students' home away from home, & also a launching pad for their literary lives. If you can give $5 to help us grow our internship program, I'd be so grateful. These bright students deserve every ray of light we can give them.

tinyurl.com/LightofDayIn...

#decemberdays

Roy Kesey '91 @roykesey.bsky.social tells us about Bob Day, namesake of the "Light of Day" Internships, which pairs great students with national literary nonprofits.
If you can give: tinyurl.com/tx827sfj & select "Centers of Excellence" & then "Literary House Light of Day." #decemberdays

Can you pitch in $5 to help these youngsters get a little light? We're raising money for the Light of Day Internships, which pair students with literary organizations. Please, help us give the Light of Day.

Visit tinyurl.com/tx827sfj & select "Centers of Excellence" & "Literary House Light of Day"

Who wouldn't want to help these students? The Lit House is raising $ for Light of Day Internships, pairing students w/ national lit organizations. Even $5 helps!

Visit tinyurl.com/tx827sfj
Select "Centers of Excellence" & "Lit House Light of Day" & give these booklovers some light.
#decemberdays

Chip in $5 to help us build the Light of Day Internship Program. Please? Super please?
Fly on over to advancement.washcoll.edu/portal/ddgd2...
and select "Centers of Excellence," and then "Literary House--Light of Day."

Thank you for doing some good for our deserving students!

This Thursday, November 20, join us at 5pm at the Lit House for the First-Year Reading! Refreshments--and a heap of inspiration--will be served!

If you can't make it in person, check out the livestream: www.youtube.com/watch?v=NdR4...

Cherry Tree is delighted to reveal our second Pushcart Prize nomination: Julie Marie Wade's "From the Jeopardy! Category, THE SUBJUNCTIVE:" which appeared in Issue 11. We know we can always turn to Julie's work for the exact right questions!

Cherry Tree is published once per year. Subscriptions to are $15 for one year and $26 for two. More information here: washington-college.square.site/literary-hou...

We're revealing our Pushcart Prize nominations this week. Follow along and help us to celebrate these terrific writers!

And you can subscribe here, if you're so moved:
washington-college.square.site/shop/cherry-...

Unfortunately, the even with Maya Popa has been canceled for next week.

HUUUUUGE congratulations to Lit House Associate Director Roy Kesey for winning this prestigious prize for his new book, LORE, out from Sarabande in May 2027.

Tomorrow night, 9/23 at 6pm, @wileycash.bsky.social reads from his fiction, followed by a conversation with the Starr Center's own, Dr. Pat Nugent.
Stream it live here: www.youtube.com/live/KAMn1Wn...

Two weeks left to submit to Cherry Tree! Check out our guidelines at

cherrytree.submittable.com

When she's not reading submissions, CNF Editor Sufiya Abdur-Rahman is reading recent books by Rachel L. Swarns @rachelswarns.bsky.social and by CT 9 contributor Kristin Keane.

Cherry Tree is open for submissions til October 1 at cherrytree.submittable.com/submit

We asked our editors to name 2 books they're reading (when they're not reading Cherry Tree submissions). Fiction Editor extraordinaire @sarahblackman.bsky.social recommends books by former CT contributor @alvinlu.bsky.social and by Thalia Field.

We're open til Oct 1!
cherrytree.submittable.com

Cherry Tree logo joined by book covers for Blas Falconer's Rara Avis (poems) and Anelise Chen's Clam Down: A Metamorphosis. Other text says "what we're reading when we're not reading your work" that these picks are by Alyse Bensel, Cherry Tree poetry editor.

We asked our editors: what are 2 books you're reading when you're not reading Cherry Tree submissions?

Poetry Editor Alyse Bensel's answer: Rara Avis by former CT contributor @blasfalconer.bsky.social & Anelise Chen's Clam Down.

Cherry Tree is open til October 1
cherrytree.submittable.com

Cherry Tree relies on partners like the Kent Cultural Alliance, The Needle's Eye Academy, @stephaniefowler.bsky.social & Salt Water Media, Talbot Arts, Choptank Arts & Culture Exchange, Dixon Valve, the Antioch Poets Group (which sponsors the Grace Cavalieri poetry scholarship), and the Harwood Fund

"What I Did This Summer" -- check out this story about conferences for high school students at Washington College, including the Cherry Tree Young Writers' Conference!
www.washcoll.edu/live/news/20...

Today is the last day to apply for a scholarship to attend the Cherry Tree Young Writers' Conference (July 15-18 on the @washcoll.bsky.social campus).

More info at www.washcoll.edu/ywc

We join Edmund White's partner, Michael Carroll, as well as the legion of Ed's & admirers in mourning his passing. We had the privilege of interviewing Ed, & we're glad his voice will continue to be heard.

He made queer life more possible.

breakingformpod.buzzsprout.com/1865753/epis...

An info graphic features the Faculty for Cherry Tree Young Writers' Conference which takes place July 15-18: fiction writer Bushra Rehman, nonfiction writer Matt Davis, fiction writer Raul Palma, and poet Marci Calabretta Cancio-Bello. Deadline to register is June 25; scholarship deadline is June 17. The conference is a literary extravaganza for high school writers and it takes place on the campus of Washington College in Chestertown, MD. More info at www.washcoll.edu/ywc.

The 10th annual Cherry Tree Young Writers' Conference deadlines are approaching!

Registration closes June 25.

Scholarship application deadline is June 17.

More info at www.washcoll.edu/ywc

The conference takes place July 15-18 on the serene Washington College campus.
@washcoll.bsky.social

Scholarships available!

Find your voice & your writing kindred at the Cherry Tree Young Writers' Conference for high school students (rising sophomores, juniors, & seniors). July 15-18.2025 on the @washcoll.bsky.social campus.

More info at www.washcoll.edu/ywc

We join our community in mourning Robert Earl Price, and celebrating his life & poetry. Here's an interview & reading Robert Earl did with Grace Cavalieri on The Poet and the Poem: www.gracecavalieri.com/images/Rober...

FAQ: What's a literature discussion like at the Cherry Tree Young Writers' Conference?
A: Here's Dr. Courtney Rydel, Chair of Washington College's English Dept., leading a discussion about what medieval stories can teach us about modern craft.

More info can be found online at www.washcoll.edu/ywc