Introducing Poetry School!

The exciting new life of Books & Bakes

Hi everyone!

There are a million fires burning in the world. I just spent a week in Provincetown at the Fine Arts Work Center for an incredible poetry workshop. I have so much to tell you about so many things. But today’s newsletter is purely an announcement. Books & Bakes is now Poetry School!

The newsletter isn’t going to change much. I’m still going to write about queer lit and art history and poems and nature and Mary Oliver and citation and school and world-grief and and and. I’m aiming to get back into a weekly rhythm, although I anticipate this happening slowly, so for the rest of the summer you can expect more than one newsletter a month but less than four.

The next email you receive from me will come from Poetry School (poetryschool@mail.beehiiv.com). If you don’t see it, please check your spam folders! If you are feeling excited (like me!) you can check out the new Poetry School website now.

Everything You Need to Know

• If you’re currently subscribed to Books & Bakes, you don’t need to do anything! Your subscriptions (paid & free) will automatically transfer to the new platform.

• Later today, you will receive a welcome email from Poetry School (poetryschool@beehiiv.com). A lot of you have been here for a long time—think of this week’s newsletter as a reintroduction. I’ve also spent the past month creating a mini “Welcome to Poetry School” email series that I am super excited about. I hope you love it.

• For now, I’m going to leave the Books & Bakes site up on Substack. I’ll disable paid subscriptions and create a static post directing folks to the new website. I plan to fully shut down the old website after a few months.

A Note on Paid Subscriptions

• If you would like to become a paid subscriber of this newsletter now that I’m (finally!) off Substack, you can do so easily after your subscription has transferred over. Please wait until you get an email from Poetry School before doing so (I promise this will make everything easier).

• I’ve been working hard creating something I’m really excited about and proud of: The 2025 Poetry School Syllabus! This is a poetry reading guide featuring 40 poetry recommendations across 10 categories. All paying subscribers (starting at $5/month) will get access to the syllabus! Here’s a sneak peek of the cover:

• You’ll find all the information about how to upgrade your subscription (and how to access the Poetry School syllabus and other paid perks) on the new website and in the email you get from me later today.

Thank You!

Thank you, thank you, thank you, to all of you who have stuck with me through the years, and through all the various changes this newsletter has tumbled through. If you’re a new subscriber, welcome, and thank you for being here! I’ve loved writing Books & Bakes and I’m so excited about its new life as Poetry School. Please don’t hesitate to reach out with any questions!

Earnestly as ever,

Laura