River Heron Review

Start writing your life story! Our memoir workshop uses prompts to spark memories and creativity. Writers create vignettes, share their work, and receive supportive, positive feedback. No experience required. Class space is limited. See riverheronreview.com/write-the-story-of-your-life

More than a lit mag...We do Poetry Month prompts, too! Come write with us in April — prompt a day sent to your inbox.
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Today’s the day! Submissions are officially open for Issue 9.2 and the 2026 River Heron Poetry Prize, judged this year by Alison Tanik. We can’t wait to read your strongest poems—send them our way!

Explore poems rooted in the natural world while grounding your creative practice in breathing exercises and techniques that cultivate focus, presence, and embodiment. By the end of the workshop, you’ll have four drafts and several “seeds” for future poems. www.riverheronreview.com/honor-yourse...

Have you heard phrases like “at the end of the day” or “that’s just splitting hairs”? Leaping Language explores how figurative expressions work and how to tap into their potential. Keep your mind’s eye open for discoveries. www.riverheronreview.com/leaping-lang...

Two writing workshops begin this week:

✍️ Poetry as a Coping Tool
🎨 Artful Writing: An Ekphrastic Workshop

Expand your creative practice, strengthen your voice, and explore new ways of writing.

Learn more at riverheronreview.com → Writing Workshops.

Submissions open March 1. Send us your strongest poems and be part of the next issue!

Join us for a creative writing experience inspired by surrealist masters. Through writing prompts and vivid artwork, you’ll stretch your creativity and discover fresh possibilities. All genres and experience levels welcome. Begins March 30. Register at riverheronreview.com, Writing Workshops.

Explore and write poems that focus on the natural world while attending to mind and body through exercises that support creativity from a more grounded place. By the end of the workshop, you’ll have new drafts and “seeds” for other poems. Starts March 17. www.riverheronreview.com/honor-yourse...

River Heron celebrates NaPoMo by sending subscribers a creative writing prompt each day of April. The post includes an evocative image along with a multilayered prompt for your inspiration. Register at www.riverheronreview.com/prompt-a-day-2

Looking for a writing refresh? Join Robbin Farr, former River Heron Review editor, for Poetry Boost, a series that will set you on the path to submitting polished work in four weeks. This workshop will help create a confident awareness. Begins in April. www.riverheronreview.com/poetry-boost

Some poems stay with you. Patricia Wallace, finalist for the RHR Editors’ Prize, gives voice to a mother’s devastating grief. Read her poem here: www.riverheronreview.com/river-heron-...

Discover the haunting power of Karen Terrey’s poem “Advanced Directive,” a finalist in the River Heron Editors’ Prize. www.riverheronreview.com/river-heron-...

Starting March 1, join Poetry as a Coping Tool, taught by Kelsey Bigelow. Using free writing and thoughtful prompts, this class creates space to process emotions and find light within the weight of difficult experiences. www.riverheronreview.com/poetry-as-a-...

From “When the Kuaka Returns,” by Topher Shields, a finalist in the River Heron Editors’ Prize. Read it here. www.riverheronreview.com/river-heron-...

Read “Independence Night” by Elizabeth Perez, the winning poem of the River Heron Editors’ Prize. Check out the finalists’ poems and explore Issue 9.1 at riverheronreview.com. www.riverheronreview.com/river-heron-...

Join us in March for Artful Writing: An Ekphrastic Workshop. Tap into shapes and lines, light and shadow, tone and mood, through a series of prompts using well-known and lesser known art works. We support your craft in this all-genre workshop. Register at www.riverheronreview.com/artful-writi...

Poetry Boost is back! Join Robbin Farr, former River Heron Review editor, for a series that will set you on the path to polished work. Covering titles, line breaks, and endings, you will also learn the tricks of submission from an editor’s perspective. Create confidence as you perfect your process.

When emotions get loud, let poetry speak for you. Kelsey Bigelow shares methods for writing poetry to cope with grief, loss, and trauma. Sign up at riverheronreview.com under “Workshops.”

Andrés Cerpa is the author of two previous books of poetry, Bicycle in a Ransacked City: An Elegy (2019) and The Vault (2021), which was longlisted for a National Book Award. He discusses his writing process and creative choices in an interview with Meghan Elizabeth Kelley.

It’s here—Issue 9.1 and the River Heron Editors’ Prize! Congratulations to all the poets whose work appears in these issues.

Coming tomorrow—Issue 9.1 and the River Heron Editors’ Prize contest issue! We are grateful to these poets for sharing their extraordinary work.

Congratulations to all! Read these poems in our contest issue, releasing February 1.

Last chance to sign up for Tell Me a Story: A Spectrum of Narrative from Poetry to Prose. Chad Frame guides you through narrative poems, prose poetry, novels in verse, and flash fiction. Class consists of discussion, writing prompts, and workshopping new and existing work. Classes start next week!

Check out our new workshop, Poetry as a Coping Tool. Learn methods for writing poetry to cope with grief, loss, and trauma. From free writing and responding to prompts, poetry can help you process and manage emotions through the heaviness. Beginning March 1. www.riverheronreview.com/poetry-as-a-...

It’s not too late to sign up for Poetry Workshop: Sharing & Refining Poems. 10% off—classes start next week. Writers share work and receive supportive feedback in the areas of craft and impact. Choose afternoon or evening sessions. Taught by Melody Wilson. www.riverheronreview.com/writing-work...

Check out this new workshop, Poetry as a Coping Tool. Kelsey Bigelow walks you through writing poetry through grief, loss, and trauma. From free writing and responding to prompts, poetry can help you manage emotions through the heaviness. Beginning March 1. www.riverheronreview.com/poetry-as-a-...

In Tell Me a Story: A Spectrum of Narrative from Poetry to Prose, Chad Frame guides you through story structure, action, and dialogue in narrative poems, prose poetry, and flash fiction. Class will consist of discussion, writing prompts and workshopping. Four weeks beginning in February.

Poetry Workshop: Sharing & Refining Poems—classes start next week—now 10% off. Writers share work weekly and receive supportive feedback in the areas of craft and overall impact. Choose afternoon or evening sessions. Taught by Melody Wilson. www.riverheronreview.com/writing-work...

Today is the last day to register for Memoir, Level 1. Save 10% ! Each session is designed to create a comfortable environment for students of all levels. Guided prompts spark creativity, trigger memories, and help you write with positive feedback. www.riverheronreview.com/write-the-st...