“Nothing could have prepared me to write a review of A Middle Aged Woman Rages, by Melissa Jørgenrud Helton. Having written well over three hundred book reviews, I have never encountered a collection this outrageous, this angry, this mission focused. Yet, in the same breath, I have yet to engage with a work so compelling, so honest, and so “needed” by western culture. Helton is fresh, bold, and raw. These observations are not in the least pejorative. But they are true.”
Reviewed by Michael Escoubas for “Quill & Parchment.”
Online – Wednesdays, Aug 12- Sep 16 6:00-8:00pm EST
Six weeks
$275
In this class, we will look at ways poetry can be used to ask the things we were told we should ignore, bring forth the truths we were told to hide, and open our voices to sing and shout and say all the things we have been hesitant to. To help clear our throats, we will read poets who dared to be honest and then we’ll take our turn unsilencing ourselves by generating new work in a safe and supportive environment. We will look at form and craft and discuss the potential peril and liberation of publishing honest work.
Melissa Jørgenrud Helton is the author of A Middle-Aged Woman Rages(Accents Publishing, 2026). She serves as the Literary Arts Director of Hindman Settlement School, a cultural nonprofit in Knott County, Kentucky. She is editor of the anthology Troublesome Rising: A Thousand-Year Flood in Eastern Kentucky (University Press of Kentucky) and Untelling, the literary and arts magazine of Hindman Settlement School.
Dear writers, readers, supporters, and friends of Accents Publishing,
We are happy to announce the results of our 2025 Open Reading Period.
The following books have been selected for publication during the remainder of 2026 and throughout 2027. We look forward to bringing each of these outstanding books into the world and to working closely with these talented authors.
Please join us in congratulating them.
We were humbled by the large number of high-quality manuscripts we received. The selection process took longer than expected, and we had to make a number of very difficult decisions, but we feel we selected the titles that most closely reflect where Accents Publishing hopes to grow and evolve over the next eighteen months.
We deeply appreciate everyone who submitted work to us. Thank you for trusting us with your writing, and we sincerely hope to have the opportunity to read your work again in the future.
With appreciation,
Katerina Stoykova and the team at Accents Publishing
The Double-Souled Son, a novel by Mary Louise Hill
Languages of Birds, a short story collection by Geraldine Ann Marshall The Water Collection, a short story collection by Bill Carman
True Bias, essays and sketches by Melita Schaum
Alert the Oracle, poetry by Tabitha Dial Alien Mother, poetry by Kristina Erny Animals, poetry by Rumen Pavlov Birds of Thunder, poetry by Jessica D. Thompson Catching a Ride in the Gizzard of a Bird, poetry by Sujata Lakhe Flotilla: A Family Memoir in Verse, poetry by Melissa Jørgenrud Helton From Field to Fable, poetry by Richard Taylor My Father, the Water Bird, poetry by Sean Corbin My Life as a Cricket, poetry by Linda Bryant Davis Neighborhood Watch, poetry by Bill Brymer Orchestra of Belonging, poetry by Marianne Peel Orfeito, poetry by Ricardo Nazario y Colón Places You Must Not Go, poetry by Flora K. Schildknecht Stare on Paper, poetry by Stuart Horodner Tendril, poetry by Amy Le Ann Richardson This Set Down / This, poetry by Libby Falk Jones Think. Pray. God, poetry by Wendy Jett Your Curious Guidebook to Climate Change, poetry by Vivian Faith Prescott
