So grateful to @anitagill.bsky.social for reviewing my book, "Body Weather" for Another Chicago Magazine. She really got it! anotherchicagomagazine.net/2026/07/14/t...

Mantel was amazing

My third time rejected from MacDowell but when I went to pick up a hold from the library I found there were actually three holds available so yeah I think I’m winning in life.

One of our new initiatives at The Rumpus is a Spanish language section, El Alboroto, where we publish original Spanish prose and poetry. If you write in Spanish or know people who do, please send them here to read our guidelines and submit their work. therumpus.submittable.com/submit/35215...

This dreadful book banning bill, H.R. 7661, has made it out of committee and into the House. It's time to call your reps.

Saw someone wearing this great shirt the other day.

how it feels to be asked about your research

This reminds me I need to check out my Passport for PBS and watch the Andy Samberg Know Your Roots episode.

This week two people bought the books I recommended. I am now drunk with power.

Rümeysa Öztürk wrote about ICE detention and the women who helped her survive. www.vanityfair.com/news/story/r...

How many tote bags do I have to own before they give me a free Prius I’m sure it’s any day now.

Landed in Chicago 45 minutes ago and the man next to me on the Blue Line just ended his phone call with “ya, I gotta get home to give Butkus a steak” which is in the top 5 percent of Chicago sentences you can hear

Im getting my encouragement from cough drop wrappers now.

Before Mantel died, I wrote to her publicist to see if I could connect with her while I was working on my own historical novel (acting delulu I know). They said no because she was working on several projects at the time. I’m glad I took a chance.

We are a little over a third of the way through the summer and I have heard Jamiroquai’s “Virtual Insanity” disturbingly too many times.

Lisbon has decent copy.

My instructor Adam Levin talking about sinkholes in Chicago.

hey I am posting this because I didn't know it, and so others might not either: but the BBB has NOT PASSED YET-- it's passed the senate & now it must pass the house. It's time to call reps RIGHT NOW. Johnson is going to push the vote ASAP before backlash can form so the calls need to start NOW.

Second week of work at Disquiet. Which is mostly me driving a trolley.

We may have the same last name but we are not related and I agree.

Randomly picked this up and it’s all these authors my writing friends keep recommending I check out.

When I turned 40, I had 320 short story rejections and no books published. A few years later, I've published a short story collection and two novels with another on the way. Believe in yourself like someone who loves you.

Me after one dance class: Everything hurts and I’m not a surprise talent in this like I had thought.

Federal workers: We understand you may be taking a risk in contacting us, and we take your confidentiality extremely seriously. To collect tips, we use encrypted forms and apps, so messages cannot be read by anybody other than you and ProPublica. ➡️ Reach out here: propublica.org/tips

3.5% is all we need. 3.5% of the population being engaged and committed is the magic number to overthrow a dictator. And I'd bet that if 2% of us were *out protesting* yesterday, more of us are out there than that. Keep up the pressure.

It’s the first day of spring so Chicago does what it does best and we have snow.

I’m case you’re like me and not headed to AWP this year.

for those in nyc

Toni Morrison:

No Amazon. No Walmart. No Target. No Disney. No Google. No Apple. No Visa or Mastercard. And especially no Facebook. I will not be posting on Meta platforms for the next 24 hours in support of the economic blackout… Can you say the same?! 🤚 Let’s. Do. This. 😎✨

REMEMBER KIDS when flooding a snitch form, DON’T use obvious troll responses that can be filtered out with a query Use PLAUSIBLE FAKE data that will take TIME and EFFORT to run down. This poisons the entire data pool and makes it useless

TOMORROW 👇👇👇

hot take but i love it when we treat each other as utterly indispensable and achingly real because we are

I wrote about mentors and how important it is to contact them: anita.substack.com/p/literary-a...

I have spots open in all 3 groups! Catching Lightning: A Flash Reading/Writing Club February 28-April 4th (skipping March 28th) Group 1: 10:00-11:15 am EST Fridays Group 2: 3:00-4:15 pm EST Fridays Group 3 3:00-4:15 pm EST on Wednesdays Cost $85 total for all 5 weeks or pay per session.

Workshop manuscripts submitted with comments! Ready to talk shop with some fantastic novelists. #thww

Here is a script you can use for any issue. Find your reps' # at reps.fyi or 5calls.org. Every time you see a news story that horrifies you: call, or something else about it. It matters to say what you believe. You are setting a norm.

Last chance to grab your spot in Faylita Hicks's class, Get the Grant! Learn tips and tricks for apply for grants, residencies, fellowships, and awards -- and get the time, space, and financing to give your work the attention it deserves! First of four online classes is TONIGHT!

Indivisible is urging people to visit their senators' local offices between now and Thursday to demand that they use every tool—including denying a quorum and blocking unanimous consent—to fight the confirmation of Project 2025 architect Russell Vought for head of OMB docs.google.com/document/d/1...

I feel like way too many people forget the role art and music has played in helping us fight against the most egregious of acts throughout history. We need the artists to keep making. The musicians to keep making. Writers to keep writing. The creatives keep our stories and bring us forward.

Apply!!!

In 2022 I interviewed Azar Nafisi for her book, Read Dangerously. “What choice does the king have but to kick the poets and storytellers out of his republic? And what choice does the poet have but to destabilize the philosopher king’s power by speaking the truth?” therumpus.net/2022/03/07/r...

can confirm this is very easy and useful. Yesterday I noticed that you can toggle to find your reps’ local vs DC contact. I like that the app includes scrips you can use, even if you don’t read them verbatim they offer good context and a framework.

If you are freaking out, engage with trusted groups like @detentionwatchnetwork.org. Allow them offer some guidance about what you can do and how you can help.

Conversations with my friend in England.

If you're in Illinois, you're on Section 8, and your landlord tries to evict you because of the government funding freeze, email me at [email protected]. My cases are pay-whatever-you-can.