As you cancel streaming services, here is a casual reminder that only 16% of Americans read for pleasure anymore, and your local library has hundreds or thousands of books you haven't read. They would love to see you stop by and renew your library card.

Brevity literary magazine showcases essays by @stevenchurch.bsky.social, @marjiealonso.com. Richard Robbins, Toni Judnitch, Heather Shaw, @mollyakin.bsky.social , @jtwattles.bsky.social, Dana Wall, Heather Kindree Thomas, @suelick.bsky.social, Julie Hou, and Lori White. brevitymag.com

Brevity is now open for submissions! 📣 We are currently reading personal essays of 750 words or fewer in any style or subgenre. Writers whose perspectives have been traditionally underrepresented in publishing are especially encouraged to submit! Guidelines: brevity.submittable.com/submit

We do not and will never encourage writers to use AI in the drafting of creative literary work, and neither Brevity the literary magazine nor The Brevity Blog will consider work that is AI-generated or assisted. brevity.wordpress.com/2025/06/23/b...

The Brevity Blog is a separate editorial team & pub than the literary magazine. As the Brevity lit mag's managing editor, I can say we do not & will never consider essays written—even partially—by LLMs. Ethics aside, we consider AI anathema to what makes art worth making & stories worth telling

"The more I wrote, the more I remembered. The more I remembered, the more I returned to myself." ~ @zoebossiere.bsky.social

"We would exchange books to save our lives, to create a conversation that helped us challenge the violence of the culture around us and imagine something else [...] In a certain sense, you hold onto books as if they’re friends. And ammunition as well." Incredibly inspiring @mbsycamore.bsky.social

i can't fix the world but i CAN put on a grown-up book fair that raises money to help fight book bans across the US, so that's what i'm doing. if you're in the hudson valley on friday, may 2 and want to come to a beautiful farm with food trucks... i got you: www.oblongbooks.com/event/book-f...

Tired of the endless anti-trans headlines? Same. That’s why I made "Trans News That Doesn’t Suck"—a newsletter full of good news for trans folks 💌✨ In a world hellbent on transphobia, this is a soft place to land. Subscribe for a dose of trans joy-- straight to your inbox:

#AWP25 haul. Books by: @gracelp.bsky.social @samuelashworth.bsky.social @zoebossiere.bsky.social @andrewbertaina.bsky.social @aaronburch.bsky.social @kevinrmaloney.bsky.social @dtrobbins.bsky.social @wwwwkurtcom.bsky.social (among others)

Please assign this book to your students! I'm begging you! The white power far right dominates discussions of the family again. Your students really don't know anything about family history. All they know are racist sexist lies. Heck, assign it in your physics classes!

AWP recap in photos. 📸 Great readings, lovely writers. Completely exhausted, but good vibes overall. @zoebossiere.bsky.social @womanistbae.bsky.social @earthtokb.bsky.social @fredaepum.bsky.social @krysmalcolmbelc.bsky.social

Today is my birthday & #TransDayOfVisibility 🏳️‍⚧️! I would love it if you shared my genderqueer debut novel ENDPAPERS, which "Explores what we lose when we keep our innermost selves hidden--and what it means to forge an authentic life through art."—Antonia Angress bookshop.org/p/books/endp...

BOOTH 718 #AWP25 LAST CHANCE TO GET A COPY OF NO OFFENSE! I WILL GIVE YOU A DISCOUNT! I WILL WRITE YOU A LOVE NOTE! PLZ DON’T MAKE ME CARRY THEM ALL HOME MY BACK HURTS 😢

Day 2 of the AWP Conference book fair at the @rosemetalpress.bsky.social table! Number 550! Come say hi!

This evening at @skylightbooks.bsky.social, join us for a special Night of Non(Binary)Fiction event! Featuring 3 recently released trans memoirs: my CACTUS COUNTRY, Neesha Powell-Ingabire's COME BY HERE, & Jackie Domenus's NO OFFENSE! Tonight at Skylight Books 7pm, 1818 North Vermont Ave 🤍

Tonight, tonight! Don't sleep on Brevity's offsite reading, ✨ The Future is Transgender ✨ 5-7pm at KISO DTLA (107 4th St) feat. contributors from our special issue. brevitymag.com/category/iss...

AWP writers! Join us for this incredible queer & trans memoir offsite event on the theme of "existence as resistance" TONIGHT at Liberation Coffee House in DTLA! Feat. Jackie Domenus, KB Brookins, Krys Malcolm Belc, and Freda Epum ☺️ Register for the event (free!) here: partiful.com/e/pHRGJ7xAd9...

For #TransRightsReadathon I'd love to highlight some titles! Today CACTUS COUNTRY by @zoebossiere.bsky.social. Their gripping debut memoir is part coming of age & part unraveling of gender—set against the Arizona desert trailer park where Bossiere grew up. Get it here: bookshop.org/p/books/cact...

You don’t wanna miss this one! #AWP25 @earthtokb.bsky.social @zoebossiere.bsky.social @fredaepum.bsky.social @krysmalcolmbelc.bsky.social Save your spot now! Link for suggested fire relief donations in the event description.

Just a few weeks until I get to see you all in LA!

THIS IS HUGE! Researchers at Stanford University have developed a dual-antibody treatment that remains effective against ALL SARS-CoV-2 variants by targeting a less-mutable part of the virus. This breakthrough could lead to longer-lasting therapies that OUTPACE viral evolution. 🧪🧵⬇️

BREAKING: In response to our lawsuit, the National Endowment for the Arts will no longer force grant applicants to certify that they won't promote "gender ideology." This is a big step toward defeating the NEA's unconstitutional censorship.

AWP OFFSITE UPDATE! 📢🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍⚧️ @fredaepum.bsky.social has joined the lineup! RSVP here: partiful.com/e/pHRGJ7xAd9...

It’s been a year since Nex Benedict’s death and it’s been a year since I had top surgery. For the HuffPost, I wrote about experiencing both of those moments in the same week and the importance of protecting gender affirming care.

SO EXCITED to finally share this news! Thank you to Split/Lip Press and to every single one of our essayists over the years - I'm just sorry that one anthology wasn't big enough to include all of the amazing writing March Xness has inspired!

Can't wait to take part in @dintywmoore.bsky.social's "The Future is Transgender" reading at AWP next month! @zoebossiere.bsky.social has put together such an all-star lineup so you know it's going to be a standout queer literary event of the evening!

Hey AWP attendees (and LA locals)! You should totally swing by this scary cool trans horror reading on Friday 3/28! I'll be reading some brand new fiction alongside other talented creepy queers like @cavar.bsky.social, @cdeskilson.bsky.social, @mariahdarling6.bsky.social, and more!

If you believe in science, then you believe in masking. We HAVE to promote masks as protection ALONGSIDE vaccines and air filtration. A comprehensive study in 2024 showed this to be true again! The only reason for refusing to mask now is conformity or stubbornness journals.asm.org/doi/10.1128/...

Re-upping this in light of a few recent conversations with other writes who teach creative nonfiction. More and more of my students are writing in fractured and lyric styles, and I think it’s because the internet has changed our relationship to both form and meaning lithub.com/beyond-the-t...

for @bostonglobe.com, I wrote about being a bad mother teaching a course on bad mothers: www.bostonglobe.com/2023/05/12/o...

🎉 So thrilled to share my new essay on the importance of teaching our kids about Black History Month at PARENTS! Writing about race and heritage is never easy, but it is absolutely significant to celebrate diverse stories with our children. www.parents.com/teaching-our...

Did you call Target? Wanna call them again? Did you not call before because you thought it wouldn't make a difference? Wanna call them now? ☎️ Target Employee Relations and Integrity Hotline: 1-800-541-6838

If you're headed to the Tucson Festival of Books next month, there'll be three (!) panels dedicated to SWBY selections. I'll be moderating one with @zoebossiere.bsky.social, Forrest Gander, Kevin Fedarko, and @zakpodmore.bsky.social. Come by! tucsonfestivalofbooks.org?id=676&genre...

Super easy to click click click and tell Children’s Hospital Los Angeles to reverse their decision immediately!

My next NEA project proposal:

Even amid the chaos, we are still writing, still resisting, still doing the radical work of sharing the stories of our lives with the world! Check out Brevity's latest issue, feat. 12 bold new essays to inspire you. More good stuff from us coming up in May. Until then, friends, keep writing 🤍

Flash Nonfiction Time! brevity.wordpress.com/2025/01/28/b...

Just an FYI that if you directly own any Apple stock, there is a shareholder proposal up for vote titled "Request to Cease DEI Efforts." You have until February 24 at 8:59pm PT to vote.

Friends! The preorder for my chapbook is up! If you want a slight discount, now’s the time! www.finishinglinepress.com/product/a-pa...

Here at Tin House, we believe that by nurturing the artist, we nurture the art! Let us experience your art and apply for the 2025 #THSW. In addition to our General Scholarships, we offer many community-focused awards such as the scholarship for Trans Writers. Link: https://buff.ly/2LgFf2w

Why are university presses important? A thread 🧵

& the time to support marginalized authors (buying their books, reviewing their books, showing up to their events) is NOW !

Yoooooo, so after too much radio silence from us: we decided not to run our planned tournament this year. Tough call and a lot more to say over at the substack, but we're instead focusing on a secret project and 2026's March Danceness tournament. More at: open.substack.com/pub/marchxne...

From navigating anti-trans laws to protecting your joy. ⤵️

Lit mags are like "send us the gasp of when you think there's one more stair than there really is" like girl I am just trying to send you a short story

No government order can erase the existence of trans and nonbinary people. Our words are louder, bigger, and fiercer than we yet know. But people are afraid. So if you've written or read anything with a gender-nonconforming character at the center, please drop a link a here. I started us off!

My first post on Substack, in response to Trump’s damned executive order on sex and gender.

A good day to remind whoever needs reminding that trans folks have existed for thousands of years and will continue to exist for generations to come, and no speech or order will change that.