“To me, writing about sex work has always been writing about class. About struggle. About cavities and electric bills—the things most of us worry about.” Michelle Gurule on writing about sex work.

Just confirmed I'm one of the author victims of the blood sucking company Anthropic that stole my book to train it's LLM. I filed a claim and it felt really good. If you're an author who may have been victimized, you can find out here: secure.anthropiccopyrightsettlement.com/lookup/?_gl=...

“How to Write Topical Without Getting Preachy” ICYMI: in September we chatted with editor @aaronburch.bsky.social and writer @jeffchon.bsky.social about “Nothing Personal,” Chon’s heartbreaking piece that takes on the murder of a healthcare CEO — from an angle that might surprise you.

Our guru of prompts can entice the words out of writers in the most astonishing ways 🔥

Eleanor shared that poem at September's Firelight Readaround and it was pure❤️‍🔥 Got work to share too? Join us Oct 26 8PM ET for another warm and supportive community reading Not a member yet? Just subscribe to our newsletter for 1 free month of Basic👻 litmatchcollective.beehiiv.com/p/preview-ou...

Of course we love helping you live your best (literary) lives but did you know we're not too shabby as editors? Come talk about your work with Autumn and Steve🔥 Free membership trials this month, details here: litmatchcollective.beehiiv.com/p/preview-ou...

Let's DO ITTTTT

It’s always interesting when politicians say hate and violence have no place in this country. It was founded on those principles.

"When ICE grabbed Rodney, he was in the process of receiving new prosthetic legs. The detention centre is refusing to let him have a day pass to go get them, so his health is declining."

More blessed news?! We got a 5-step guide to writing a @jeffchon.bsky.social story!🫠 (Wouldn't it be fun to use as a writing prompt?) If you missed our convo it'll live on in our Story Chat archives with addenda from editor on the piece @aaronburch.bsky.social. Pop in anytime to join in🤜🤛

There's a cool new writers' site in town! Founded by Autumn Watts (fiction editor, Guernica) & Steve Chang (fiction editor, Okay Donkey), @litmatchcollective.com I have a code for a FREE Basic Annual Membership. First one to respond gets it! Check it out here: www.litmatchcollective.com

Was supposed to be a part of this (/kinda still am officially?) but, like a doofus, forgot I had tickets for Russian Circles tonight. But this chat should be amazing, y'all should look into checking it out!, and I'm going to swoop in tomorrow and catch-up with some thoughts, after the fact!

Join and discuss this knock-down BANGER of a story with the author & editor! 😍

stoked to be hosting a Very Literary Chat with @aaronburch.bsky.social and @jeffchon.bsky.social this Thursday, 9/11 at 6pm Pacific over at litmatchcollective.com come chat with us!

This is going to be so cool! Check out Lit Match Collective! 🌟

So I built a thing with Okay Donkey editor @stevexisxok.bsky.social: a writer's community for accountability, coaching, inspiration, and (mostly) bad jokes. It's called Lit Match Collective and we launch September 1! litmatchcollective.com litmatchcollective.beehiiv.com

This is amazing!

"Megatron doesn’t care about 'civilian casualties' or 'constitutional rights.' He’s too busy WINNING. While our so-called leaders are stuck writing sternly worded social media posts, Megatron is out there blasting obstacles into morally ambiguous dust."

NEA just cut $350k from lit mags & programs. We don't have that, but we do have $5k and want to help mags grow in a healthier way. $1k each to 5 lit mags willing to try something new. Just tell us your plan for making your mag financially sustainable in 1 yr App: forms.chillsubs.com/incubator

I just want someone to look at me the way audience members at poetry readings look at their phones.

In light of everything happening, I wrote about how the KKK in the 1920s felt unstoppable, about the people that fought against them anyway, and about how fascism always fails. dansinker.com/posts/202…

The attacks on DEI are a pretext for a much more radical agenda of reversing the gains of the civil rights movement, an objective the Trump administration is pursuing with zeal. A Great Resegregation. www.theatlantic.com/politics/arc...

A "Dear Colleague" letter nakedly advances white supremacy goals for higher ed: www.venable.com/insights/pub...

The amount of state-sponsored sexual harassment that has been waged in the name of this bigotry should chill us all.

In Florida, a 15-year-old girl was the subject of a police investigation that involved armed officers asking her teammates if they had ever seen her nude and a 500-page report detailing changes in her body weight and notes from her guidance counselor--all because she wanted to play volleyball