Last week, the State Department cut funding for the International Writing Program, which brings writers from around the world to Iowa City. I wrote about why the IWP is precious, & how crucial it was for my education as a writer. Free post; no paywall. garthgreenwell.substack.com/p/a-city-of-...

Ms. Sharon lives near here. I met her last year. She’s been fighting this for a long time. She can’t sit on her porch midday and read her bible because of the stench from the plants. She can’t have a garden because the soil is poison. Her grandchildren can’t play in the grass. She’s exhausted.

I wrote about the Democrats, who are bad at this newrepublic.com/article/1921...

OMG the new poem by Diane Seuss crushed me. Now maybe let it crush you? poets.org/poem/life-im...

It’s my 40th bday today and so I ate this WHOLE DAMN CAKE except the me part, boooom

Freedom is when the boss tells you what to write and think. bsky.app/profile/maxt...

currently reading an MFA student’s writing that is so staple-in-my-brain fucking brilliant I am wholly radioactive with delight, that is all, just needed you 2 know bye

“He said, you Americans are so naive. He said, you think that evil is going to come into your houses wearing big black boots and climb up the stairs—it begins in the language. Look to the language.” -Joseph Brodsky, as recounted by Marie Howe themillions.com/2018/01/tk-t...

One thing Democratic leadership could do right now is to name an alternate HHS secretary--someone to provide ongoing public updates and health information. And do it for other departments too. Start showing voters what a Democratic government would look like--press conferences, speeches, all of it.

YEAH WE ARE, see u there 😵🙃🥂💫 @ruthmadievsky.bsky.social @sallywenmao.bsky.social @mobrowne.bsky.social

i am the cranky old luddite writer i've always aspired to be 😍

“I only eat leaves” is gonna be my new artist statement

very dear pal lost everything, please join me in helping if you can 💙 www.gofundme.com/f/support-li...

you are toasting with champagne for NYE, I am raising a glass of tap water for the midnight initiation of congestion pricing, WE ARE NOT THE SAME

entering 2025 with dark clouds and lightning bolts, cool cool cool

incredibly important that you all know in 2002 I proposed “palindrome” as my senior year prom theme and it was soundly rejected, can you BELIEVE

submitted a letter of recommendation last night at 11:58pm before a midnight deadline, I've never felt more ALIVE

why does NYRB insist on absolutely fucking up my peace

Night the black beard a string running through it with the sound of a breath - W. S. Merwin, “The String”

say what you want, Kafka was a mensch

firmly cementing my reputation as The Guy Who Buys His Kid’s Kindergarten Teacher a Generous Gift Card for the Local Bookstore during the Holiday Season 💪

some strong NYC vibes in these lines from Margaret Draft

bad poem bad poem, whatcha gonna do, whatcha gonna do now that I've written you

love to offer my snake plant little sips from my nalgene like he’s one of the lads

thinking about that Billy Collins interview… everyone has particular turnoffs when reading; it’s natural! but it’s also worthwhile, I think, to be mindful of them and at least acknowledge the possibility that the fault lies not in the writing, but in you as a reader

truly cannot wait for the real Ben Lerner to publish a short story about the Ben Lerner imposter on Bluesky and then it turns out that the fake Ben Lerner was actually the real Ben Lerner all along and the Ben Lerner short story was written by the fake Ben Lerner

writing a whole novel in 3rd person is EXHAUSTING, like when the fuck do *I* get to talk????

Well this is exciting.

I was extremely (embarrassingly??) honest in this interview and here it is, if you'd like to give it a read! 🎳 @southeastreview.bsky.social www.southeastreview.org/single-post/...

hear me out... what if instead of a syllabus I just make an extremely badass starter pack

mrs dalloway said she would check & scroll all four of her social media accounts herself

“It is also November. The noons are more laconic and the sundowns sterner. November always seemed to me the Norway of the year.” -Emily Dickinson, in letter to Lavinia Dickinson (Nov 1864) #everynightapoem #november

the algorithm is inexplicably feeding me an ungodly amount of birding content and I am very here for it

What’s a book you ended up loving after not enjoying the first 100 pages? Does such a thing exist?

quick lil reminder via Stanley Kunitz that the fundamental lyric tension inside every poem is that we are all living and dying at once

Is it only writing when we have a pen in hand, or a nearby keyboard? I think writing includes much more than that: patience, attention, openness to the world past screen or page—to what's findable there. —Carl Phillips, from "Silence"

happy to report that, after a fraught 24 hours, I'm out! now what will I do with my one wild and precious and clothèd life???

currently trapped in the bathroom wearing only a towel because my wife is on a work conference call that was changed to video instead of audio and our bedroom doubles as her office anyway how is everyone this fine Tuesday morning

oh AI can write books now? fine but can it constantly self-promote on multiple social platforms while still feeling bad about itself?????

here’s “Sestina” by Ciara Shuttleworth and it’s a truly wild ride You used to love me well. Well, you— me— used love to . . . to . . . well . . . love. You used me. Me, too, used . . . well . . . you. Love, love me. You, too well used, used love well. Me, too. You! You used to love me well.

no better place in late fall when the last leaves are blowing off the trees and you’re just hiding out in a well lit bookstore

do you think skeletons enjoy halloween or is it like their high pressure crunch season

oh you’re a widely anthologized writer you say? ok but how many starter packs are you in 💅

Los Angeles, California (2023) Pentax on Gold

Czesław Miłosz on the essence of poetry 🐅

really cannot stress enough the extent to which Real World Seattle 1998 permanently, and possibly tragically, informed my sense of style

Jon Woodward 🍓

The Lucie Bot Broido is one of the best new things about this place.