This is a sad memorial post for a bunch of people/institutions, but there’s good poetry in it, I promise. rebeccamakkai.substack.com/p/a-mess-of-...

If, a few months ago, you saw me post about that Uptrek retreat in Spain and thought, “I’ll bookmark that and think about it,” but promptly forgot, I have good news—there are FOUR last spots remaining 🧵 uptrek.com/retreat/star...

If you live near Chicago, and you’re a writer, musician, or visual artist between 18-30, apply to Luminarts for a $10,000 fellowship plus ongoing support. I love serving on the board of this amazing organization, & want these grants going to brilliant young writers 🧵 luminarts.submittable.com/submit

INBOX: Washington Post Ukraine Correspondent Lizzie Johnson announces that she has been laid off in the middle of a below-freezing war zone without power, heat, or running water.

Welp, democracy sure does die in darkness, doesn't it.

Really looking forward to the next installment of Writers on Writing, with brilliant visiting author Edwidge Danticat and Chicago’s own Rachel DeWoskin! www.newberry.org/calendar/wri...

FREE! TONIGHT! FOR WRITERS! An online intro to publishing class with the brilliant @finejuli.bsky.social to kick off @storystudiochicago.bsky.social's monthlong Pub Crawl (where you can learn a LOT more about publishing), but tonight is commitment-free and you can just get the lay of the land! 1/

I was so happy to write about the brilliant Toya Wolfe for @chicagorevbooks.bsky.social series on Chicago books of the past 10 years! We are absolutely living in the New Chicago Renaissance, and there's a lot that sucks about the world right now but the Chicago lit scene is not one of those things.

Watch this. You need it.

Greg Bovino is packing up all his tactical gear to return to his natural home under the ratatouille hat

This is the most comprehensive publishing education out there for authors, and I'm so proud that we're making it happen for the fifth year. If you have a finished book or will soon, this is for you.

“Freedom is not free. We have to work at it. Nurture it. Protect it. Even sacrifice for it.”

"The armed suspect reacted violently." An outright, barefaced and monstrous lie, conclusively disproven by irrefutable video evidence.

Kare 11 local news just read, in full, this statement from Michael and Susan Pretti, the parents of Alex Pretti. "Please get the truth out about our son."

Kind of a perfect online tactic. Stealing this. 😂

Yes, yes, the Oscar nominees are out, but this is a WAY more important lineup 👀

Due to illness I’m sadly going to be unable to join him in conversation, but join Daniyal Mueenuddin TONIGHT at Exile in Bookville to hear about his new book This Is Where the Serpent Lives! It starts at 7pm and it’s free to reserve a spot, which you can do below. www.eventbrite.com/e/authors-on...

@storystudiochicago.bsky.social's annual Pub Crawl starts up again this February—if you’re new here, here’s the rundown: 1. Programming online almost every night with agents, editors, or authors talking about how to get published…🧵 www.storystudiochicago.org/classes/tick...

Excited to be in conversation with Daniyal Mueenuddin TOMORROW at Exile in Bookville about his new book This Is Where the Serpent Lives! It starts at 7pm and it’s free to reserve a spot, which you can do below… Hope to see you there! www.eventbrite.com/e/authors-on...

Exactly one year ago, I posted some of the worst bathrooms on Zillow. You might need it again today. rebeccamakkai.substack.com/p/its-zillow...

Pub Crawl begins in just TWO WEEKS. The full schedule is out, including our keynote conversation with Dave Eggers. Pub Crawl is the ORIGINAL month-long online publishing intensive -- it's the BEST VALUE in publication education. Are you registered? buff.ly/UugMsJi #writingcommunity

If you're a soldier in the 11th Airborne Division being ordered to prep for deployment to Minnesota or Greenland, remember that you have the right to apply for conscientious objector status. Call the GI Bill Rights hotline: 1-877-447-4487

I can't make this, but you should go see @storystudiochicago.bsky.social's own Lisa Low and these other brilliant writers at Printers Row Wine this Saturday, 1/24 at 2pm!

In 2025, according to the FBI's own website, undocumented migrants committed 23 acts of manslaughter and homicide (combined). In 2025, 32 people died in ICE detention, w/ the most (6) coming in December. There year (Jan 19th) there have already been 6 killed in ICE detention and 2 on the street.

Read from bottom up. (I thought the whole narrative might be engagement bait but the account seems legit, unlike her interpretation of Christianity.)

Looking forward to a non-Hilton hotel for AWP. 🚫🧊

Really happy that @storystudiochicago.bsky.social is co-sponsoring a fundraiser to support the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant & Refugee Rights on Saturday, January 24th at 4:30pm 🧵 www.eventbrite.com/e/fundraiser...

When politicians tells you to fear something, they’re using you. Every time. When other people tell you to fear something because politicians made them afraid of it, you’re being used. When people you know tell you they’re afraid because of things they personally witnessed, it’s time to listen.

PRO TIP try not to end your emails with "Looking forward to tit!"

Trump is threatening wars with NATO and Venezuela for the same reason he’s at war with the American people: fascism must always be on the march. Authoritarians are good at offense, but bad at defense. The only strategy for combating the Epstein crisis is literally going to war.

Just to make sure I have this straight: If I step in front of your car while it’s moving, you are then trying to run me over; which means that in self-defense, I can kill you?

Excellent, damning analysis of the video of the killing of Ms Good, from the NYT, including a quick debunking of the “evidence” the President showed other Times reporters last night. www.nytimes.com/video/us/100...

“.. In the last four months alone, immigration officers have fired on at least nine people in five states and Washington, D.C. All of the individuals targeted in those shootings were, like the woman killed on Wednesday, fired on while in their vehicles.” @nytimes.com www.nytimes.com/2026/01/07/u...

Whether it’s Democrats putting their pronouns in email signatures or Republicans shooting and killing unarmed drivers, both sides have taken actions that the other side finds threatening.

Make it viral.

Black people five years ago: you know, they can kill anyone they want to out there Everybody today: hot damn, did you know they can kill anyone they want to out there?

It’s genuinely wild that the United States spent decades building an elaborate rules-based international order which de facto cemented its permanent status as the dominant global hegemon, sustained by ideology rather than might, and now is just blowing it all up for literally no reason

We're celebrating @volumesbooks.bsky.social in their final weeks as a beloved home for readers and writers in our city. Come join us, Chicago.

I have so many amazing memories from @volumesbooks.bsky.social, and the Chicago lit world of the last ten years wouldn’t be the same without it. www.eventbrite.com/e/an-author-...

And please, PLEASE let us not forget that time in 2023 when Karen Smith was elected President of the school board in Bucks County, Pa and swore her oath on a stack of banned books. The most gangsta oath ever! Just brilliant. www.edweek.org/leadership/t...

Just a service announcement: Wearing AirPods 4 is like cramming oblong bowling balls into your ears. The sound might be great, but you'll be ready to do a Van Gogh in like half an hour.

I hope we’re now in the year when it happens the year when it happens the year when it happens… 🎶

Sound on… Best $15 I’ve spent in a long time. Happy 2026!

Honestly the best $15 I’ve spent in a long time. (Better with sound on…) Happy 2026!

I don't have a year-end movie or book list for you, but I DO have thoughts on quail eggs and hospital karaoke, news about some writing classes, a worthy translators’ association that needs our help, and the AIDS unit I wrote about in The Great Believers. Join me! open.substack.com/pub/rebeccam...

Orcas, DEPLOY!

Thank you to all the performers who are canceling their events at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts.

Misread this as “according to hundreds of pyros” and I definitely had some guesses