An amazing 2025 Across the Genres reading featuring Jason Magabo Perez, @margapinta2.bsky.social, and Halina Duraj.

'Tis the season

TONIGHTONIGHTONIGHT!!! Featuring readings by @margapinta2.bsky.social, Halina Duraj, and Jason Magabo Perez.

Overheard my 4-year-old patiently talking to my 1-year-old from the other room, "Noooo, we don't put grapes in the toilet."

Earlier this year, in a season of anxious unemployment, I wrote about Chicago's pride and prehistoric joy—SUE the T. rex. It's an essay about fossils and faith; minerals and humble miracles; the conditions that enable transubstantiation. #FossilFriday @therumpus.net therumpus.net/2025/12/05/t...

Last week we had the absolute pleasure of @kfoslundquist.bsky.social joining the @plnuwritingma.bsky.social program to share her writerly wisdom. So grateful to her for a fantastic visit!

SO PSYCHED to have Foxglove up at @therumpus.net: longing for the lost "wild" homes I shared with my great-grandfather (+ our irregular hearts), a healthy dose of mothering, health anxiety, and suburban yard maintenance! Take your Kali arsenicosum before you read it! therumpus.net/2025/12/04/f...

Happy letter of recommendation season to those of you who celebrate!

s a w a b u g t o n i g h t

Had a blast teaching @kfoslundquist.bsky.social’s BEARD last week in class. We discussed chapter beginnings and endings and discovered what we already knew from reading the book: that this is a memoir MASTERFULLY written.

Join us tomorrow for an afternoon craft workshop and evening reading from visiting writer @kfoslundquist.bsky.social, author of "Beard: Memoir of a Marriage"!

Don't miss @karenpalmer.bsky.social's "Aftermath" at @therumpus.net—a stunning essay about the Eaton Fire and the significance of what we surround ourselves with. #RumpusEssays therumpus.net/2025/11/12/a...

It’s rainy today in San Diego, so when I dropped my kid at school, he started inside his classroom instead of lining up outside in the recess yard. The parents were in chaos trying to navigate this change to the drop-off because this was the first rainy day since school started.

Don't we all love looking, as a wonderful poet observed, at dead things? A good season for that perspective. Thanks to @robbiemaakestad.bsky.social @mattweiland.bsky.social @therumpus.net. Companion piece from a WIP appearing soon in @revelliterary.bsky.social #booksky therumpus.net/2025/11/10/t...

New ROBBIE & JAMES TALK MUSIC Penny & Sparrow concert episode, featuring: — Two Penny & Sparrow tracks — @jawicks75.bsky.social talking horror films — Me talking @jillchristman.bsky.social‘s “The Avocado” & braided essays robbieandjamestalkmusic.podbean.com

This @colinhamilton.bsky.social essay about writers dying is NEXT LEVEL GOOD. @therumpus.net #RumpusEssays therumpus.net/2025/11/10/t...

Today I made a Bloody Mary using a pack of Arby's horsey sauce, and even I am truly disgusted with myself.

Man, the pandemic really ruined it for all those people who wanted to name their first child “Covid.”

Pumped that @jillchristman.bsky.social's "Spinning Webs in Space" at @therumpus.net got listed as a Notable Essay in THE BEST AMERICAN ESSAYS 2025. Shout-out to @darcyjaygagnon.bsky.social for editing Jill's essay. #RumpusEssays

My four-year-old suggested we "just buy a house for $1" so lmk if anyone here in San Diego is selling!

Really proud of @annawangyuan.bsky.social!!! www.pointloma.edu/news/ma-writ...

Check out Episode 31: 1986 where @jawicks75.bsky.social and I look at music, films, and an essay from 1986. Featuring: - Music by Prince and The Cure - Tim Hunter's RIVER'S EDGE - Richard Ben Cramer's "What Do You Think of Ted Williams Now?" robbieandjamestalkmusic.podbean.com

I'm loving Adam Curtis's SHIFTY. A found footage BBC documentary about Britain and Thatcherism. Well worth a watch as it informs today's U.S. political landscape in grim ways. www.youtube.com/watch?v=9qtI...

Not only was I not in Paris this weekend, but I also don't know how to ride a motorcycle or operate an angle grinder. PLEASE STOP SAYING THAT I RAIDED THE LOUVRE.

Listen to Episode 30: Melancholy Songs if u like: - Sad music - @angermonsoon.bsky.social's essays - Tracy Chapman's "Fast Car" - Up-and-coming Irish bands (DUG) - @thomyorke.wastehq.social defending sad songs - @jawicks75.bsky.social - the word "fluorescence" robbieandjamestalkmusic.podbean.com

Okay, if nobody else wants to be the Duke of York, I can be the Duke of York.

@lizcharlottegrant.bsky.social will be here for in-person/live-streamed events, leading a workshop and discussing her book "Knock at the Sky" on October 29th! Purchase your tickets here! plnu.universitytickets.com

Last night in class we looked at structure and transitions in @lizcharlottegrant.bsky.social‘s KNOCK AT THE SKY. Excited to have Liz out to @plnu.bsky.social for the @plnuwritingma.bsky.social Visiting Writers series!!! In-person and streaming tickets here plnu.universitytickets.com

Robbie & James Talk Music: Episode 29 - On Rotation. robbieandjamestalkmusic.podbean.com In which @jawicks75.bsky.social and I discuss: -Amelia Earhart, -Margaret Thatcher, -"Shifty" by Adam Curtis, -The purpose of art, -Rick Rubin, -Music by Public Service Broadcasting, -Music by Spoon.

FYI, @therumpus.net is still open for essay submissions! If you want to get an idea of what we publish, check out the #RumpusEssays threads below. therumpus.submittable.com/submit

In September 2025, we published 10 siiiiicccck essays at @therumpus.net so here’s a #RumpusEssays thread: We kicked things off with Celia Bell’s “Unwriting the Great American Novel: Helen DeWitt’s ‘Your Name Here’”—an essay about Helen DeWitt’s novels. therumpus.net/2025/09/09/u...

We had an amazing @plnuwritingma.bsky.social Visiting Writers Series with @samuelashworth.bsky.social. He ran a masterclass on student drafts, read from THE DEATH AND LIFE OF AUGUST SWEENEY, and delivered a lecture titled “The Art of Telling.” Such a generous, wise human!

Pumped to have @samuelashworth.bsky.social visiting the @plnuwritingma.bsky.social program today to talk about THE DEATH AND LIFE OF AUGUST SWEENEY. In-person and live-stream tickets are still available plnu.universitytickets.com

it's tha 1st of tha month, submissions are open thanks !

Thrilled to have @samuelashworth.bsky.social joining the @plnuwritingma.bsky.social Visiting Writers Series tomorrow!!! Get your streaming and in-person tickets here: plnu.universitytickets.com

An honor to be featured on episode 94 of THE WRITTEN SCENE podcast. I had a lovely conversation about writing with the host, Adam Greenfield. open.spotify.com/episode/5qFk...

We're relaunching ROBBIE & JAMES TALK MUSIC: -Short episodes -Two songs per episode -Me: talking creative writing [email protected]: talking film -Availability on pretty much every listening platform. Give it a listen! We're proud of this relaunch. robbieandjamestalkmusic.podbean.com

I've been in the same 12-team fantasy baseball franchise league since high school. Starting in 2015, I placed 3rd 9 out of 10 years. Again, this is a 12-team league. But this year, I finally won. THE MONKEY IS OFF MY BACK, Y'ALL.

This summer @therumpus.net published some truly stunning essays via our Essays section. Here's a #RumpusEssays thread: Starting things off, @josiahroberts.bsky.social's "To Adopt a Grandparent" therumpus.net/2025/05/06/t...

Last week I taught TENTH OF DECEMBER by George Saunders. Students mapped stories to find the following:

WHAT'S BETTER THAN @therumpus.net OPENING FOR ESSAY SUBMISSIONS??? Well, a few things, tbh, but still.... #RumpusEssays therumpus.submittable.com/submit

Amazing to have R.F. Kuang at @plnu.bsky.social yesterday for the Writers Symposium by the Sea! Kuang did an afternoon Q&A with our @plnuwritingma.bsky.social students, moderated by Dr. Breeann Kirby. So much writing wisdom!!!

Get tickets to today’s livestreamed @plnuwritingma.bsky.social Q&A with R.F. Kuang at 3pm PT!!! plnu.universitytickets.com/w/default.as...

Pumped about the @plnuwritingma.bsky.social Visiting Writers Series which is bringing 6 amazing writers to PLNU this fall. Events will also be live streamed. Purchase tickets here: plnu.universitytickets.com

Just a reminder that today is the final deadline for the @lastsyllablelit.bsky.social book awards!

Congrats to our alum @bennysummerhill.bsky.social, whose essay “‘Tell Me When to Go’ Had Just Dropped and I Was from Oakland” won the inaugural @therumpus.net Prize for nonfiction! Check it out here:

Idk why I thought the box might not be telling the truth, but I opened the box in the back of a supply closet (it *was* a crown of thorns).

My 4-year-old calls black and white photos "Dead people photos."

Reminder that the @lastsyllablelit.bsky.social Book Awards is still open for submissions! If you've recently published a book we want to read it! Visit lastsyllablelit.com/book-awards for more information. Don't miss out on this amazing opportunity!

Exciting professional news: yesterday I was awarded MVP in a kid’s kickball game! I batted 5/7 with two triples, a double, and six of my team’s 15 RBIs in our dominant win against the other kids.