15 days to go. There’s still time to enter the Bridport Prize! Submit your Poetry, Short Story, Flash Fiction or Novel for the chance to win prizes, be published, and have your work read by leading writers and industry professionals. ✨ Open to writers worldwide Enter now: bridportprize.org.uk

My latest Substack on the actress Gladys Cooper, whose photo graces the cover of my forthcoming historical novel, Ancestral Virgins. substack.com/@fionamackin...

"The Desert is Metal" July Westhale #poetry

“I work very hard in subsequent revisions to remove the writerly-ness from it.” —Toni Morrison

And so it goes... Credit: We The Urban

The clock is ticking! ⏰ Just 9 days to get those 100-300 words together & polished for the @freeflashfiction.bsky.social Competition Thirty-Three!

**WIN A FREE PLACE** on one of the Welkin workshops!! Quote post with "Welkin me up!" to put your name in the hat 5 names picked on Friday at noon BST 6 workshops to choose from. Sessions recorded if you can't make it live: www.mattkendrick.co.uk/live-workshops

Pushbike Prize for Flash Fiction A new flash prize and I'm judging! Crannóg Magazine is delighted to announce the inaugural Pushbike Prize for Flash Fiction judged by Nuala O'Connor. €1500 in prizes Subs open May 1st to 21st. www.wordsonthestreet.com/pod.html?fbc...

I started a Substack blog and mailing list! I hope you'll check it out and sign up for free!

I'm delighted that my first ever novella-in-flash Beautiful for You about the life of Princess Diana has been highly commended in the Bath Novella-in-Flash Award! Many thanks to judge Jude Higgins, and congratulations to all the other winners. www.bathflashfictionaward.com/2026/02/judg...

Flash Fiction £1,000 first prize. Up to 250 words. No minimum. Selected writers published in our anthology. Open to writers worldwide. What can you say in 250 words? Enter now → bridportprize.org.uk #BridportPrize #FlashFiction #WritingCompetition #WritersCommunity #AmWriting

"Aspirin" Nin Andrews #poetry #prosepoem

Our site was down due to much-needed maintenance and a server upgrade. Apologies if you tried to visit us and could not get to the site. We are up and running. Thank you for your patience. We are still on a submissions hiatus, but that could change soon. Check back here or on our site for updates.

I don’t think I’ve ever had so many people writing to me to ask about encrypted/secure/private tools for comms, collaboration, and organizing. So @lhn.bsky.social and I talked to experts and assembled this: the Wired guide to organizing in an age of surveillance. www.wired.com/story/how-to...

"Animals" Frank O'Hara #poetry

"A Girl and A Poem" Rashed Hussein #poetry

"Part of Eve's Discussion" Marie Howe #poetry

You have a window installed in your chest so I can see what you mean. Peeping between ribs like blinds at your fist of a heart, pale- knuckled pounding. Wants to be free, you say. But my guess is, your heart is knocking for better luck than me. #vss365 (pale) #ThingsToWriteAbout (window)

It would be worth your time to read more about this man and his too-short life, if you don't know anything about him.

Risking hyperbole, @wired.com and its journalists should be nominated for all the awards, along with @atrupar.com and @hcrichardson.bsky.social and probably others I've neglected to remember and acknowledge. Thank you all for your sustained courage, integrity, and commitment to the truth. 🙏🏻

The power of micro fiction.

"Sometimes it Happens" Brian Patten #poetry

"The Problem with Early Warnings" Charles Rafferty #poetry

Registration is open for my WINTER 2026 online poetry workshop! Join a great group of poets as we inspire one another this winter! See my website christophercitro DOT com for more info & to register. #Poetry #Writing #WritersLife #WritingCommunity

"Responsibility" Grace Paley #poetry

Next year’s flowers are under all this snow.

"Riveted" Robyn Sarah #poetry

"Of the Empire" Mary Oliver #poetry

Add literature to your life by signing up for our poetry newsletter to receive an archival poem to your inbox every weekday morning. buff.ly/SLF5dgT

Announcing my LATE FALL 2025 online poetry workshop! Registration just opened. "In the Landscape of Contemporary Poetry" meets on Zoom Weds 6-8 PM Eastern Time. It starts Dec 3 & runs for 6 classes (skipping Dec 24 and 31). See my website christophercitro DOT com for more info & to register.

Here's a simple way to disable AI mode in Google. I just did it, and I feel like a new, freshly showered woman! www.engadget.com/big-tech/how...

'To love. To be loved. To never forget your own insignificance. To never get used to the unspeakable violence and the vulgar disparity of life around you. To seek joy in the saddest places. To pursue beauty to its lair.' Arundhati Roy, The Cost of Living #BookwormSat 🎨 Courtenay Kusitor

Important. Clear, concise, imperative. Please watch.

there’s a popular digital guide written and used by police that recommends sharing links with URL tracking elements to capture people’s IPs. Linkumori is a browser extension that purifies URLs before trackers can log you.

“If I were talking to a young writer, I would recommend the cultivation of extreme indifference to both praise and blame because praise will lead you to vanity, and blame will lead you to self-pity, and both are bad for writers.” We’ve unlocked interview with John Berryman. buff.ly/bOWysA8

Ahead of a new story of mine on BBC radio four, you can listen (should you wish) to a couple of other pieces of mine. Together they'll make a loose folk horrorish trilogy. here's The Death of Wildflowers:

A gift, because at this point I have nothing else to give. www.nytimes.com/2020/03/18/b...

Very happy indeed to have a short story commissioned by the BBC! Broadcast 3.45pm July 11th, on Radio 4 and Sunday 13th at 11.45pm www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m...

Want to push back against the bigoted attacks targeting trans and gender-nonconforming people? Here are specific ways you can help—with your time, money, and everyday actions.

Today, people—from students to federal workers, from immigrants to the LGBTQ+ community—find themselves forced to fight deportations, surveillance, and the drastic erosion of fundamental human rights. So, WIRED dedicated a whole issue on How To Win A Fight. Start ⬇️: www.wired.com/story/editor...

Happy Bloomsday to my fellow Joyce fans. If you don't know what Bloomsday is, but would like to learn more, here: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bloomsday. Image Credit: Irish Times

Heads up: Buried in a 1,000-page bill is a section that would freeze every state’s ability to enforce A.I. laws for the next 10 years. That means no new protections from A.I. scams, deepfakes, or impersonation. Bad idea.

Credit: Ian Boothby and Pia Guerra (Mannequin on the Moon)

My #UnboxYourWords' June writing prompt is writing joy, inspired by this from @rebeccasolnit.bsky.social “Joy doesn’t betray but sustains activism. And when you face a politics that aspires to make you fearful, alienated and isolated, joy is a fine act of insurrection.” substack.com/home/post/p-...

Currently reading. Not my usual fare, but I'm enjoying it at the recommendation of a friend. Wry humor, interesting characters, smart, intriguing plot, nicely paced. I'm hooked and will probably read more by Chris Pavone.