On January 24th, my parents home burned down. They and my disabled brother escaped with only minor burns but they lost everything they've ever had. I'm running a GoFundMe to help them recover and rebuild. I would be deeply grateful for any donations but also for any shares!

'A fall into timelessness.' I shall think about this all day. Thank you, @clairepolders.bsky.social clairepolders.substack.com/p/the-last-g...

Check out Claire Polder’s (@clairepolders.bsky.social) mind- and time-bending amazing hybrid piece, “Time Temperament Questionnaire.” “Imagine that for each anticipation, you’d have to sacrifice a memory.” Out today in The Bulb Region. bulbregion.com/Time-Tempera...

THE BULB REGION is now online! 🚀🚀🚀 Make sure to read our four inaugural pieces at: www.bulbregion.com —

With @clairepolders.bsky.social @vineleavespress.bsky.social

In research notes, @clairepolders.bsky.social‬ writes about WOMAN OF THE HOUR (@vineleavespress.bsky.social). necessaryfiction.com/researchnote...

"Polders strikes a delicate balance between the real and the imagined, between dream and wakefulness, between past and present." Marcus Tan reviews Claire Polders' Woman of the Hour. @clairepolders.bsky.social www.smokelong.com/defiance-des...

Crossing Borders in Language and Life booksbywomen.org/crossing-bor... by Claire Polders @clairepolders.bsky.social @vineleavespress.bsky.social

It's pub day for WOMAN OF THE HOUR: Fifty Tales of Longing and Rebellion. Thanks to my agent @marielamba.bsky.social, my publishers @vineleavespress.bsky.social, and all the editors who published my work! Print: vineleavespress.myshopify.com/products/wom... E-book: bookshop.org/p/books/woma...

Congratulations to miCRo contributor @clairepolders.bsky.social on today's release of WOMAN OF THE HOUR: FIFTY TALES OF LONGING AND REBELLION with @vineleavespress.bsky.social .

Excited to share this audio deal for Jennifer De Chiara Literary Agency client @clairepolders.bsky.social Claire Polders' flash fiction collection WOMAN OF THE HOUR with Tantor Audio! @tantoraudio.bsky.social Congrats, Claire!

Read this essay if you want to know what inspired writing is. I can feel the joy the author had in creating this piece; Her energy and thoughts are pushing this story forward. Just great.

"I'm trespassing into the sacred lake of poetry without an invitation, because I’m not wise enough to become the writer I want to be in any other way." ~ @clairepolders.bsky.social brevity.wordpress.com/2025/06/30/p...

The Travel Wire: best travel reads No. 40 Comparing Da Nang and Nha Trang, the secret CIA base in Laos, the reinvention of Catania, Sumba is not Bali, and more travel reads. www.thetravelwire.net/p/13-june-2025

"Fellow authors were publishing flash fiction collections with small, independent presses. I was genuinely happy for them ... but I wondered: Why are their collections getting published and not mine?" @clairepolders.bsky.social discusses taking things into her own hands despite having an agent.

The coalition government in the Netherlands has fallen. The far-right leader Geert Wilders withdrew because the other politicians didn’t give him what he wanted. Does this mean democracy still works in the Netherlands? Let’s see what happens in the next election. Cannot wait to vote!

I’ve been busy rewriting my novel set in the Netherlands and Indonesia, and have hardly paid attention to my physical presence in Mexico. Do you have this, too, this feeling of disconnect when you write, as though you’re living in two separate worlds?

I just bought tickets to Machu Picchu, and I’m as excited as a little kid! It will be crowded in August, but I’m not going to let that stop me from enjoying the Sacred Valley and discover the rest of Peru.

We are open for poetry, creative nonfiction, and flash fiction through May 15th! jmwwblog.wordpress.com/2025/05/04/s...

Cover reveal for Woman of the Hour: Fifty Tales of Longing and Rebellion (Vine Leaves Press, July 29, 2025). What do you think? I have digital ARCs for reviewers and am available for podcasts, interviews, guest posts, and what all not. Please get in touch! (clairepolders AT gmail DOT com)

“Making peace with Israel as her home may be too much to ask, but in her moving memoir, a truce within her family and herself seems within Lang’s reach.” Claire Polders reviews Jennifer Lang’s new memoir. @clairepolders.bsky.social worldliteraturetoday.org/2025/march/l...

Sea lions photobombing sunsets is a real problem on the Galápagos.

More great reads! Here's an all-time fav middle-grade novel - charming, powerful, magical in war-time Paris. A child brings magic and humanity with the help of a whale in the Seine! A WHALE IN PARIS (Atheneum) by @clairepolders.bsky.social & Daniel Presley #kidlit bookshop.org/p/books/a-wh...

Let’s meet the marine iguana today. Camouflaged in the brush on the beach, sunbathing on a boulder, or on its way to the supermarket near the dock. They’re huge and slow, unless they’re swimming. They’re wild!

On our second day on San Christobal, I clambered over the rocks to watch this Blue-footed Boobie from up close. They seemed undisturbed by my presence, as they seemed undisturbed by the nearby presence of huge marine iguanas that freaked me out a bit. The Galápagos Islands are truly amazing.

Step aside with your cat pictures: I got baby seals!

We made it to the Galapagos! I am in awe. It’s sea lion pup season.

The Galapagos Day 2. Well, it’s still the day before our big adventure: Walking tour through Quito. Gawking at the Ecuadorian gargoyles at the Basilica of the Sacred Heart. Tasting premium chocolate (with 🌶️!). Observing the locals selling fruits, fried snacks, drinks, and masks.

The Galapagos Day 1: Left the USA with a 4-hour delay and arrived in Quito, the capital of Ecuador, just in time to see the sunset from the road, just in time to gaze at the clouds grazing the mountains. Hungry, tired, yet grateful to be here.

S/o to my scrappy publisher who has only deep empathy for their authors stuck in the metaverse to hustle books. Can you please (plz!) share the shit out of (& preorder!) my forthcoming book here? I want Bluesky to be THE platform for authors. regal-house-publishing.mybigcommerce.com/closer/ 🙏🙏📙📙

I interviewed excellent flash writer @lynnmundell.bsky.social and publisher of @centaurlit.bsky.social for my Artists in the Wild series of my newsletter Wander, Wonder, Write. Please read to show her some love! clairepolders.substack.com/p/artists-in...

The full moon rising over the mountains surrounding LA. I cannot help but find it beautiful despite everything.

Somehow I ended up in a live music bar (with a bad sound engineer) in Thai Town LA where everyone but me is dressed up as some type of (drunk) Santa. #americansareweird

What do you call it when a restaurant models their terrace chairs after the church’s façade? Santo Spirito, Florence.

What I may mean when I heart your post: - Thanks for sharing that. - I like what you say. - Congratulations! - Your words made me smile. - I agree! - Wow, that’s amazing! - Hello, how are you? Good to see you here again. - I’m still here—look this is my proof. - Don’t worry, you’re doing great.

Today I learned that one egg (un uovo) is masculine in Italian and two eggs (due uova) is feminine, and now I have to make sense of Italy and its people all over again.

A lit mag accepted one of my stories. They offered one printed contributor copy sent to my address. Never done it before, yet I asked whether I could receive a modest payment instead, since I don’t have an address. Was that rude? The next day, the editor pulled my piece. I’m relieved she did.

Roman men explain things to me.

Alright, let’s connect! I’ve always loved blue skies. Where are all the readers, writers, travelers, and nomads?