From one of our favorite Chicago writers comes a funny and moving novel in which a former college swimmer falls off a cruise ship and must keep treading water as memories and regrets wash over him! We’ve got SIGNED COPIES of MAN OVERBOARD! Thanks for visiting @kathleenmrooney.bsky.social 😘

Want to celebrate Latinx culture, artistic collaboration, & community in support of the artists, writers, & performers of the Lit+Luz Festival as well as MAKE Lit's work building creative bridges between Chicago & Mexico? Come to the Empty Bottle on August 8th! www.litluz.org/luzattheedge

"...Big Existential Questions and silly jokes..." Thanks to @awolfson.bsky.social for the chance to talk about both in Man Overboard! in this interview at the @chicagorevbooks.bsky.social! chireviewofbooks.com/2026/07/07/k...

Tonight! Monday, July 13 at 7:00 pm! I'll be at Anderson's Bookshop in Naperville, Illinois in conversation with Caro Macon Fleischer about Man Overboard! and signing copies with my seahorse pen and seahorse stamp! See you there!

This piece in Newcity by @elizabethniarchosneukirch.com about what makes a Chicago Beach Read -- including Rowan Beaird, @cynthiapelayo.bsky.social, Dawn Turner, and yours truly -- is fantastic! lit.newcity.com/2026/07/08/b...

"The novel is by turns perceptive and inspiring as it traces the impact unresolved grief has on Kick’s relationships and frame of mind. It’s also really funny." Huge thanks to @mitch-h-r.bsky.social for this super-fun Q&A in Interlocutor! interlocutorinterviews.com/kathleen-roo...

"My fifth novel, Man Overboard!, is a dark comedy—kind of a beach read about a guy who has no beach." Kathleen Rooney shared a playlist for her novel Man Overboard! at Largehearted Boy largeheartedboy.com/2026/07/07/k...

Tomorrow! Saturday, July 11th at 3:00 pm at Seminary Coop! Come hear me in conversation with the fantastic Deb Shapiro about Man Overboard! -- RSVP here! www.semcoop.com/event/kathle...

Hey! This is a fun good book in my opinion and if you want you should buy and read it maybe.

@kathleenmrooney.bsky.social ’s new novel MAN OVERBOARD! is a total splash! Over at Interlocutor, we chat about the novel, the sea, cruise ships, the male lonesomeness epidemic and philosophizin’ sea creatures.

Thank you to everyone who came to the Book Stall in Winnetka tonight to hear Sara Levine & me talk about Man Overboard!

NEW PODCAST so thrilled to interview @kathleenmrooney.bsky.social on the same week MAN OVERBOARD! drops. Plus Brendan is pretty stoked about the music this week. Check it out! 🍎: podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/t... Spotty: open.spotify.com/episode/5hPd...

So much fun to be episode 175!

My dudes, MAN OVERBOARD! is officially out today! Thanks to Logan Berry for this interview at Zona Motel & for coining "the Rooney-esque." And see you at the Book Cellar in Lincoln Square tonight at 6:30 where I'll be in conversation with the one & only @amrangowani.com!

happy pub day to @kathleenmrooney.bsky.social ! I’m lucky enough to have read an ARC of MAN OVERBOARD! and can honestly say it’s an all-timer of a summer read. I’ll have thoughts on the blog Friday so you got three days to get a copy and read! kathleenrooney.com/man-overboard/

Cruise-ship-sized thanks to @nprscottsimon.bsky.social for the fabulous questions about Man Overboard! on @npr.org's Weekend Edition this morning! www.npr.org/2026/07/04/n...

Tomorrow! Come to the Chicago History Museum's 4th of July celebration and get a hot, fresh poem while you wait between noon and 2 pm! www.chicagohistory.org/chicago-hist...

"In other words, Rooney doesn’t repeat herself, & in 'Man Overboard!' she’s concocted a hilarious adventure tale of a man floating in the Gulf of Mexico, adrift with himself, his thoughts, & a few sea creatures." Thanks to the @latimes.com! www.latimes.com/entertainmen...

The graphic that the Book Cellar created for my conversation about my forthcoming novel Man Overboard! with @amrangowani.com this coming Tuesday 7/7 at 6:30 pm is a delight. See you there! RSVP at the link!

"Evan Sibley compellingly portrays Patrick 'Kick' Kilpatrick, an Omaha, Nebraska, man stranded in the ocean during a family cruise." Thanks to @audiofilemagazine.bsky.social for recommending Evan Sibley's "engaging, heartfelt performance" of Man Overboard! www.kirkusreviews.com/audiobook-li...

"...men are in an ocean of trouble. Why plunge headfirst into the deepest, darkest depths of the so-called masculinity crisis?" Thanks to @amrangowani.com for interviewing me re: MAN OVERBOARD! Catch us in conversation at the Book Cellar on Tuesday, 7/7! amrangowani.substack.com/p/interview-...

Tomorrow at the National Public Housing Museum! Saturday, 6/28 from 1 to 4 pm! Come get a hot, fresh Poem While You Wait at Groundwaves Generations! nphm.org/event/ground...

networksofny2026.bigcartel.com/product/netw... hi, did you like my book Networks of New York when it came out in 2016? you might like the updated 2026 edition which I'll be releasing in September and you can pre-order now

My fifth novel MAN OVERBOARD! comes out on Tuesday, July 7 & I'm doing a bunch of events to celebrate. Come say hi & scoop up a copy. I'll even sign it with a seahorse pen!

"past life // silent star" a typewriter poem by yours truly from Randolph Street Market! poemswhileyouwait.tumblr.com/post/8193126...

Illinois: Chicago’ s Kathleen Rooney— maybe the city’ s least appreciated great writer— has a hit here:“ Man Overboard! Kathleen Rooney's "Man Overboard!" begins as parody and explores self-realization through a stranded man's journey. #Illinois #Chicago

Drawing is my passion

Now that it’s warm enough to have the windows open, you can really hear the tiny crunching sounds of the flying squirrels eating sunflower seeds on the ledge.

Do you ever feel like you're adrift in the sea and nobody's coming to save you? Then do I have the book for you. Enter the Goodreads giveaway to win a copy of Man Overboard!, out on July 7th! www.goodreads.com/giveaway/sho...

Tomorrow night! Tuesday, 6/2 at 6:30 pm at Haymarket House! See you at the @chicagorevbooks.bsky.social Chicago Writers Showcase!

[Dennis Hopper voice]

So happy that Man Overboard! is on the @nytimes.com’s list of Best Summer Beach Reads!

"unexpected and heartwarming" So happy to see MAN OVERBOARD! on the @nytimes.com's list of Summer's Best Beach Reads! www.nytimes.com/2026/05/24/b...

Our sweet hummingbird Zumita has returned to @martinseay.bsky.social’s & my feeder!

Drawing is my passion

My book has been out for almost exactly 1 year. Working with @rosemetalpress.bsky.social has been one of the most rewarding experiences of my publishing life + I still feel very proud of the writing I did here. Recently, a stranger emailed to say it was "actually better than I expected."

🚨!!! The first hummingbird of the season just visited @martinseay.bsky.social’s & my feeder !!! 🚨

I dig how she will land and eat one (1) seed and then spend five minutes quietly contemplating the mystery of glass

“A jaunty work of surrealism… It’s a hoot.” Thanks to @publisherswkly.bsky.social for this review of my fifth novel MAN OVERBOARD!, out on July 7th!

"FAFO" a typewriter poem by yours truly from the Chicago Literary Hall of Fame! poemswhileyouwait.tumblr.com/post/8156850...

Tomorrow, you guys! @martinseay.bsky.social & I are in Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin teaching in the Write On Door County writers conference this weekend, so we'll be celebrating with Novel Bay Books. Where will you be?

FLEX THAT CHAMP RING

hi friends! I wrote a story that’s an actual eBay description for an actual item: you can read it, you can bid (for a good cause) as part of the #significantobjects2026 project: www.ebay.com/itm/26764354...

Check it out! PWYW’s very own Shane Zimmer composed two poems on demand for WGN TV on Monday, April 13th ahead of our appearance at the American Writers Museum yesterday night! wgntv.com/daytime-chic...

"The Dawn of Spring" a typewriter poem by yours truly from the American Writers Museum! poemswhileyouwait.tumblr.com/post/8140529...

This essay by @martinseay.bsky.social on "My Ding-A-Ling" is riveting, at least if you're the kind of person who wants to read 7,000 words about Chuck Berry (I am that kind of person)

Hey one of y'all needs to buy this clown (or at least read the story)

So many of the old British punks (from Lydon on down) ended up as Brexiteers. There’s a GenX cynicism that - paradoxically - leads a lot of us to become marks for vice signalers

Another video of Uptown's flying squirrels. 25% slow motion. Filmed March 30, 2026.