Thank you, @onlypoemsmag.bsky.social ! substack.com/@whitlynnrio...

As an Orthodox Christian, I should have found this article encouraging. But it makes me more...concerned. Faith is not therapy for masculine insecurities. (If your comment is to trash religion, I'll just block you.) cc @shoutingboy.bsky.social www.nytimes.com/2025/11/19/u...

Congrats to the Fare Forward Poetry Competition winners! First Place: "Dire Wolf" by Isabel Cristina Legarda (@poetintheor.bsky.social) Second Place: "Wisdom" by Joyce Schmid Third Place: "Postcard from Mexico City, 15 July 2025" by Alena Coleman

Many thanks to Earth & Altar (@earthandaltarmag.com) for publishing my poem “Ode to Doilies” and offering some space for playful theological aesthetics. earthandaltarmag.com/posts/ode-to...

So incredibly proud of my twin flame, Monty Bennett, for writing this incredibly thoughtful, vulnerable, and important essay about her experience as a gay Christian. I consider this required reading. www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archiv...

"What makes some political poems last while others feel more like edifying sermons that I will soon forget?... James Cherry's ‘Between Chance and Mercy’ came in to answer my question." @whitlynnrioross.bsky.social reviews "Between Chance and Mercy" by James E. Cherry

I was delighted to have this poem in EcoTheo Review last week! I also 100% recommend screaming in a field for your mental health.

There are roughly a thousand important theological takeaways from Palm Sunday, and this is one that is far too often ignored. www.nytimes.com/2025/04/13/o...

The State Department didn’t reveal the rationale for having these visas rescinded. (via @keranews.org)

Post-youth group Lucille Clifton

This week, my sister offered culture recs in The Atlantic Daily, and they included part of my poem originally published in @rogueagent.bsky.social 😮 I accept this nepotism as payment for years of being a chauffeur, secret keeper, & help in times of troublemaking. www.theatlantic.com/newsletters/...

I finally made/updated an author website. Thank you to poet Lauren Smothers for letting me use her wonderful photography! www.whitneyrioross.com

I'm honored to be included in the gorgeous @lastsyllablelit.bsky.social's latest issue! Many thanks to them for publishing this long poem that took me forever to write as I wrestled with what it means to be the descendent of a long line of white Southerners. lastsyllablelit.com/heres-a-trut...

We have been in Texas for less than 24 hours, and my accent has already gotten stronger. God help me.

Recently, UNC Press authors have had their US visas revoked and talks canceled. For over 100 years, we have stood for academic freedom and open discourse, and continue to do so. Read more on the UNC Press Blog ⬇️

Want to hear wonderful poems to kick off your weekend? Come to The Still Point, featuring the winners of the Fare Forward Poetry Competition! www.eventbrite.com/e/the-still-...

Proud to see my sister starting off this presidency by holding spineless power seekers accountable. www.theatlantic.com/politics/arc...

farefwd.com/index.php/20... I'm really honoured & moved by this beautifully written & meaningful review of my second collection "A Handful of Prayers" Thanks to Matthew Pullar for writing it & to @whitlynnrioross.bsky.social & the team at Fare Forward for publishing it.

Language and dance are my love languages. Thank you so much to Earth & Altar for publishing this poem.

Love this new poem from @whitlynnrioross.bsky.social! "...God was the Christmas pageant star. God was not a girl. The earth he made with apples seeds, the heavens with half-priced glitter. We danced, and God smiled..."

Shadow puppets, a dove, and an exploding notebook…RA 117 is here! With poetry by Stella Brice @wordperv Jaylani Loveday @karennmcpherson Kathy Nelson @whitlynnrioross Alana Torrez Yuan Changming & @suzi00 // www.rogueagentjournal.com/issue117

So honored by the nomination and also honored just to be on any list that includes these poets!

My dad, when asked about when he started dating my mom: "She was a marrying prospect." He calls healthy heifers that he'll keep in the herd good breeding prospects.

We've entered the season when I have to start wearing jeans. I have never gotten used to this transition. Thoughts and prayers appreciated.

I'm here for real now.

Please listen to the most recent season of @npr.org 's Embedded podcast about sex testing in sports. And please don't bully women for being great athletes. Actually, just don't bully anyone.

I forget that this site exists sometimes and therefore forgot to share my thoughts on this great short story collection by Julia Ridley Smith from @blairpub.bsky.social farefwd.com/index.php/20...

If you're not signed up for the Fare Forward newsletter, do it today!... And soon you should receive my poem "Say What?"... I'm really thankful to @whitlynnrioross.bsky.social for selecting the poem. Check out their website and sign up for the newsletter: farefwd.com

"I'm here for a couple days trying to write a book. A small one. I don't know what I'm doing."--an old postcard from my father and exactly how I feel now

I always feel a little scared when asked to review a book by a writer I've never read before. But I am so grateful that @PsalteryLyre gave me the chance to read Elizabeth Harlan-Ferlo's "Incarnation, Again". It's an incredible collection!

Truly honored to have my poem included in such a great journal

Our niece, last month: "Whitney and Joshua are dancing like they just got married today." Here's to seven years 🥂

I reviewed Christian Wiman's latest prose collection, Zero at the Bone, for Fare Forward. It's a beautiful and at times harrowing read. You can check out my take here: farefwd.com/index.php/20...

I had so much fun writing this poem, and I'm thrilled it ended up finding a home in a journal I love!

I really don't think Joshua and I would be married if he used the term Friendsgiving. Language atrocities are such a mood killer.

I wish I'd never had a reason to write this poem, but I'm grateful to River Heron Review for sharing my experience of the day of the Covenant shooting. Advocate for the children on the other side of the world & in your neighborhood. God knows they need it. www.riverheronreview.com/whitney-rior...

Verifying your sources is a way to love your neighbor.

When people read a lot of my poems, they assume I am either a mother or a childless, bitter spinster. I think this says more about our categories for women than it does about me.

I'm typing up my love story for an essay and keep mumbling, "This is so embarrassing."

I just remembered that I once let a woman who had a crush on my ex cut my hair while we were still dating. I must have had a lot more faith in humanity back then.

Looking at all these poems I've written about my father and realizing that there is no explaining this man's contradictions.

I survived a family reunion of Southern Baptists during which I drank no alcohol and did not curse in front of anyone over the age of sixty. Please clap.

When someone I loved died a couple of years ago, I couldn't write for over six months. What finally got me to begin again (very slowly) was memorizing the first part of bell hooks's "Appalachian Elegy." I still need it some days. www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/148751...

I was already occasionally panicking about my niece being in kindergarten in TN this year. Moving into full-time panic now.