This week, we're reading: Chloé Caldwell's tell-all about selling her book WOMEN on dating apps; @mrbrianbenson.bsky.social's flash piece on the bane of existence that is 3:27pm; & Megan Marshall's essay on the left-handed women in her family, drawn from her book AFTER LIVES. Read: buff.ly/6J14g1M

I have a new piece in Permafrost, the perfect home for a story set in subzero Northwoods winter. This one’s about teenage naïveté, my failure to be the kind of man I was raised to believe I should be, and a small kindness from a stranger. www.uaf.edu/permafrostma...

Alternate title: what I talk about when I talk about the white male victim complex. This one means a lot to me, so happy it ended up with Cleaver! www.cleavermagazine.com/dont-find-me...

I’ve got a tiny story about a big boy, a little boy, & a doomed teddy bear in Six Sentences, a rad journal I somehow only learned of last week, after reading @miriamgershow.bsky.social’s stellar six-line micro. (Fellow writers of tiny stories, submit here!) sixsentences.blogspot.com/2025/03/toy-...

Um, everything is awful but I submitted a flash to Six Sentences & a little over an hour later, they published it! sixsentences.blogspot.com/2025/03/maw....

Having trouble adjusting to Daylight Savings? How do you feel about 3:27 pm specifically? Read this deliciously-unhinged sentence by @mrbrianbenson.bsky.social about how it feels to live in this more-than-slightly-unhinged society tahomaliteraryreview.com/selections/a...

This Wednesday at 6, I'll be at Broadway Books, talking with @gfaulknerwriter.bsky.social about his fantastic new book, THE ART OF BREVITY. Come hang out with us!

I wrote a slightly-unhinged sentence about how it feels to live in this more-than-slightly-unhinged society and I’m so happy it landed in @tahomareview.bsky.social tahomaliteraryreview.com/selections/a...

My neighborhood is getting such a cool bookstore! Can’t wait for this place to open its doors.

I’ve got two new essays up at Harpur Palate: the first is about an ill-fated “guys trip,” the second about my younger self’s (mis)understanding of strength. Thanks, @oozannesay.bsky.social, for giving these such a good home! harpurpalate.binghamton.edu/benson-brian...

Congratulations to all of these amazing writers, and especially to @ericajberry.bsky.social, whose work I look forward to reading for years and years and years.

Randy Foster has worked at New Seasons for 19 years. At 1:30pm today mgmt fired him for “violating Oregon break laws.” His infraction, helping a blind coworker close out his till while on lunch break. By 3:15 his coworkers walked out the Arbor Lodge store demanding reinstatement.

Huge congrats to @rclarren.bsky.social, @miriamgershow.bsky.social, Laura Moulton & all the other OR Book Award finalists & award recipients! literary-arts.org/2025/01/anno...

Love a dog love story

“I was almost five years old, it was Christmas day, and I knew something was wrong because I’d gotten everything I’d asked for.” This essay by @femmeintheory.bsky.social ground me to a pulp. So good.

I wrote this love letter to my deranged muppet of a dog way back in 2020, but it sure does read like I wrote it yesterday. So happy it landed in @xraylitmag.bsky.social, a journal I’ve adored for years.

“I always thought I was a science project. Maybe all girls are.” Loved this trippy micro by @oozannesay.bsky.social.

A good time to look at the work Authors Against Book Bans has been doing. www.authorsagainstbookbans.com

The next sesh of my memoir workshop for male-identified writers begins soon! There are a couple of open seats and I’d love to fill them w/ men who are interested in writing and reading in community while exploring what masculinity is and could be. www.brianbensonwrites.com/rewriting-ma...

A big thank-you to the good folks at Reckon Review for publishing this one, about how James Bond helped me face my dad's mortality.

First post, first Pushcart nom! This essay means a lot to me, and I’m honored that Sweet Lit chose it. Wowed by the other nominees, too—@karenkao.bsky.social’s essay in particular is a stunner. sweetlit.org/pushcart-nom...