The Institute for Nonprofit News (inn.org) is a great resource for independent news alternatives that meet high standards, including financial transparency. Some 400+ member orgs all across America.

Now seems like an excellent time to support independent media, like the new Bay Area journalism collective @coyotemedia.org. Smart coverage including arts and sports. Looks to be both hard-hitting and fun, a great combo. I just subscribed, highly recommend. www.coyotemedia.org/hello-from-c...

Cow poetry

If you want to get our stuff in your inbox, there is a way to do that! www.oaklandreviewofbooks.org#/portal/signup

Wrote for The Metropolitan Review about the pros & cons of working w/ small indie presses vs. big presses, the journey from almost being a big fancy author to being a medium unfancy author, and mid-career re-evaluation of what I want out of the writing life www.metropolitanreview.org/p/to-go-big-...

A thoughtful and extremely well-researched deep dive on how Silicon Valley corporations are injecting AI into schools by the multi-talented @vauhinivara.bsky.social (cc @lbyock.bsky.social).

Did I post 'announce' this already today? I don't remember. Anyway. I opened up submissions for Short Story, Long today. Open all September. SSL publishes one "longer" story (2k-8k), every other week. $100 + paired w/ original art commissioned for your story. Publish all and only bangers.

The indispensable @janefriedman.com looks at four key ways publishing has changed in the past 10 years janefriedman.com/how-publishi...

Iowa City people: don’t miss this tonight! Definitely worth it. Am currently halfway through Dogs and more on that soon but you should definitely check this out if you are anywhere in the vicinity. @iowawriterswksp.bsky.social @prairielights.com

Recently I’ve been getting these spam calls where they leave a one second voicemail that my phone transcribes as “No.” As a writer, this feels very normal and standard to me. Almost comforting.

A sighting in the wild never gets old, or I sure hope it doesn’t. Spotted Oromay at @greenapplebooks.bsky.social at SF airport, in proximity to fellow Iowa grad Xochitl Gonzalez’s novel. A good start to my Bread Loaf journey.

I took Apple’s feedback survey for Apple Music and was surprised to see that for the question “How do you listen to Apple Music?“ the possible answers did not include “on my computer.” Which maybe goes some way towards explaining why the Mac Music app is so bad. @siracusa.social

Well, friends, after 13 years (!!) the Book Fight podcast has finally ridden off into the sunset. One last episode, posted today, in which Tom and I do some reminiscing, and a bit of an exit interview (plus we write blurbs for each other)

If you were desperate to end your long-running podcast, murdering your co-host and claiming that they are “on vacation in Canada” would be one way to go. Like, hypothetically. Many thanks to @mikeingram.bsky.social & @tmcallister.bsky.social (rip??) for 13 years (!!) of Bookfight.

✨ FAIR is Book of the Day in The Guardian ✨ www.theguardian.com/books/2025/j... @prototypepubs.bsky.social @theguardian.com

The next deadline to apply for a residency at Yaddo is Thurs Aug 1 (for residencies Nov-June). The application is pretty straightforward, no letters of recommendation needed. It’s an amazing place and my stay there was transformative, so I say go for it! @yaddocommunity.bsky.social yaddo.org/apply/

Translators - the excellent journal Exchanges run out of the stellar mfa program in translation at Iowa is now on Bluesky @literaryexchanges.bsky.social. They’re also open for submissions for what sounds like a cool themed issue on in/fidelity in translations. Give it a look!

I am 75 pages into Baalu Girma's Oromay (1983) and the slick start in Addis nightlife starts turning gloomy, mesmerizing, & bureaucratically, infomation-wise, politically complex. It is likely that this novel about Ethiopia/Eritrea will become a long-lasting friend. Thanks @tommikakko.bsky.social

A top ten moment of my life occurred yesterday when I opened the pre-made salad kit (I know, I know, I usually do make my own but this week is busy) and discovered that it contained TWO packages of shredded cheese. That, my friends, is the taste of victory.

The retro/throwback sports apparel trend has officially gotten out of hand - I just saw an ad (below) for a “Retro Golden State Valkyries Logo T-shirt” from Homage. Folks, the Valkyries are an expansion franchise. Not sure how you can go “retro” during their very first season, but here we are. #wnba

“I dunno, Andy. ... Mom said we were never to go near the old Sutter place.”

Women in Translation month is coming up again in August. Not sure if interest is waning as it was quieter on Twitter the past couple of years and I'm not sure if it has transferred to Bluesky. I'm reading for a review column during August with an all female line up so far. #witmonth to take part.

The Book Fight podcast by @tmcallister.bsky.social and @mikeingram.bsky.social is drawing to a close. They were my gateway to the literary world. Anyone with an internet connection could listen to two writers talk, joke, and occasionally argue about books and writers. Made it all seem possible ;)

Happy to see The Pitt getting some Emmy love, but if that pilot script had been from an unknown writer, it would have sank under a metric ton of notes. “Too many characters. Lead undeveloped. Too much jargon. What conflicts will drive series beyond cliche ‘admin wants to shut us down’?”

Joyeux 14 juillet! Had some very nice ones in France, grateful to everyone I worked with and got to know there. cc: @segovandevelde.bsky.social

Brave Basset Confronts Cowardly Lion

Annoyed to see this Marc Maron guy, whoever he is, getting big media attention for announcing he’s ending his podcast when the Book Fight guys @mikeingram.bsky.social & @tmcallister.bsky.social already made virtually the same announcement months ago. I mean, wtf? www.npr.org/2025/06/02/n...

Excited to dive in! @zyzzyvamag.bsky.social going strong at 40. Kudos @ovillalon.bsky.social & contributors @arlozoroff.bsky.social @cubistoctopus.bsky.social @poetkellycm.bsky.social @mpalaia.bsky.social @fetaplace.bsky.social @dapowell.bsky.social @kimsamek.bsky.social @gregoryspatz.bsky.social

Just came across a good malapropism: “an escape goat.”

Hot Take: Your Friends and Neighbors (Jon Hamm, Apple TV) is like a 1970s John Updike novel with an aftermarket crime subplot bolted onto it. Meant as a description, not a criticism. cc @emilynussbaum.bsky.social @inkookang.bsky.social

Me when I realize it’s Wednesday and I should really deal with the emails etc that I put off until “after the holiday weekend”:

My favorite example of this comes from over a century ago when the Self-Playing Piano industry argued that if they had to pay royalties on the hit songs they were programming their machines to play, they would go under. This really is a second verse same as the first situation.

If you think you might have some writing that’s a good fit for @barrelhouse.bsky.social, they will open for submissions June 1 (below). There’s enough on their website to give you a sense of their general vibe. Based on recent experience, I highly recommend them-they took very good care of my poem.

If you’re wondering where OpenAI got $6.5 billion to buy Jony Ive’s company, the answer is they didn’t. It’s an all-stock transaction. And since OpenAI hasn’t gone public, the value of its shares is effectively whatever the company and its owners say they are. www.nytimes.com/2025/05/21/t...

In addition to our weekly events calendar, we are starting to publish vibe reports on readings, screenings, protests, eatings, things of that nature, and other things: www.oaklandreviewofbooks.org

Feel like it’s also important to mention that this issue of @barrelhouse.bsky.social features contributions by two different writers with basset hounds (myself and @carrieconners.bsky.social). So it’s got that going for it, which is nice. 🐶

Very pleased to be a part of this issue of @barrelhouse.bsky.social - my first published poem! Lots of cool stuff in the issue, all free online (below), so check it out if you have a minute. Me, I’ll be looking up what a villanelle is - I feel like I should know that, now that I’m a poet and all. 😀

I am irrationally irritated when writers use “floor” in outdoor settings or “ground” in indoor settings. (And yes, this absolutely says more about me than them, as it should not be a big deal at all.)

A new Megan Abbott book? Say no more! But if you like more: she’s going on tour too, and she’s a good follow (@meganabbott.bsky.social).

Warming up for a whole new franchise - let’s go Valkyries! #WNBA #GoldenState

I’m routinely amused by how the New York Times’ weekly news quiz reveals things about its readership. Today, for example, 95% of responders knew the type of treatment a baby received for a rare disease, but only 67% knew which NBA team traded Luka Doncic and got the #1 pick in the draft lottery.

A troubling discovery: the Scrivener spellcheck dictionary includes “dumbass” but omits “smartass.” I object to this erasure and marginalization, @scrivenerapp.bsky.social!

Re: the perennial question, “Why didn’t my book get more/any reviews in mainstream media outlets?” (cc @mtaeckens.bsky.social @broadside-pr.bsky.social)

New post from me on fiction(s) and disappearances, Oromay and The Eternaut. Very much looking forward to watching the @netflix.com version of The Eternaut, especially since it seems that the author's family requred strict adherence to the novel. thebrushcontact.substack.com/p/of-fiction...

I miss Spy magazine and its Logrolling section. Just got an issue of a university-based literary journal where the winner of their big annual fiction contest is a recent alum. Not accusing anyone of anything, and I didn’t enter so this isn’t sour grapes, but it’s not a good look.

OK, this is wild. In September 2023, geophysicists across the world started monitoring a very odd signal coming from the ground under them. It was picked up in the Arctic. And Antarctica. It was detected everywhere, every 90 seconds, as regular as a metronome, for *nine days*. What the HELL? 1/

Prediction: The last survivors of end-stage capitalism will be purveyors of current event t-shirts.

Humanitas has collected a series of Resources for Screenwriters recommended by speakers from across our Industry 101 event series. You can find links to script libraries, screenwriting books, podcasts, & more. To view the full list of resources, go to: humanitasprize.org.

Really enjoyed the latest episode of Your Friends & Neighbors, much of it set at Princeton and written by Jennifer Yale.