Join the thronging (or so @storystudiochicago.bsky.social tells me) throngs who are thronging to sign up for this super-duper, IISSM, four-part copyediting celebration!

The 2025 volume of CLOCKHOUSE, a national literary journal, has just been published, & I'm honored it includes my short story "Otto and Edith." So grateful to the entire CLOCKHOUSE team! For more info and to order visit clockhouse.net. #writingcommunity #fightfascism #defenddemocracy

Fun morning with WGN TV talking about Chicago's Taste of Greektown festival and the National Hellenic Museum 🇬🇷✨️ Proud to rep this neighborhood and my Greek American heritage. More in my interview linked below!

We will be publishing cultural criticism every day at The Rumpus. We hope to fill some of this egregious void being created by the mainstream media. Relaunch is in October but we are also publishing between now and then.

Congrats to friend @kp-writer.bsky.social on her debut novel! 🔥👟 #BellaBooks #romance

Great interview on @wdcb909.bsky.social "The Arts Section" today with @rebeccamakkai.bsky.social about StoryBoard Festival Aug. 16-17, presented by @storystudiochicago.bsky.social #writingcommunity 🖊✨️📚 Listen here: theartssection.org/episodes/202...

Our Authors in Conversation event is coming up soon -- August 13! This free event at Sulzer Library features our five StoryBoard Conference & Festival instructors and our Artistic Director Rebecca Makkai. RSVP for your spot now: buff.ly/FwVOOEt #chicago

New book loading... 📖✨️ Beyond excited to be awarded a residency fellowship from @the-vcca.bsky.social to work on my second novel! I'm incredibly grateful for this opportunity and support--especially given the deeply personal origin of my new project. #VCCAFellows #writinglife #artistresidency

Absolutely stunned & over the moon to win the inaugural DAG Prize in Literature, an award to a writer "whose work expands the possibilities of American art." With my entire corazón, thank you to @dagfoundation.bsky.social, Andrew Altschul, & @vauhinivara.bsky.social. lithub.com/michael-zapa...

Thank you @art.newcity.com.web.brid.gy for the lovely review of American Mythology! lit.newcity.com/2025/07/21/f... #Bigfoot #bookreview @doubledaybooks.bsky.social

For anyone who loves myths or American tall tales, check out @giano.bsky.social fantastical, heartfelt debut novel AMERICAN MYTHOLOGY! A great read. More in my first review for Newcity magazine, linked below. #NewBooks #booksky #BookReview #BookRecommendation

Our free Write Out at Begyle Brewing happens next Monday, July 21. Join us for a drink and a few hours of writing. RSVP now: buff.ly/UoEptrX #chicagowriters

✨Cover reveal!✨ Super excited to share the creepy cover of my dreams for my debut novel, HEMLOCK, coming 1/20/26 from @littlebrown.bsky.social & now available for preorder! You can find it at all major retailers and, better yet, your local indie bookstore or @bookshop.org. See you in the woods! 🦌🌲👻

1. Visit @bookshop.org and select the local independent bookstore you wish to support ❤️ 2. Buy more books than you will ever have time to read 📚📚📚 3. Feel happy knowing you have helped authors and bookstores instead of billionaires 🙌🏻

SUNDAY SALON CHICAGO is pleased to announce its next in-person reading event @roscoebooks.bsky.social on July 27 at 7 pm CT, featuring Rita Woods, Cynthia Pelayo, @meganstielstra.bsky.social, Westley Heine, & @wesblake.bsky.social 🔥❤️👏 Bios are up at www.sundaysalon-chicago.com. Mark your calendars!

So excited to have an essay in ON AN INLAND SEA: WRITING THE GREAT LAKES, edited by @mbwwelch.bsky.social, coming out in March of 2026 from @beltmagazine.bsky.social. Preorders are now live. Add to cart! beltpublishing.com/products/on-...

Jess Walter's SO FAR GONE is one of the most fun reading experiences I've had in a while. If you're a fan of his, you'll love this book -- it feels like a greatest hits album of his career. My review for @chicagorevbooks.bsky.social: chireviewofbooks.com/2025/06/16/f... #books #booksky

There is truly nothing better than a summer festival in Chicago -- especially a writer's festival! Join us at the Newberry Library August 16-17 for our StoryBoard Festival -- a weekend of craft and publishing classes, panels, and social events. Tickets on sale now: buff.ly/wVY8fg8 #chicago

So stoked to be teaching Novel in a Year again. If you're looking for a formative, dedicated year to start or finish that novel, come write with me! :)

Congrats to all the Chicago literary VIPs featured in this year's Newcity Lit 50, including friends @jesskeller42.bsky.social & @anandalima.bsky.social @storystudiochicago.bsky.social, Bette Cerf Hill, @mbwwelch.bsky.social, and @awmuseum.bsky.social Carey Cranston & Allison Sansone! #ChicagoIsLit 📚

Thrilled to featured on the Hear Us Roar podcast to talk about my debut novel, Coming Clean. Thank you, Women's Fiction Writers Association and Maggie Smith, for the great discussion. Listen here: maggiesmithwriter.com/podcast/ @regalhouse.bsky.social

We're excited to bring you another installment of our American Prophets programming series. On June 23, join us for Faith is Funny at the Studebaker Theater! Featuring @neginfarsad.bsky.social, @harikondabolu.bsky.social, ‪@petersagal.bsky.social, and Kate Sidley Get tickets at bit.ly/4kXvUu7

Who’s up for a body-horror love story? If you act fast, you can read it before my husband does. Many thanks to @aaronburch.bsky.social & @havehashad.com for giving this cringey cnf a good home.

Leaf Town Forever--the picture book in haiku that I co-wrote w/Beth Rooney & that is illustrated by Betsy Bowen--has a gorgeous cover & is available for pre-order at @uminnpress.bsky.social Add to cart now to receive it when it's out on October 14th, 2025! www.upress.umn.edu/978151791737...

Oh hey, @tmcallister.bsky.social's IT ALL FELT IMPOSSIBLE is on the @washingtonpost.com's list of 15 new paperbacks to read this month! www.washingtonpost.com/books/2025/0...

I made you a REAL summer reading list of fifteen REAL books by REAL authors— books that might not be on your radar. Some old, some newer. Here it is. rebeccamakkai.substack.com/p/fifteen-re...

Great event coming up in Chicago with award-winning journalists & authors @natalieymoore.bsky.social and @lizflock.bsky.social on Tues, May 27. Free registration, details below!

Fun previewing the massive Vivid Creatures sculptures at The MortonArboretum this past week with @nbcchicago.com & @wgntv.com 🌈🐌🌳 A beautiful and whimsical exhibition!

My column in the Sun-Times today: www.everygoddamnday.com/2025/05/is-n...

It was an absolute joy talking Greek mythology with the cast of #Hadestown at the National Hellenic Museum this past Thursday! 🏺🎶 With thanks to @broadwayinchicago.bsky.social for partnering with us and @emilymcclanathan.bsky.social for this great @chicagotribune.com story.

I'm so happy that this article is now online. I wrote about Javier and Kristin of Chicago's Exile in Bookville -- with help from @gillianflynn.bsky.social, Nathan Hill, and TJ Newman. Amazing people, amazing store.

The Scald-Crow, a horror comedy and my debut novel, has a cover and is available for pre-order! Releasing Oct. 14, 2025, The Scald-Crow explores medical trauma and invisible disability by asking "Can a sick woman ever be trusted?" Cover done by Luisa Dias, and crow illustration by Jaya Nicely.

Tomorrow night at the @storystudiochicago.bsky.social Story Ball! Come get a hot, fresh haiku while you wait from Ola Faleti, Rachel Robbins, Eric Plattner & yours truly! www.storystudiochicago.org/storyball/

"Books and art allow us to be fully realized. Authoritarians want to oppress us. They want us to feel downtrodden. But art gives us hope." @gregzimmerman.bsky.social's interview with @samiraahmed.bsky.social is out now. chireviewofbooks.com/2025/05/01/r...

Looking for some literary things to do in the coming weeks? Check out @elizabethniarchosneukirch.com's Chicago Is Lit column for @thirdcoastrvw.bsky.social! thirdcoastreview.com/2025/04/25/c...

Sunday Salon Chicago is back! Join us on April 27 at 6 pm CT on ZOOM for an exciting evening of prose and poetry, featuring Maggie Paul, Liz Rose Shulman, @sudhab.bsky.social, @wendywisner.bsky.social, & Todd Cirillo 💖🔥🌎🌈☀️🌺 For Zoom registration & authors' bios, visit www.sundaysalon-chicago.com

Red Clay Dance Company kicked off a three-night run Thursday at the Dance Center of Columbia College Chicago, a risk-taking dance venue now in its 51st season.

Great morning at @abc7chicago.bsky.social with acclaimed author @nghivo.bsky.social & @awmuseum.bsky.social president Carey Cranston, talking about the "Making New Gods" event this Tuesday 4/22 at Harold Washington Library - which kicks off the museum's new #AmericanProphets initiative.

I'm absolutely delighted to find The Great Believers on Kirkus's list of the 100 Best [fiction] Books of the Century (So Far), along with so many books I love. 😍😭 www.kirkusreviews.com/fiction/best...

"The Portable Feminist Reader" is essential reading. All women are not yet free, but in this sweeping intersectional collection, @roxanegay.bsky.social reminds us that feminists have the collective power to create a more inclusive & equitable future. More in my @chicagorevbooks.bsky.social review.

Next week, join us for the first event for our upcoming exhibit, American Prophets, at Harold Washington Library! Held in partnership with Chicago Public Library, Making New Gods will feature sci-fi authors N.K. Jemisin, Nnedi Okorafor, Nghi Vo, & Matthew Kirby. Learn more here! hubs.ly/Q03hsHKj0

From the Editorial Board: Our public libraries serve as a great equalizer. Funding them should be a priority.

📚 #ChicagoIsLit in May: Great FREE event coming up with National Book Award finalist Carmen Maria Machado on May 22, hosted by @storystudiochicago.bsky.social at Newberry Library (and online). In conversation with the fabulous @meganstielstra.bsky.social. Details below!

Access to literature and history should be a nonpartisan issue. Great story from @ericathompson.bsky.social about the fight to keep the Institute of Museum and Library Services funded, so communities nationwide can continue to have free access to information and BOOKS 📚 #freedomtoread

Announcing our upcoming special exhibit and programming series, American Prophets, supported by a $2.5 million grant from Lilly Endowment Inc. through its Religion & Cultural Institutions Initiative. Learn more about the exhibit and upcoming programming at bit.ly/4ilSuvy

Celebrate Greek independence, culture & traditions with us in Greektown tomorrow! 🇬🇷✨️

Natalie Lawrence explores our enduring obsession with monsters and what the myth of the Minotaur unearths about human nature.

"The through-line of her inspirational and instructional advice in Dear Writer is that we slow down enough to live our lives and notice the world around us again..." Fantastic review by @elizabethniarchosneukirch.com of Maggie Smith's new book. chireviewofbooks.com/2025/04/01/w...

"...the beauty of writing is that we are never finished learning or seeing the world around us in new ways." @elizabethniarchosneukirch.com's review of "Dear Writer," by Maggie Smith (Washington Square Press) is out now. chireviewofbooks.com/2025/04/01/w...

"The Portable Feminist Reader" is essential reading. All women are not yet free, but in this sweeping intersectional collection, @roxanegay.bsky.social reminds us that feminists have the collective power to create a more inclusive & equitable future. More in my @chicagorevbooks.bsky.social review.