Ever wonder how bookstores decide what books to stock out of the "Fifty thousand new books a year [published] in the United States"*? A bookstore buyer explains: * 50k is just traditionally published books countercraft.substack.com/p/interview-...

Twin Cities folks! Reminder that its one of the big book events of the year tomorrow and this conversation in particular looks like fire 🔥 . . . already armed with both of these books for some fresh author ink.

If you blame migrants collectively for the horrible actions of a few but do not hold white people collectively responsible when white people commit heinous crimes, that's racism. Just saying.

Congratulations to Vajra Chandrasekera (@vajra.me), recipient of the 2025 Ursula K. Le Guin Prize for Fiction for Rakesfall! Chandrasekera's book was chosen by authors Matt Bell, Indra Das, Kelly Link, Sequoia Nagamatsu, and Rebecca Roanhorse.

On Tuesday, October 21st—Ursula's birthday—we'll announce the recipient of the 2025 Ursula K. Le Guin Prize for Fiction! Join Theo Downes-Le Guin and guest host Ebon Moss-Bachrach on YouTube for a live announcement at 9 am PDT. The announcement will happen here: www.youtube.com/@ursula.k.le...

🌟 Shortlisted for the 2025 Ursula K. Le Guin Prize for Fiction 🌟 Remember You Will Die traces the lives of artists, activists, scientists, and more as they intersect with the existence of a yearning AI. Eden Robins weaves a polyphonic narrative that is intergenerational, art-filled, and subversive.

🌟 Shortlisted for the 2025 Ursula K. Le Guin Prize for Fiction 🌟 Nghi Vo’s latest novel, The City in Glass, is a story about deeply understanding and loving a place, and about the difficult, necessary, meaningful work required to rebuild when one’s world is irrevocably broken.

Vajra Chandrasekera (@vajra.me) introduces his second novel, Rakesfall, which is is shortlisted for the 2025 Ursula K. Le Guin Prize for Fiction. For more about this year's shortlist: www.ursulakleguin.com/prize25

When a faculty member at another institution mentions that one of your short stories was important to them when they were an undergraduate . . . guess I'm gonna turn into dust now?

I cannot tell you how much the “Thank you for your attention to this matter” thing drives me around the freaking bend.

Doing laps in the Mall of America with the seniors with zero crowds is actually kind of lovely 😂

Really fascinated at how much the evolution of criticism and how much the communities in which a writer rises (not to mention privilege and certain "badges" for entry in certain spheres) influences how much we see certain writers as SFF or something else, which is of course not just an either/or.

Schedule today of this 40-something writer/professor: Writing + morning coffee —> Reading Tin House workshop stories -> Downton Abbey movie (we’ve been rewatching the series in prep) —> MFA mentee zoom —> Department service prep —> Prob workshop stories —> MN Lake exercise + reading

Books by @sentencebender.bsky.social , @tochitruestory.bsky.social , @nnedi.bsky.social, @saadzhossain.bsky.social , and @sequoian.bsky.social (whose book on this list is AMAZING!) bookriot.com/books-marryi...

The average American simply has no idea how quickly the infrastructure that keeps us safe and healthy is collapsing. These systems run in the background thanks to government employees who quietly do critical work. Those employees are being purged and systems are being destroyed.

If we lived in a world that made any sense, this would be the definitive end of ChatGPT and everything like it

I guess it's #nationaldogday, so here are just a few shots of Fenris. He had a rough start as a puppy (abandoned in the snow in South Dakota and some of his litter mates didn't make it) + lots of training/classes during Covid lockdown (and prob some abandonment issues since he was a Covid puppy).

Delighted to reveal the cover for my forthcoming book from @jacklegpress.bsky.social with huge thanks to amazing editor @fulmerford.com

I understand an argument has been made about why to stay on the former Twitter. Here is my counterargument: It's a miserable fucking place run by a fascist catering to fascists, and I've been much happier not being on it, so there

One of the #AWP26 hotels has a paranormal/ghosty reputation! Bonus imo. www.cbsnews.com/baltimore/ne... + there are ghost tours at the hotel . . . yes.

Looks like I'll definitely be at #AWP26 in Baltimore in March! Three panels accepted, one that I'll be moderating (Speculating the Machine), with some of my favorite writers. Keep us on your radar if you're going to AWP and want to talk dystopias, AI, & teaching genre fiction!

I'm really just looking out my window and not spying on people at my Little Free Library. The one symptom of having an LFL is that you suddenly seem like a creeper every time you glance outside 😂 . . . on the plus side? I live in a neighborhood of avid readers.

"It is okay to decide not to write about something. You are not more brave for suffering." ~ Carmen Maria Machado

🌟Shortlisted for the 2025 Ursula K. Le Guin Prize for Fiction🌟 Layered with history, culture, and folklore, Nalo Hopkinson’s novel about griot-in-training Veycosi is a lush, adventurous feast of possibility and wit.

Nghi Vo (@nghivo.bsky.social‬) introduces and reads from her novel The City in Glass, which is shortlisted for the 2025 Ursula K. Le Guin Prize for Fiction. For more about this year's shortlist: www.ursulakleguin.com/prize25

When you’re impromptu dining at the airport before a family reunion Airbnb check-in and you get an email that you earned out one of your foreign publisher advances. Okay, I guess this wine and lava cake is on Poland 😂

🌟Shortlisted for the 2025 Ursula K. Le Guin Prize for Fiction🌟 Revolutionary-minded and dizzyingly intricate, Vajra Chandrasekera’s Rakesfall defies narrative expectations as it considers history, power, perspective, resistance, and the “dread scale” of myth and nightmare.

Dr. Ursula Whitcher's "North Continent Ribbon" was nominated for the 2025 Ursula K. Le Guin Prize for Fiction. We spoke to the Ann Arbor author and mathematician about her debut book of sci-fi tales. pulp.aadl.org/node/644386 @yarntheory.bsky.social @neonhemlock.bsky.social @ursulakleguin.com

Margaret Killjoy (@margaret.bsky.social‬) introduces and reads from The Sapling Cage, her coming-of-age fantasy, which is shortlisted for the 2025 Ursula K. Le Guin Prize for Fiction. For more about this year's shortlist: www.ursulakleguin.com/prize25

I'm thrilled to officially announce that my debut novel, Once Upon A Burning World, is coming out from the excellent Meerkat Press in 2027! #fantasynovel #fiction #novels #fantasy #debutnovel

So wonderful to meet one of the creators of this constellation character map for How High We Go in the Dark! I've known about this for a while, but still absolutely bowled over by their incredibly close/nuanced reading and the creativity of this map. Bookographic and busybusyreading on Insta!

The white students who are struggling to make ends meet are not struggling because Black and immigrant students got into our university. They are struggling because of a shitty social safety net & high tuition because people like Andreesen don't pay sufficient taxes/the state doesn't pay its share.

Next week in Seattle at Elliot Bay Books! If you’re in the area you should drop by! Aram’s debut is a tender and complex exploration of the collision of grief, generational trauma, and cultural identity. I cried, I underlined so many damn lines.

just found out that if you write, you will have written. big if true

tbh I kind of think the increased use of language like "consume" and "content" about art and the experiencing of it is part of what led us to this shit timeline where everything seems disposable and people are happy to let a delusional robot do their writing for them

Took 30+ years, but I finally saw an image in one of those Magic Eye optical illusion photos.

🌟Shortlisted for the 2025 Ursula K. Le Guin Prize for Fiction🌟 Warm, hopeful, funky, and wise, Andrea Hairston’s Archangels of Funk depicts an art- and community-filled vision of how we might live in a semi-apocalyptic future.

This bill starves school children to pay billionaires. Closes hospitals to pay billionaires. Kicks the elderly out of nursing homes to pay billionaires. Explodes energy prices to pay billionaires. Steals trillions of dollars from our future to pay billionaires.

Saw a young guy get his fishing line caught in the fishing line of a young woman and they were working to get untangled on a mostly desolate beach. While I can’t assume anything, I also felt like I was watching the opening of a Hallmark Movie perhaps called “Gone Fishing”🎣 💗

"Learn to code" was always bad advice, unless you actually like to code. College students have the best chance of professional success if they major in topics that interest them. Today in @startribune.com. Please tell high school students and parents. www.startribune.com/what-should-...

The correlation between "initial box office success" and "artistically successful" is not always high. This was less of a problem in the past when ancillary revenue streams (home video, cable) were at full strength. In this streaming era, there's less financial wiggle room.

I was on a panel on the "writer life" and the notion of "emerging writer" came up, which . . . you know does any one really arrive? Sure, there are markers of certain "gets" and "wins" but the thing about writing is that every new project makes you feel like you're emerging. I do hate the term . . .

Just got back from my third tour teaching for the Martha’s Vineyard Institute of Creative Writing, a lovely community created by author Alexander Weinstein. One thing I really wished television captured about this part of New England is the amount of affluent POC.

if you need a little break from all the bad news, I've got a new flash out today! it's part of a series inspired by the hypotheticals that parents often pose, i.e. "if you don't ace that test, you'll never get into college," but I spin them out into surreal scenarios. enjoy this moment of escape!

Dad's May 13,1972 commencement address to Ithaca College graduates:

The distinction between "peaceful" and "violent" protests don't matter. The police will always crackdown on any dissent in a fascist regime. It's time that Democratic leaders understood that. Trying to make distinctions is futile. They will crack down on peaceful dissent by electeds all the same.

I REALLY hate how academia has just rolled over on this front. “Every industry, is going to be impacted in some way by AI,” said Ohio State President ----> Yeah, most jobs won't exist. Creativity and actual HUMAN innovation will be bludgeoned to death. news.osu.edu/ohio-state-l...