Helen DeWitt on turning down a $175k Windham-Campbell Prize because she wasn't able to handle the prize's mandatory publicity requirements. Imo a moving, deeply relatable, and darkly funny story about money, obligation, mental health, & executive dysfunction paperpools.blogspot.com/2026/04/we-l...

For all of our witches and magically inclined folks, local witch Veronica Varlow will be teaching us spells to unlock inspiration, break past blocks, and summon opportunities to us. Come with an open mind and be prepared to call forth your full power 🌙✨

Tomorrow April 8 we open for our next Guest Editor issue... NABOKOV'S SUSPENSION Edited by Jehanne Bell 👅🧵👻🎤✍️ We are looking for flash fiction about the things that fall away, transform, and negotiate new bodies as the words that create either their home or their prison shapeshift around them.

if a position of authority can be misused in this way, that position of authority should not exist. It's clearly not enough to simply change who is in that position, no more than praying that the next king be better than the last.

We are excited to announce the stories for our issue “Ghosts & The After Life” edited by Ai Jiang @aijiang.bsky.social 👻 EC Dorgan “Flehmen Grimace” Samir Sirk Morató “unwell naturalist’s historic fairy collection” @spicycloaca.bsky.social Emmi Khor “The Art of Rebirth” @emmikhor.bsky.social

Thank god the NYT has found a white, male author to offer up "as something of a savior of contemporary fiction." Did we need saving? I was not aware. No, I am not linking to it. I am just so annoyed.

Our next Page to Stage theme is SOUTHERN GOTHIC! This genre tells the stories of the past that always haunt us, the cycles that repeat, the pain that was wrought & the reckonings we must have in the Deep South. Come join us on 4/7 and learn more about the genre and leave w/ some ideas!

There is a moment on page 282 (of my copy) of The Saint of Bright Doors by @vajra.me that just utterly stopped me in my tracks. Whoa.

APRIL EVENT CALENDAR!

So what this describes is ethnic cleansing www.nytimes.com/2026/04/01/w...

"It’s Trans Day of Visibility but it’s also Trans Day of Have To Go To Work Anyway, or Trans Day of Who The Fuck is Hiring, or Trans Day of How Are We Going to Support All These Queers Who Are Internally Displaced Refugees Here in the States."

From my new piece concerning the Anthropic settlement: catvalente.substack.com/p/blood-mone...

Just started playing this last night - and really enjoying!

The Red Pearls of Borneo is now out on Steam 🎉 store.steampowered.com/app/4488860/...

So much for the "Erm actually LLMs can't plagiarize" argument I guess.

Latest post is up if you would like to help us build our swamp 🦆🐢🐊

“This is an interactive story about In Vitro Fertilization (IVF) told from two perspectives: Parent and Child. Select one to continue.” [pudding.cool]

Anybody at the New Orleans Bookfest today (Friday at Tulane) can come say hi and grab a free copy of THE MAN IN THE BANANA TREES, along with other amazing books - Rosenberg Mezzanine in the LBC, 1-3 pm, interactive discussion hosted by the Taylor Center! On the future of local food systems! 📚 🍨

I was interviewed for @antigravitymag.bsky.social ‘s March issue and got to talk about the literary nonprofit I’m the board president of, @thirdlanternlit.bsky.social ! antigravitymagazine.com/feature/all-...

Next event: Monday at 6 to 8 PM! We'll be at Miel Brewery, getting some words on the page! Hope to see you there!

Intimacy can be hard to write about. Whether you feel it's awkward, stilted, or unrealistic, get past the difficulties with this workshop led by Alys Murray tonight at Courtyard Brewery!

Our March calendar is here!

Come write with us this friday 2/27 @ 11 AM at Sports Drink!

Writing is a lonely art. Make it less lonely by finding your feedback group at Courtyard Brewery on February 23! Make friends, share your work, and connect with peers all in one place! 📖🎉

Our February calendar!

Our next event: Get Lit! Come on down to Miel Brewery and hang out with us 02/09 and get some writing done! We'll be there from 6 to 8 PM!

the end result of AI image, video, and audio generation is that society will no longer be able to rely on images or video or audio to represent reality. Children born today will never be able to assume that just because they have seen something on a screen that it is likely to be true.

January is coming to a close, which means one more event! Daytime Get Lit is this Friday! Bundle up and come on over ☕️

Time to exercise those writing hands! Join us at Twelve Mile Limit for our FIVE HOUR writing marathon. Time to get those words on a page ✍️📚

Our January calendar!

This is tonight! Hope to see you there New Orleans for chatting, books, cider - @bookbanterbooks.bsky.social

Happened to read two books recently with monstrous birds who are mentors and protectors of two young brothers, GRIEF IS THE THING WITH FEATHERS and NORTH SUN. Though I'm not done with NORTH SUN yet so unsure how that will turn out...

Readercon is doing a final call for program item proposals for the forthcoming Readercon 35. Use our handy form to suggest panel ideas or people you think should be at Readercon: readercon.org/contribute Thank you, it's your suggestions that make Readercon wonderful.

life with a 3 month old: it's almost bedtime and I'm scuttling away to try to finish my "morning" pages

New Orleans, Jan 2nd, with @bookbanterbooks.bsky.social ! Any excuse for cider and books, I'm there. bookbanterbooks.wordpress.com/books-banter...

New Orleans, Jan 2nd, with @bookbanterbooks.bsky.social ! Any excuse for cider and books, I'm there. bookbanterbooks.wordpress.com/books-banter...

Best of 2025: @mlensheffer.bsky.social

REMINDER: I'll be discussing speculative fiction and magical realism with @mlensheffer.bsky.social @literarydesiree.bsky.social & @bryancamp.bsky.social on Friday @ 2 PM for the NOLA Words and Music festival!! Event description: www.eventbrite.com/e/suspend-al...

This sunday from 5 PM to 7 PM, we'll be hosting a Q & A with prolific horror writer, Philip Fracassi! We'll be talking all about the craft of writing horror, and Philip will read from his latest novel, the Autumn Springs Retirement Home Massacre!

This Nov you can find me at the Louisiana Book Fest (11/1 in Baton Rouge, @thirdlanternlit.bsky.social annual gala, @bookbanterbooks.bsky.social and Words & Music Fest! Details and links at www.margueritesheffer.com/events

Join us at Sports Drink Cafe for the Daytime Get Lit! We'll be there from 11 AM to 1 PM on Friday!

NEW: The government does not track how often immigration agents grab citizens. So ProPublica did. We found more than 170 such incidents since the start of the second Trump administration. Our tally — almost certainly incomplete — includes nearly 20 children, two of whom have cancer.

I think this is right on 🎯

This Thursday we will be hosting "A Producer's Guide To Writing A Novel" from 6-8PM at Courtyard Brewery! This workshop is perfect for writers who do not have a formal literature background or who are thinking about starting their 1st novel or memoir. Hope to see you there!

In honor of spooky month, come enjoy the spooky writing workshop! This is the first of the final cycle of Page to Stage events for the year, so don't miss it!

Y’all come through next month at the NOLA Words and Music Festival, and watch me, Bryan Camp, Desiree S. Evans, and Marguerite Sheffer discuss magical realism and speculative fiction! The panel will take place on 11/21/25 @ 2 PM! We hope to see you there :)

Forgot to tag them! @mlensheffer.bsky.social @literarydesiree.bsky.social @bryancamp.bsky.social

Excited to be joining the Words and Music Festival this year: "Suspend All Disbelief: Magical Realism and Speculative Fiction" www.eventbrite.com/e/suspend-al... With amazing authors @literarydesiree.bsky.social @bryancamp.bsky.social & @deecherrywriter.bsky.social 2 pm, Nov 21

EVENT NEXT MONTH: Folks, I'll be performing a reading on October 16th at 6 PM at 12 Mile Limit for the LMNL reading series! If you're in town, come and check me and the readers out :)

First event of the month will be our 5 Hour Writing Marathon, this Saturday at 12 Mile Limit! We'll be there from to 12 to 5 PM!