📣 Attention, emerging BIPOC translators! Don't miss your chance to apply for the Building Our Future Workshop to be held 6/26-27. This is a free, weekend-long program meant to empower literary translators of color as they begin to navigate the field. Apply by this Sunday, May 3! buff.ly/sP48NSp

maybe if we all scream “this is the bad place!” at the same time ted danson will reset this thing

You’re going to get a lot of rejections and agents will ignore your emails and there will be naysayers around every corner and you’ll get 1-star reviews that are attacks instead of reviews. None of that matters. Keep going. Stay focused. Put in the work. Don’t quit. Go write.

Happy Independent Bookstore Day, or to those who celebrate, Yet Another Excuse to Add More Books to the Stack You Already Have at Home with Absolutely No Regrets Because Supporting Local Businesses Is a Radical Practice Day

This Is Just To Say I have turned off the AI features that were in the update and which you were probably hoping to monetize Fuck you they were stupid so unnecessary and so annoying

Another day, another email from a chatbot masquerading as a “book marketing consultant.” This one has the innovative idea to classify Prosper Mérimée as a woman, which would probably come as a surprise to him.

Attention, humans! Join us this May 16! 🐈‍⬛ We study. We write. We nerd. 🤓 This is how we pay our writers. Help us put the FUN in fundraiser. 💚🙃

If you missed our Spring Pop-Up call, here's what's coming next 🦝 Our Summer General submissions open 1st-14th June for Flash (100-750) and Shorts (up to 2000). There's a theme of GREEN BIN STORIES and a mood board to offer inspo: trashcatlit.com/summer-mood/

It's always an honor to read your stories! Can't wait to see what you send us this year! ❤️❤️❤️

I love when he looks like a little kid posing for his school picture.

We thank PEN America for this important report that focuses our attention once more on the urgent need to improve working terms for literary translators. Translators are co-creators of literature, and it is long past time they were treated as such.

In the country of my ancestry and my heart, my books have been shrink wrapped and considered pornography because they contain gay characters. He controlled books and the media, shuttered universities, and was a foot on the country’s neck. There’s a long road ahead — de most, a pezsgő. 🍾 🇭🇺

Viktor Orbán created the global blueprint for authoritarian populism and became a MAGA hero. Today, Hungarian voters sent him packing after 16 years in power. There is nothing inevitable about these guys. Organize. Vote. Fight back. It works.

The VILLAGE 🏘 is a place where the world 🌍 feels a tiny bit smaller. Founded by SmokeLong for the global flash community. Follow 100+ flash publishers. Read editor interviews. Enjoy discounts on collections. Get regional news. Share the love.

Every book I #translate shows me that there are SO MANY THINGS about which I know nothing. So much history, so many great people, so much tragedy and injustice, so much bravery and triumph. The research I do for my translations only scrapes the surface. There is so much to LEARN, and so little time.

David enjoys greeting me when I get home from work. His enthusiasm has never (yet?) resulted in a broken nose, for which I am thankful.

"I don't want to happen but it probably will" is classic abuser language: "look what you made me do." Except it's not on the scale of a household, but of a nation of 90 million and millennia of civilization.....

Welkin me up! 🤩

I just love this little goofball so much.

I've seen people trying to defend it today by saying "No, no, I just use it to brainstorm, bounce ideas, I do the actual writing" and with all the kindness in the world I need to tell you: if there is a stage of writing you are not good at, you need to get good, not use the plagiarism machine.

In this month's #FromTheCourseMouth, workshops from @dreenawriting.co.uk @jmgatford.bsky.social @taniahershman.bsky.social @stillsquirrel.bsky.social @sfreligh.bsky.social @sagetyrtle.bsky.social @finnwritesstuff.bsky.social + New things from ME!!! fromthecoursesmouth.substack.com/p/apr-may-26...

It has begun! The Prompt Generator is now on until 6th April. Get your prompts and start percolating story ideas. Subs open on the 21st April. That's Trash Cat's prompted stories challenge - have a go! 🦝 Get prompted here: trashcatlit.com/prompted-pop... #submissioncalls #litsubmissions

New, new from the @welkinpress.bsky.social - in the lead-up to the Welkin Genre Prize, I'll be teaching 6 one-hour generative workshops which delve into Welkin micros past to inspire some Welkin micros future! 1st one is on Thursday 7th May. Details / book: www.mattkendrick.co.uk/live-workshops

We are now taking submissions for Aneas until the 30th April. All the information and how to submit your entry are on our website: munsterlit.ie/aneas-glaoch... #irishwriting #irishwriters

Congratulations to our workshop participants who reported publications to us in March! www.smokelong.com/smokelong-wo...

Decorative basket from Aldi, marked down to $5. David is pretty sure it was mislabeled. This is a FUNCTIONAL basket.

I woke up this morning from a dream in which Paul Mescal was an old family friend (🤷‍♀️) and we were reminiscing about the early days of his career. Apparently, my subconscious thinks he got his start as the host of an Irish game show similar to Supermarket Sweep.

PSA! A SmokeLong Summer 26 dates!! May 28th-Sep 1st! Onboarding May 28th-June 2nd, Three-task-a-week peer-review workshop June 3rd-Aug 4th, then cool down with one task a week until Sep 1st. More live events than ever this year! Mark your calendars! More info soon! Summer just got longer.

“Enough typing, human woman! Stop sneaking peeks at the computer screen! Just give kisses! KISSES!!!”

David, living his best life as a fuzzy blanket influencer.

That’s right. I’m a writer, people who feed prompts into plagiarism machines and then put their names on the garbage that comes out are… not.

"Will you find the title intriguing, or will you scoff at it? Woman protagonist, late thirties, uncharacteristic craving: clues, unsubtle clues—artless, even." Love the meta way this piece of microfiction from @lauralnagle.bsky.social unfolds

What makes our Summer Online Workshops so special? Pick a genre and work with three different faculty in one generative workshop for one week in June! It's designed with the same rigor of a residential workshop but with more flexibility. Apply here: kenyonreview.org/event/summer...

It is being reported on the ground in Cuba that everyone on a ventilator at this hospital died overnight. As a Cuban, I'm devastated.

Alexis: Now that you’re on spring break, you can spend all your time with me. Yay! Togetherness! Me: That’s right, sweetie. For example, on Monday I’ll go to the vet’s office, and you get to come with me! Alexis: On second thought, maybe I’ll murder you in your sleep. 😾

Thrilled to have a teensy-weensy story in here! Take a look through the mini bin—so many tiny treasures in one place!

To celebrate my birthday, I wanted to do something nice that would hopefully spread a bit of joy in the next few months. So, today is the official launch of... 🥁🥁🥁 THE WELKIN GENRE PRIZE!!! Details in the thread below! www.mattkendrick.co.uk/welkin-press...

Submission opens on April 1st

Second dose of microfiction teasing - our Mini Bin is revealed on Saturday 🦝 @lauralnagle.bsky.social confronts the reader directly, asking them to question what they see @quickasaflash.bsky.social uses halibun structure to tell a visceral story of loss Our final teases tomorrow...

I love this micro by Cristina Fríes in @vestalreview.bsky.social. Sharp, straightforward language and a punch in the gut. #FlashInTheFeed www.vestalreview.net/back-at-the-...

Oops, tumbled into the bin again! 🦝❤️ Excited to read this issue!

She’s demanding that I write “stay home with kitties.”

Everything bad is now "mid," everything mid is now "next-level," and everything good is now "one of the GOATs." We are experiencing unprecedented slang inflation.

📢 It's official: We're open for session proposals for our 49th annual conference, ALTA49: Give and Take, which will take place October 21-24 in Portland, OR! The deadline to propose sessions is June 15. View the full conference theme, proposal guidelines, and more on this page: buff.ly/0BgEo3x

Enjoyed this reflection by Rahul Bery on a translation project with some unusually specific constraints:

Got a micro hanging about looking for a home? Unpublished, 50-175 words, any genre? Try lobbing it at us before 10pm (GMT) on Tuesday! Trash Cat loves great story and a compelling voice🦝 Details and submit link here: trashcatlit.com/microfiction... #submissioncalls #litsubmissioncalls

I have AWP FOMO and am (again) admiring the voice of a precocious child narrator in @jekwriter.bsky.social’s story in @claudineliterary.bsky.social. Safe travels home, AWP attendees! www.claudineliterary.com/jessicaklimesh

Humans who are *not* at AWP: Is your AWP FOMO set to legendary? So many freebies and fun times! 🫠 We feel you. Post a favorite Claudine story by Sat midnight EST-and tag us-to be entered in a drawing for a complete set of Claudine swag, mailed to wherever you live! 💚🐈‍⬛💚

Have a wonderful time at AWP, writer friends! I’d say I have FOMO, but I know exactly what I’m missing, so I guess that makes it KOMO…

sometimes you have to be clear about your values