If you want to understand open adoption, it makes sense to start with birth parents—yet studies of them are few. 2+ yrs ago, I began talking w/ birth mothers to try to understand what living in an open adoption is like for them, and what rights or options they might have if challenges were to arise.

Truly excellent choices.

1/ DEVELOPING: A journalist was rushed to New York-Presbyterian Hospital following another incident with an ICE agent at 26 Federal Plaza, an immigration court in NYC. The last I heard, he was getting X-rays for his lower back.

this one means the world to me 😭 I’m a recipient of the @lambdaliterary.org Duggins Prize, an award that “honors LGBTQ-identified authors who have published multiple novels, built a strong reputation and following, and show promise to continue publishing high quality work for years to come”

it happened again: took care of a dreaded task i’d miserably put off for months, & it took five minutes to complete. it was easy! no trouble at all! once again i will learn nothing from this experience

“I want to be chill, you know what I mean? It seems nice, but I have this unfortunate personality: I feel the most alive and connected to the world when I’m in the maw of incredible intensity.” —Laura van den Berg, interviewed by @rokwon.bsky.social www.thebeliever.net/an-interview...

My way of coping with all of the madness is focusing on what I can do to make my community a little bit stronger. So excuse me for all of the earnestness, but I wrote about ways we can all pitch in to support a thriving literary culture. lithub.com/how-to-be-a-...

I get that the news cycle is packed right now, but I just heard from a colleague at the Smithsonian that this is fully a GIANT SQUID BEING EATEN BY A SPERM WHALE and it’s possibly the first ever confirmed video according to a friend at NOAA 10 YEAR OLD ME IS LOSING HER MIND (a thread 🧵)

it’s yet another good day to donate to @transjournalists.org i have a recurring donation set up & it brings me a flicker of gladness every time i get an email saying the month’s donation went through, would recommend www.transjournalists.org/donate/

“I reject scarcity and the feeling that the other writers around you are your competition, and that there’s only so much pie.” —Laura van den Berg, interviewed by @rokwon.bsky.social www.thebeliever.net/an-interview...

in Seoul, I fell wildly in love with the work of Gala Porras-Kim, a Korean Colombian artist who imagines expansively beyond fights around museums’ return of artifacts often considered stolen who(!) is this brilliant person & how do I talk to her, I thought, & I’m grateful INTERVIEW let me do so

JUST IN: The law, opposed by police organizations, was aimed by lawmakers at immigration agents and will test state powers over the conduct of federal officials.

again, it is an especially great time to support & buy books from the wonderful team at @loyaltybooks.bsky.social: loyaltybookstores.com

"we cannot express our regrets profoundly enough, but it is our hope that you will use these two free passes to return to jurassic park"

Do not assume that everything they set out to do is inevitable. They have been successfully fought on multiple fronts, from courtroom wins that have actually stuck to city and state governments that haven't backed down, to activists in the streets organizing against their violence.

korean reporting is nightmarish on the conditions Korean workers were contained in

calming myself by rereading hilary mantel’s thomas cromwell novels & her evocation of a differently wild time. henry viii! now that was a chaotic mfer

Some unhedged good news

Hawaii announced they are joining California, Oregon, and Washington’s West Coast Health Alliance which will provide their own science-based vaccine guidelines and make vaccines accessible to everyone.

We took the paywall down on this one. defector.com/how-the-fuck...

This is a public health emergency for the whole country.

The hardest thing about the past few weeks was not being able to tell every single person I spoke to about my new position as the Women & Girls Reporter for Free Press Indiana. But now I can 😊

delighted by these author baseball cards from @mcsweeneys.net, an ongoing series featuring writers including yours truly 💀

CHICAGO…

My heart breaks into 10,000 pieces once again.

The White House listed an exhibit on LGBTQ history at the Smithsonian as objectionable and something to be removed.

jesus christ. getting an NEA fellowship 10 years ago changed my life. it meant so much. it helped a lot when, weeks later, my agent went out to editors with THE INCENDIARIES, written by an unknown first-time novelist. artists are eligible to apply again 10 years after getting an NEA. were eligible

Our fall issue is coming! We have essays by @heatherchristle.bsky.social, Oliver Egger, and Ash Sanders; interviews with Laura van den Berg, @blondieband.bsky.social, and Richard Ayoade, conducted by @rokwon.bsky.social, Emma Ingrisani, and Wallace Shawn; poetry, reviews, and more.

the perfect daikon wedges in the oden at this beloved san francisco izakaya always look to me like big old smiles

📣 applications are open for periplus, a mentorship collective serving writers of color! 📣 if you’re looking for mentorship & more community & you’re a writer of color, you can find more info below. this will be the sixth year our collective is active docs.google.com/document/d/1...

Security light spotlight dance special guest.

the full-body horror that comes of accidentally stepping out of my ballet flat & having the entire sole of my foot land on the city sidewalk 💀

The Japanese American National Museum @jamuseum.bsky.social put out a statement an hour ago on the DHS/CBP show of force in Little Tokyo today, right outside the museum. www.facebook.com/jamuseum/pos...

Wow. The University of Chicago, a world-class institution whose humanities faculty in the past has included Homi Bhabha & Lauren Berlant & Ralph Ellison & Hannah freaking Arendt, is getting rid of basically every graduate department involving the acknowledgment that other cultures & languages exist.

hey can we try something? lifeline4gaza.com is incredible. since some aid seems to be coming in, prices have dropped. this is a great time for ppl to try to get food. can everyone donate $10 to 1 family, and then post a message like this to your acct? we could do some good if many ppl participate ❤️

The crux of their argument is that if they're found liable, then the consequences of their own actions that no one forced them to take could ruin them and the rest of their industry that undertakes similar practices. To which I say motherfucker did you never hear about Napster

BREAKING: We filed a class action lawsuit against ICE for denying people access to lawyers and subjecting them to inhumane conditions at 26 Federal Plaza in New York. ICE is illegally holding people here for weeks, often without adequate access to medical care, food, or legal counsel.

Congratulations to all the finalists of the 2025 AWP Award Series! Special thanks to our screeners, and to judges @blklibrarygirl.bsky.social, @cherylstrayed.bsky.social, Kevin Wilson, and @rokwon.bsky.social. Winners will be announced this fall.

kennedy is going to kill a lot of people

o how i love san francisco in the summer. hello to another deliciously chilly & windy & cloudy day, the gloom in me salutes the gloom in you

A Korean-born researcher and longtime U.S. legal permanent resident has spent the past week detained by immigration officials at the San Francisco International Airport without explanation and has been denied access to an attorney, according to his lawyer.

The Sameer Project won’t stop! Their daily water distributions in the Central Gaza area continue. They distributed 24,000 liters of fresh water yesterday, July 26th. Donate: chuffed.org/project/1132...

i have just taken care of a few dreaded to-do items that weighed on me, very heavily, for months. it took perhaps 10 minutes to finish doing these things did it feel good? yes. did i feel goofy? also yes. will i learn anything from this? absolutely not

ICE and BP are heavily targeting people in their vehicles right now. You can’t attempt to use your rights if you don’t know what they are. Knowing them may protect you against a forced abduction, search, or seizure when being pulled over. Here’s what to know. lataco.com/car-ice-rights

Doing a masterclass in Philly in August at Bluestoop, cosponsored by Asian Arts Initiative, a fundraiser for both of them. Advice writers often give to new writers is to write the stories they've never seen before. I will present some approaches. www.bluestoop.org/classes/p/ma...

When is this going to end? What is there to even say anymore?

Great news for folks in the US: "This court order extends relief to any transgender person who has been kept from obtaining an accurate passport. "This includes ‘X’ passports."

LA bus operators vow to shut doors on ICE to keep immigrant riders safe. Bus operators and riders aren’t waiting on Metro to enact protections for immigrants, they’re sharing know-your-rights information and shielding riders from ICE. lapublicpress.org/2025/07/la-b...

Massachusetts! Freedom to Read legislation is in the legislature & there is a hearing next week! Info you need to submit written testimony here: malegislature.gov/Events/Heari... You can also sign up to get updates from Mass Freedom to Read here: instagram.us12.list-manage.com/subscribe?u=...

On this week's Selected Shorts episode, Sleight of Hand, actors @patriciakalember.bsky.social, Daniel Gerroll, Hettienne Park, and Kate Burton perform stories by Penelope Lively, @rokwon.bsky.social, and Dave Eggers. Take a listen wherever you get your podcasts. bit.ly/4lxXCOD