Emma Johnson-Rivard
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blackcattales.bsky.social
Emma Johnson-Rivard
@blackcattales.bsky.social
1K followers 1.2K following 84 posts
Doctoral student. Writer of weird poetry and queer horror. Works in Strange Horizons, Coffin Bell, Brooklyn Review, Tales to Terrify, and others.

https://linktr.ee/blackcattales
Posts Replies Media Videos
Reposted by Emma Johnson-Rivard
brightwalldarkroom.com
Towards the Afropastoral: What NOPE Says About the Black Western
Towards the Afropastoral: What Nope Says About the Black Western
Jordan Peele's 'Nope' refashions the Western as a genre that tells a story of American erasure by its survivors.
www.brightwalldarkroom.com
February 15, 2026 at 3:24 AM
blackcattales.bsky.social
Hey, it's me!
February 8, 2026 at 2:49 PM
Reposted by Emma Johnson-Rivard
cuntmoney.bsky.social
the idea that making art is embarrassing if you don't do it well enough to make a career out of it is an objectively harmful and toxic brainworm.
brendelbored.bsky.social Brendel @brendelbored.bsky.social · 9d
An opinion I pretty firmly hold is that everyone should make a song, paint a painting, act in something, and write a book even if all of those things end up being objectively terrible
February 8, 2026 at 10:26 AM
Reposted by Emma Johnson-Rivard
penumbricmag.bsky.social
Consider this your final warning, and feel free to remove yourself from the classroom if you think it'll be too much for you.

-from "The Slide" by E.W.H. Thornton, in Dec's #Penumbric at www.penumbric.com/currentissue... and pdf www.penumbric.com/currentissue...

#ShortStory #horror
"The Slide" by E.W.H. Thornton, in Dec's Penumbric at https://www.penumbric.com/currentissue/thorntonSlide.html
February 7, 2026 at 6:20 PM
Reposted by Emma Johnson-Rivard
scumbelievable.bsky.social
I dream of having enough stability in our culture that anyone who wants to can pursue the arts, but the meaning comes from that pursuit, from translating human experiences through skills acquired over time. Art is labor, but it isn't just some commodity that can be pulped and reconstituted.
February 6, 2026 at 5:39 PM
Reposted by Emma Johnson-Rivard
strangehorizons.bsky.social
Mother, Darling
by Allison Pottern @apottern.bsky.social

"Was that gold glittering in the girl’s hair? Had the neighbors seen? Was that his laughter that rang out from Kensington Park across the way?"

Link ⬇️
strangehorizons.com/wordpress/fi...

#shortstories #fiction #fantasy
FICTION Quote From the window of the nursery, Wendy saw Jane wobbling her way down Kensington Park Road on a borrowed bicycle, hair unbraided and wild like she’d been flying. Wendy’s throat seized with fear. Was that gold glittering in the girl’s hair? Had the neighbors seen? Was that his laughter that rang out from Kensington Park across the way? end Quote Mother, Darling  by Allison Pottern 2 February 2026 Strange Horizons
February 5, 2026 at 10:32 AM
Reposted by Emma Johnson-Rivard
blackcattales.bsky.social
Eyyy check out my dinosaur poem
manyworlds.place manywor(l)ds :: place @manyworlds.place · Nov 15
We are so excited to share issue 10 with you, featuring brilliant creatives like @blackcattales.bsky.social, @kathrynreese.bsky.social, @pleomorphic2.bsky.social, @dihyatamaghza.bsky.social, @rjaurand.bsky.social, and more!

(anti-war dinosaur courtesy of Emma Johnson-Rivard)
“Triceracopter,” a life-sized statute of a dinosaur-helicopter hybrid, lives in the University of Cincinnati Library. It was created by Patricia Renick, built out of a helicopter used and scarred in the Vietnam War.
November 17, 2025 at 1:38 PM
Reposted by Emma Johnson-Rivard
scumbelievable.bsky.social
Smart piece on what transgression is, and what it isn't, from C. E. Boyle.

www.brokenhandsmedia.com/blog/2026/1/...
Out of Bounds and Sinning: on Trangessive Art — Broken Hands Media
And if thinking about what your mouth is doing this much has you feeling a certain way—feeling a certain warmth—that’s good: in discussing transgressive art, a little productive discomfort is a good p...
www.brokenhandsmedia.com
January 23, 2026 at 12:41 AM
Reposted by Emma Johnson-Rivard
wnwagner.bsky.social
One day left to submit your work to Nightmare Magazine! We close at 11 pm tomorrow night.
As ever, we're looking for short stories under 7500 words, flash stories 0-1500 words long, poetry, and creative nonfiction.
January 31, 2026 at 6:16 PM
blackcattales.bsky.social
crypticfrogpub.bsky.social Cryptic Frog @crypticfrogpub.bsky.social · 17d
For all heroes who fell for a beautiful song, @blackcattales.bsky.social's "Siren" (fantasy/horror) is a twist on the monster of myth.

"Bless me, lover, for I have swallowed deep
and drowned in the whole of you, felt..."

Continue reading at crypticfrogpublishing.wordpress.com/2025/12/21/i....
A simple white sketch of a fish hook on a black background.
January 31, 2026 at 11:44 AM
Reposted by Emma Johnson-Rivard
daviss.org
Now: Bruce Springsteen sings “Streets of Minneapolis” in Minneapolis
January 30, 2026 at 8:07 PM
Reposted by Emma Johnson-Rivard
eagleharborbooks.bsky.social
“She didn’t weep. / She got mad. / Mad means something.”
lithub.com/letter-from-... #IceOut #ReadRiseResist
Letter From Minnesota: “Mad Means Something”
The greatest poem ever written about Minneapolis is a curse on the city. It‘s by James Wright, who wrote “The Minneapolis Poem” and published it in Shall We Gather at the River in 1968. He hated th…
lithub.com
January 30, 2026 at 9:22 AM
Reposted by Emma Johnson-Rivard
brucespringsteen.net
Oh our Minneapolis, I hear your voice
Singing through the bloody mist
We’ll take our stand for this land
And the stranger in our midst

Directed by Thom Zimny
Edited by Thom Zimny and Samuel Shapiro
Production Footage: Pam Springsteen and Thom Zimny
Bruce Springsteen - Streets Of Minneapolis (Official Lyric Video)
YouTube video by Bruce Springsteen
youtu.be
January 29, 2026 at 5:22 PM
Reposted by Emma Johnson-Rivard
blackcattales.bsky.social
Hey, it’s my werewolf story!
talestoterrify.bsky.social Tales to Terrify @talestoterrify.bsky.social · 25d
Welcome to episode 730. We have two tales for you this week, about a boy desperate to protect his newfound friendship, and a harrowing trip down a forbidden road (by @blackcattales.bsky.social).

talestoterrify.com/episodes/730-emma-johnson-rivard-chris-l-robinson
January 23, 2026 at 1:04 PM
Reposted by Emma Johnson-Rivard
davevriser.bsky.social
agreed !!!! but also.... there are some rlly gr8 trans horror papers lined up for this years queerhorrorconference.com ! hosted by HWA & U Pitt! schedule + registration sign up shld be out soon---everythings on zoom, u can watch and chat from wherever you are ♡
January 23, 2026 at 4:32 PM
blackcattales.bsky.social
Hey, it’s my werewolf story!
talestoterrify.bsky.social Tales to Terrify @talestoterrify.bsky.social · 25d
Welcome to episode 730. We have two tales for you this week, about a boy desperate to protect his newfound friendship, and a harrowing trip down a forbidden road (by @blackcattales.bsky.social).

talestoterrify.com/episodes/730-emma-johnson-rivard-chris-l-robinson
January 23, 2026 at 1:04 PM
Reposted by Emma Johnson-Rivard
mruthrobinson.bsky.social
New story out now from @lightspeedmagazine.com! This one is all about how it feels to work in higher education these days. Spoiler: it feels extremely bad, like “what if your university signed a compact with the actual devil and now there’s an unbreakable curse” levels of bad 🫠
Academic Neutrality - Lightspeed Magazine
When Amy begins to flay herself during office hours, you aren’t quite sure what to do. You hate office hours. You used to enjoy them, actually, back before the flayings started. Sure, it’s hard sharin...
www.lightspeedmagazine.com
January 22, 2026 at 1:34 PM
blackcattales.bsky.social
As a heads up, my werewolf story “The Dog Road” will be in episode 730 of Tales to Terrify coming out on Friday!

talestoterrify.com

@talestoterrify.bsky.social
a cartoon drawing of three dogs with a moon in the background and the letters rdb on the bottom
ALT: a cartoon drawing of three dogs with a moon in the background and the letters rdb on the bottom
media.tenor.com
January 21, 2026 at 1:51 PM
Reposted by Emma Johnson-Rivard
nosydogsoaps.bsky.social
ALA day 1...! come visit me and my cup noodle crime
A photo of a convention table display for artists ginsays and nosy dog soaps a photo behind a convention artist alley table of a seafood cup Noodle
January 8, 2026 at 8:18 PM
Reposted by Emma Johnson-Rivard
radonjournal.bsky.social
g.a. costa's poem "On the Factory Floor" depicts industrial accidents and their disturbing consequences.

We take a deep dive into the poem/author, including her inspiration from The Jungle and Billie Holiday. Plus, a mini-set of 1920s industrial/futurist music:

open.substack.com/pub/radonjou...
January 4, 2026 at 6:49 PM
Reposted by Emma Johnson-Rivard
transnews.network
We have published the following update to our article following an email response from the New York Times.

Trans News Network has a policy against platforming bigotry. As such, we have declined to publish the Times' statement which included blatant transphobia.
Editors' Note, 1/4/26: A spokesperson from The New York Times emailed Trans News Network the Sunday after publication, disputing various parts of the interview. We reject their disputes as unsubstantiated, nitpicking or willful misreads. We have added minor clarifications at two points in the interview alongside the transcript, which remains as published. We stand by our reporting of the interview with Sweeney, former editor and 11-year veteran of the Times. The Times also provided TNN a statement responding to the interview, which we have declined to publish due to its inclusion of overt transphobia (such as framing the existence of trans people as “fiercely contested medical and legal debates”). Even in their PR, it seems that the Times can't stop denigrating our lives and communities. We do not have an obligation to publish damage control on the behalf of a news outlet undergoing a legitimacy crisis because of their own actions.
January 5, 2026 at 2:05 AM
Reposted by Emma Johnson-Rivard
nikitagill.bsky.social
Ever relevant, this poem by Mary Oliver, especially today.
OF THE EMPIRE We will be known as a culture that feared death and adored power, that tried to vanquish insecurity for the few and cared little for the penury of the many. We will be known as a culture that taught and rewarded the amassing of things, that spoke little if at all about the quality of life for people (other people), for dogs, for rivers. All the world, in our eyes, they will say, was a commodity. And they will say that this structure was held together politically, which it was, and they will say also that our politics was no more than an apparatus to accommodate the feelings of the heart, and that the heart, in those days, was small, and hard, and full of meanness.
January 3, 2026 at 2:02 PM
Reposted by Emma Johnson-Rivard
victorlavalle.bsky.social
Hell yes. Keep an eye out for our show in 2026.

THE TERROR: DEVIL IN SILVER

Dan Stevens, Judith Light, CCH Pounder, Stephen Root, Aasif Mandvi, John Benjamin Hickey, and so many more great actors.

I am so proud of what we created and for you all to see it. It’s gonna fuck you up! In a good way.
ifyoucantwell.bsky.social Chris Cantwell @ifyoucantwell.bsky.social · Dec 29
And at some point in 2026, The Terror: Devil in Silver from @victorlavalle.bsky.social, Karyn Kusama, & me.
vulture.com Vulture @vulture.com · Dec 29
‘The Pitt’ clocks in for another shift, ‘A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms’ returns to Westeros, and ‘Bridgerton’ brings out the ballgowns once more — the small screen’s future is looking brighter than ever.
December 29, 2025 at 6:31 PM
Reposted by Emma Johnson-Rivard
flopscomics.bsky.social
Happy new year! fingers crossed you all have a great '26
January 1, 2026 at 11:22 PM
Reposted by Emma Johnson-Rivard
bloodhoneylit.bsky.social
Poem "Flame-diver" from 'Jethro's Daughter' by Allister Nelson

“One must keep the fire burning, one must heat the poker. / And one is the flame-diver, dreaming / of snow.”

www.bloodhoneylit.com/jethros-daug...
flame-diver — Blood+Honey
by Allister Nelson “One must keep the fire burning, one must heat the poker. / And one is the flame-diver, dreaming / of snow.”
www.bloodhoneylit.com
January 2, 2026 at 12:32 AM