Cheryl Walsh
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cherylwalsh.bsky.social
Cheryl Walsh
@cherylwalsh.bsky.social
650 followers 600 following 150 posts
Originally from Michigan, now writing from Iowa. Author of UNEQUAL TEMPERAMENT (American Buffalo Books, 2023). I write fiction about people who are into #harpsichords, #weather, #opera, #archaeology, and #ghosts.
www.cherylwalsh.net
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cherylwalsh.bsky.social
"On Passing the New Menin Gate" by Siegfried Sassoon, 1927
#RemembranceDay #ArmisticeDay #siegfriedsassoon #worldwaripoetry #wwipoetry
On Passing the New Menin Gate Who will remember, passing through this Gate, The unheroic Dead who fed the guns? Who shall absolve the foulness of their fate,— Those doomed, conscripted, unvictorious ones? Crudely renewed, the Salient holds its own. Paid are its dim defenders by this pomp; Paid, with a pile of peace-complacent stone, The armies who endured that sullen swamp. Here was the world's worst wound. And here with pride 'Their name liveth for ever,' the Gateway claims. Was ever an immolation so belied As these intolerably nameless names? Well might the Dead who struggled in the slime Rise and deride this sepulchre of crime. ~ Siegfried Sassoon, 1927
November 11, 2025 at 12:23 AM
Reposted by Cheryl Walsh
kazcooke.bsky.social
For those who will bear witness. For everyone who pretends there was benevolence from 'employers' & governments, and no slavery in Australia; who believes Tony Abbott's version of history. Debra Dank writes with beauty and anger of the truth we cannot dodge.
theconversation.com/friday-essay...
Friday essay: Debra Dank’s grandmother was a ‘drover’s boy’. Her stolen wages can’t be recovered
Stella Prize shortlisted author Debra Dank reflects on how her family’s lives were scarred by stolen wages and colonial violence – and on the complexities of apologies.
theconversation.com
November 7, 2025 at 9:07 AM
cherylwalsh.bsky.social
New blog post--review of a new book out this week: Lorissa Rinehart's biography of Jeannette Rankin. Someone I've always been curious about, and the book is a pleasure to read--there's lots about Progressivism, woman suffrage, and 20th-century American politics.
www.cherylwalsh.net/blog
November 1, 2025 at 4:54 PM
cherylwalsh.bsky.social
Welcome news this afternoon.
www.press-citizen.com/story/news/2...
Court orders State Historical Society of Iowa to stop removing materials from Iowa City
A judge ruled the Iowa State Historical Society (SHSI) must stop removing artifacts from its Iowa City location ahead of its planned 2026 closure.
www.press-citizen.com
October 24, 2025 at 9:31 PM
cherylwalsh.bsky.social
A favorite line from @jenniferfawcett.bsky.social's brand new book, *Keep This for Me*: "When did all their tiny movements get so layered with meaning? It was exhausting."

#favoritelinefridays #keepthisforme #thrillerbooks @atriabooks.bsky.social
October 10, 2025 at 12:38 PM
Reposted by Cheryl Walsh
oaklandreviewofbooks.org
Tommy Orange got a MacArthur! HELL YEAH!
www.macfound.org/fellows/clas...
Tommy Orange
Illuminating the richness and complexity of contemporary, urban Native Peoples’ lives.
www.macfound.org
October 8, 2025 at 4:28 PM
cherylwalsh.bsky.social
New blog post up today, a review of @jenniferfawcett.bsky.social's new thriller, #KeepThisForMe --out this week. As a child of the Great Lakes, I was totally into the Lake Ontario beach town setting.
www.cherylwalsh.net/blog
#bookreviews #thrillerbooks @atriabooks.bsky.social
October 5, 2025 at 7:00 PM
cherylwalsh.bsky.social
New specs!

#newglasses
October 1, 2025 at 3:33 PM
Reposted by Cheryl Walsh
kentpriore.bsky.social
Come check out booth #223 at the Brooklyn Book Festival!
September 21, 2025 at 2:01 PM
cherylwalsh.bsky.social
Favorite lines from T. S. Eliot's poem "East Coker": "Do not let me hear / Of the wisdom of old men, but rather of their folly, / Their fear of fear and frenzy, their fear of possession, / Of belonging to another, or to others, or to God."

#tseliot #eastcoker #favoritelinefridays #poetry
Black and white photo of two pairs of clasped hands, wrinkled and gnarled, next to each other from across a table, not touching.
September 12, 2025 at 5:56 PM
Reposted by Cheryl Walsh
freemanpoet.bsky.social
I'm sort of pinching myself here. I got a book signing in November at Barnes and Noble. SO very excited! Dopamine and the Devil, out now with Coffeetown Press. Thanks always to my wonderful friends!
September 8, 2025 at 7:25 PM
cherylwalsh.bsky.social
In celebration of UNEQUAL TEMPERAMENT's second birthday, here is one of my own lines for #favoritelinefridays.

#unequaltemperament #debutnovel #WomensFiction #americanbuffalobooks #harpsichord #meteorology #booksky #writingcommunity
"There was something comforting about handling a machine.... The inexplicable could be explained, the right decision implicit in the conditions. Incorrect decisions were measurable. And if something went wrong, there would be a solution. Or at least a clear reason for scrapping the heap." Unequal Temperament, Cheryl Walsh
September 5, 2025 at 6:47 PM
cherylwalsh.bsky.social
Happy birthday to UNEQUAL TEMPERAMENT, launched into the world two years ago today! To celebrate, I'm giving away a few copies--DM if you're interested.
#unequaltemperament #bookbirthday #debutnovel #harpsichord #meteorology #WomensFiction @buffalo-books.bsky.social
September 5, 2025 at 3:09 PM
cherylwalsh.bsky.social
A favorite line from Jim Harrison's wonderful novel *Returning to Earth*: "I awoke delighted with life on earth despite its desperately compromised nature."

#jimharrison #favoritelinefridays
August 29, 2025 at 6:49 PM
cherylwalsh.bsky.social
Today I made guacamole with garlic chive blossoms and it was fantastic!

#backyardherbs #guacamole
August 28, 2025 at 11:24 PM
cherylwalsh.bsky.social
A favorite line from Linda Pastan's poem "Cosmology": "Someone has spilled the moon / all over the trees."
#favoritelinefridays #LindaPastan #poetry @wwnorton.com
Photo of pine trees against a dark sky with the tips illuminated by moonlight.
August 22, 2025 at 6:55 PM
cherylwalsh.bsky.social
Dragon tongue! I don't grow green beans because I can't see them to harvest. So I grow purple or speckled beans instead. Dragon tongue is a very tasty variety. Stringless, bush habit.

#gardenbounty
large metal bowl full of dragon tongue beans: purple speckled wax beans.
August 11, 2025 at 8:53 PM
cherylwalsh.bsky.social
I just learned that an old and dear friend of Bru's, the best man/emcee at our wedding, Neil Hornick, passed away last spring. Such regret that we have been so out of touch that I didn't know until now. We cherish his memory. Long live the Phantom Captain!

www.theguardian.com/stage/2025/a...
Neil Hornick as the Phantom Captain, holding the book "The Best Man's Duties," with Bruce Hart, the groom.
August 9, 2025 at 4:34 PM
Reposted by Cheryl Walsh
blairpalese.bsky.social
Great news! Court overturns massive #coal mine approval on climate grounds stopping 876 megatonnes of #carbondioxide for selling and burning overseas. #climate #auspol #nswpol
www.smh.com.au/environment/...
Court overturns massive coal mine approval on climate grounds
The NSW Court of Appeal found the planning authority must consider climate change impacts even if the coal is being exported to burn overseas.
www.smh.com.au
July 26, 2025 at 3:14 AM
cherylwalsh.bsky.social
This line from Anne Enright's novel *The Wren, the Wren* made me laugh out loud: "I never tell my mother anything. I am not that stupid."
#favoritelinefridays #anneenright #thewrenthewren
July 25, 2025 at 1:53 PM
cherylwalsh.bsky.social
First new blogpost in a while: Welcome to the Darkroom.
www.cherylwalsh.net/blog
#filmphotography #darkroom #cognitivedecline #grief
Photo of John Pochee and Bernie McGann © Bruce Hart. All rights reserved.
John Pochee playing drums and Bernie McGann wiping his forehead during a performance at a jazz club.
July 24, 2025 at 3:52 PM
Reposted by Cheryl Walsh
aaronburch.bsky.social
I've got 3 extra copies of YEAR OF THE BUFFALO, would love them to be in the hands of a reader rather than in my way on my desk. hmu and I'll send you one.
July 23, 2025 at 10:58 PM
cherylwalsh.bsky.social
A favorite line (of many) from Charlotte Wood's novel *Stone Yard Devotional*: "The subtlety of the lilting chant belies the blunt instrument of the words themselves."
#favoritelinefridays #charlottewood #stoneyarddevotional #booksky @riverheadbooks.bsky.social
July 11, 2025 at 4:37 PM
cherylwalsh.bsky.social
If you don't have time to get to your local independent bookstore this week, Bookshop has free shipping through July 12. Check out my five-star recommendations.
bookshop.org/lists/cheryl...
Cheryl's Five-Star Reviews
I often review books on Goodreads, and I'm working on gathering all my five-star reviews here. This list is always growing!
bookshop.org
July 10, 2025 at 2:40 PM
cherylwalsh.bsky.social
Another five-star review. #StoneYardDevotional is an intriguing exploration of grief, spirituality, and forgiveness during a time of isolation and covid lockdowns in Australia. What does is take to be a good person in times of environmental and personal crisis?
#charlottewood #yournextread #booksky
July 10, 2025 at 2:35 PM