Colleen Burner
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colleenburner.bsky.social
Colleen Burner
@colleenburner.bsky.social
220 followers 240 following 89 posts
Editor at @surelymag.bsky.social
writer, painter, quilter, dust mote in space just like you
SISTER GOLDEN CALF (Split/Lip Press)
they/them
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colleenburner.bsky.social
flames….flames on the side of my face
A screenshot of an incredibly ridiculous and offensive email for a “writer editor - part time - AI trainer” position with Outlier Ai that pays FIFTEEN DOLLARS PER HOUR for a person with a brain and editing and writing experience to train some sort of LLM bullshit bot to help AI replace the very person training the program.
November 17, 2025 at 1:38 AM
Reposted by Colleen Burner
colleenburner.bsky.social
A photo of David Lynch from the chest up, his open hands reaching out in front of him. The background is panels of muted red, blue, yellow, and green. The caption text on the image says "You're all together on this planet trying to live a life" A photo of David Lynch from the chest up, his open hands reaching out in front of him. The background is panels of muted red, blue, yellow, and green. The caption text on the image says "you know, a good life" A photo of David Lynch from the chest up, his hands face down in front of him. The background is panels of muted red, blue, yellow, and green. The caption text on the image says "Why would you torture people?"
January 30, 2025 at 12:01 AM
Reposted by Colleen Burner
haileypiperfights.bsky.social
When you recount this election day:
Gonzo in Muppet Christmas Carol saying "Now once again, I must ask you to remember that Dick Cheney was dead and decaying. That one thing you must remember, or both that follows will seem wondrous."
November 5, 2025 at 4:55 AM
Reposted by Colleen Burner
tashmahal.bsky.social
Oh Lydia Davis ❤️
Fear By Lydia Davis Nearly every morning, a certain woman in our community comes running out of her house with her face white and her overcoat flapping wildly. She cries out, "Emergency, emergency," and one of us runs to her and holds her until her fears are calmed. We know she is making it up; nothing has really happened to her. But we understand, because there is hardly one of us who has not been moved at some time to do just what she has done, and every time, it has taken all our strength, and even the strength of our friends and families too, to quiet us.
August 2, 2023 at 9:29 PM
Reposted by Colleen Burner
chembarathi.bsky.social
Heart weeps.

Head tries to help heart.

Head tells heart how it is, again:

You will lose the ones you love. They will all go. But
even the earth will go, someday.

Heart feels better, then.

But the words of head do not remain long in the ears of heart. - Lydia Davis
#Poetry #LiteratureSky 💙📚👀
Head, Heart Heart weeps. Head tries to help heart. Head tells heart how it is, again: You will lose the ones you love. They will all go. But even the earth will go, someday. Heart feels better, then. But the words of head do not remain long in the ears of heart. Heart is so new to this. I want them back, says heart. Head is all heart has. Help, head. Help heart.
April 4, 2025 at 8:19 AM
Reposted by Colleen Burner
em-words.bsky.social
This might be my favourite piece by Lydia Davis - a comfort in the never lostness of things.
A photo of a book page, showing a short story by Lydia Davis titled 'Lost Things' that reads; They are lost, but also not lost but somewhere in the world. Most of them are small, though two are larger, one a coat and one a dog. Of the small things, one is a valuable ring, one a valuable button. They are lost from me and where I am, but they are also not gone. They are somewhere else, and they are there to someone else, it may be. But if not there to someone else, the ring is, still, not lost to itself, but there, only not where I am, and the button, too, there, still, only not where I am.
November 21, 2024 at 3:47 PM
Reposted by Colleen Burner
chenchenwrites.bsky.social
It is true there is not enough beauty in the world.
It is also true that I am not competent to restore it.
Neither is there candor, and here I may be of some use.

—Louise Glück, from "October"
October 25, 2025 at 11:03 PM
colleenburner.bsky.social
A “no smoking” sign that has been amended to say “no kings”
October 25, 2025 at 4:52 AM
Reposted by Colleen Burner
harpua.bsky.social
Ursula Le Guin's 1999 letter to Michael Powell, the owner of Powell's Books in Portland. Powell's workers unionized in 2000 and have faced some union-busting measures since, but were the first contract in ILWU Local 5.
Ursula Le Guin letter to the owner of Powell's Books in 1999 where she says it would be an honor to know that it's a union shop.
October 22, 2025 at 6:15 PM
Reposted by Colleen Burner
sarahmackattack.bsky.social
I didn’t even edit this one. Snail looked this good all on their own. Sports Illustrated model of snails over here. Great work snail you’re lookin wet as hell.
A wet snail on some tiny leaves on the side of a wall
October 18, 2025 at 1:46 PM
colleenburner.bsky.social
Ah, the scammy book club placement emails have reached me and they’re getting the title of my book wrong. The perils of being An Author in the modern age ✨
October 14, 2025 at 5:06 PM
colleenburner.bsky.social
It’s sunny today ⛅️
youtu.be/F_09jWiVbYg
Sparks - It’s Sunny Today (Lyric Video)
YouTube video by SparksVEVO
youtu.be
October 13, 2025 at 5:36 PM
colleenburner.bsky.social
Ominous portents this evening
A torn paperback copy of a book titled 20/20 Thinking on the sidewalk under a power pole that’s been seeping creosote so it looks like black ooze is snaking out from underneath the book Two red hatchback cars parallel parked on a street; they aren’t the same model but very close, like siblings but not quite twins & there’s something striking about their likeness and proximity and how bright their red is—the shade of red is the same
September 30, 2025 at 4:30 AM
colleenburner.bsky.social
Kitchen disco, 8 a.m.
September 27, 2025 at 3:03 PM
colleenburner.bsky.social
@davidnaimon.bsky.social we’re in here somewhere
sparksofficial.bsky.social S P A R K S @sparksofficial.bsky.social · Sep 27
Thank you, Portland!!
September 27, 2025 at 5:20 AM
colleenburner.bsky.social
my 1st book, Sister Golden Calf, was released 2 years ago today by @splitlippress.com. I don't think anyone can predict how a book launch will go, but I got real lucky with the Split/Lip team & the events I got to do in Portland w/ David Naimon, Alissa Hattman, Thea Prieto, & Bishop & Wilde Books
the cover of Sister Golden Calf: a peach-colored rectangle hovers in front of a landscape of red rock formations and blue sky. On the peach rectangle are the title of the book and my name, in front of a pile of 7 cow legs; 1 cow leg hovers mid-air. Designed by David Wojciechowski. David Naimon and I in front of the audience at Powell's City of Books Me reading in front of a wall of books at The Stacks Coffeehouse Promo graphic for my reading at Bishop & Wilde on 10/4/2023. Five people showed up for this reading, but now I'm actually friends with all of them, and the oddly intimate reading situation should not be dismissed!
September 19, 2025 at 6:00 PM
Reposted by Colleen Burner
milesklee.bsky.social
thank god i'm not alive to see this
September 17, 2025 at 11:49 PM
colleenburner.bsky.social
how the emails are finding me this morning:
Three pictures of sun bears, which look dazed and goofy as hell standing on hind legs, the wonderful ape-dog creatures everyone knows them to be. They’ve never been sent emails and I envy them that.
September 15, 2025 at 4:21 PM
colleenburner.bsky.social
& speaking of review outlets, a boon for my Monday just came in the mail
The latest issue of The Anarchist Review of Books “In this year of war, fear, and rage, we have found ourselves returning again and again to W. S. Merwin’s poem The River of Bees. “We are the echo of the future,” Merwin writes, “On the door it says what to do to survive/ But we were not born to survive/ Only to live” ALL POWER TO THE IMAGINATION ALL POWER TO LIFE The Editorial Collective August 15, 2025”
September 8, 2025 at 9:30 PM
colleenburner.bsky.social
what if I (or anyone) started a publication for reviewing books that have been out at least a year...? 🤔
thelincoln.bsky.social Lincoln Michel @thelincoln.bsky.social · Sep 8
For real, if you've ever been considering reviewing / interviewing / etc. someone but stopped yourself because the book was released months ago... do it! We love getting coverage after pub day.
justintaylor.bsky.social Justin Taylor @justintaylor.bsky.social · Sep 8
Worst thing to happen to book crit was getting mercilessly synced to pub dates. writer gets 97% of the coverage they're ever getting by the end of week 2, & if the book is widely reviewed (positive or not) in prestige places some of your would-be audience burns out on takes & skips the book itself.
September 8, 2025 at 8:47 PM
colleenburner.bsky.social
It’s too hot to think about quilting. And yet.
A six-pointed star made of fabric with a pattern of orange and blue polka dots floating over a white background (the dots are about dime-sized and have gradation so they almost look spherical), with a solid light orange hexagon at the center of the star A six-pointed star made of fabric with a pattern of orange and dark teal dotted lines arcing over a light sagey green background (the lines are crossed by coordinating orange and green dots here and there, they look like olives or beads), with a solid orange hexagon at the center of the star A six-pointed star made of fabric with a pattern of white, light blue, and dark blue flower shapes and angular shapes (very kiki and bouba), with a solid blue hexagon at the center of the star A six-pointed star made of fabric with a pattern of leaves in stems curving around a white background (the colors are Mardi Gras shades of yellow, green, and purple), with a solid purple hexagon at the center of the star
August 13, 2025 at 1:09 AM
colleenburner.bsky.social
It’s a heatwave in Portland so I’m looking back ever so longingly at quilting progress from a couple weeks ago
A six-pointed quilted star made of fabric with dark brown polka dots (smaller than a dime) on off-white, with a light brown hexagon at the center of the star A six-pointed quilted star made of fabric that looks like a very small scale Yayoi Kusama net painting in coral over white, with a solid pink hexagon at the center of the star A six-pointed quilted star made of fabric with a stylized daisy print in dark blue with overlapping grid and checkered patterns, with a blue hexagon at the center of the star A six-pointed quilted star made of fabric with a print that’s really hard to describe—light brown background with a pattern of dark brown, yellow, and green on top, in sort of crisscrossing and diamond shaped routes but made of u-shaped marks—it’s very late ‘60s I think, with a light brown hexagon at the center of the star
August 10, 2025 at 10:01 PM
colleenburner.bsky.social
I’m Out Of Office for the next week but please fill our inbox with your weird short fiction in the meantime
surelymag.bsky.social surely magazine @surelymag.bsky.social · Aug 1
the window is OPEN! send us your stories from now until Sept. 15 〰️ guidelines and more can be found at surelymag.com/about
about — surely
surelymag.com
August 2, 2025 at 12:44 AM
colleenburner.bsky.social
“Let us come together to celebrate literature without lending these banks the shine of our collective dreams for a better future, without helping the reputations of those who profit off death in the shadows.” 📣📣📣
July 29, 2025 at 8:14 PM