Jay Jennings
@jayjenni.bsky.social
Writer: CARRY THE ROCK / Editor: CHARLES PORTIS: COLLECTED WORKS / Screenwriter: A TREACHEROUS COUNTRY and DOG OF THE SOUTH jayjennings.net
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Jay Jennings
@jayjenni.bsky.social
· Oct 23
A Treacherous Country wins BBFF Screenplay Competition - FilmInk
Submissions to the Byron Bay International Film Festival’s 2025 Screenplay Competition came from around the world - from Turkey to Canada - with a particularly strong showing from the United States.
www.filmink.com.au
Some news: My screenplay adapted from Kate Kruimink's historical novel A Treacherous Country has won the top prize at the Byron Bay Film Festival in Australia. I'm gobsmacked. www.filmink.com.au/public-notic...
Reposted by Jay Jennings
and, of course, sold the book, which isn’t as much this year’s writing but does portend some level of future writing bsky.app/profile/oliv...
December 30, 2025 at 12:49 PM
and, of course, sold the book, which isn’t as much this year’s writing but does portend some level of future writing bsky.app/profile/oliv...
#BOTD in 1933: Charles Portis. Here's the final paragraph from an early draft of TRUE GRIT. (His papers are in the Wittliff Collections at Texas State U.) He's still working out the final lines but what strikes me is how much of this draft resembles the final book. A master from the start.
December 28, 2025 at 1:42 PM
#BOTD in 1933: Charles Portis. Here's the final paragraph from an early draft of TRUE GRIT. (His papers are in the Wittliff Collections at Texas State U.) He's still working out the final lines but what strikes me is how much of this draft resembles the final book. A master from the start.
Reposted by Jay Jennings
The book I would give anyone — a ten-year-old boy, an eighty-year-old woman, a neighbor, a coworker, a loved one — is True Grit by Charles Portis.
And the gift I would give anyone is a knife. Kitchen, steak, pocket, utility, multi-tool, etc. You can always use another knife.
How about you?
And the gift I would give anyone is a knife. Kitchen, steak, pocket, utility, multi-tool, etc. You can always use another knife.
How about you?
December 18, 2025 at 1:33 PM
The book I would give anyone — a ten-year-old boy, an eighty-year-old woman, a neighbor, a coworker, a loved one — is True Grit by Charles Portis.
And the gift I would give anyone is a knife. Kitchen, steak, pocket, utility, multi-tool, etc. You can always use another knife.
How about you?
And the gift I would give anyone is a knife. Kitchen, steak, pocket, utility, multi-tool, etc. You can always use another knife.
How about you?
Reposted by Jay Jennings
"I refuse." This is it. There's no reason we should accept a narrative of an already settled future which marginalizes humans and individual agency. No one wants this. No one asked for it.
"This promise of an AI future, is really just a collective anxiety that wealthy people have about how well they're gonna be able to control us in the future."
- @tressiemcphd.bsky.social with an absolute mic drop moment about AI bullshit.
Incredible words.
Listen to all of it!
- @tressiemcphd.bsky.social with an absolute mic drop moment about AI bullshit.
Incredible words.
Listen to all of it!
December 19, 2025 at 1:21 PM
"I refuse." This is it. There's no reason we should accept a narrative of an already settled future which marginalizes humans and individual agency. No one wants this. No one asked for it.
I’m late on the exact anniversary but 40 years ago on Oct 22 I first met Charles Portis in person at the Town Pump for lunch after buying his just-published Masters of Atlantis at WordsWorth Books in Little Rock. Both places are still around and I think of him and miss him every time I visit one.
December 12, 2025 at 2:19 PM
I’m late on the exact anniversary but 40 years ago on Oct 22 I first met Charles Portis in person at the Town Pump for lunch after buying his just-published Masters of Atlantis at WordsWorth Books in Little Rock. Both places are still around and I think of him and miss him every time I visit one.
Reposted by Jay Jennings
“I am so bored by AI. One of the things I love about the theatre is AI can’t do it.”
Ethan Hawke is a dude 👌🏻
Ethan Hawke is a dude 👌🏻
December 9, 2025 at 8:36 PM
“I am so bored by AI. One of the things I love about the theatre is AI can’t do it.”
Ethan Hawke is a dude 👌🏻
Ethan Hawke is a dude 👌🏻
Come hear Sam Tanenhaus talk about his magisterial new book on William F. Buckley at the Clinton Center in Little Rock @clintonfoundation.bsky.social
Tuesday at 6pm.
Tuesday at 6pm.
Open Letters Review editor Steve Donoghue continues his Best Books of 2025 with this year's Biography - see them now at his Substack, Stevereads:
stevedonoghue.substack.com/p/the-best-b...
stevedonoghue.substack.com/p/the-best-b...
The Best Books of 2025: Biography
2025 was an excellent year for biographies despite all the cultural currents wanting to push things in the opposite direction.
stevedonoghue.substack.com
December 9, 2025 at 3:21 AM
Come hear Sam Tanenhaus talk about his magisterial new book on William F. Buckley at the Clinton Center in Little Rock @clintonfoundation.bsky.social
Tuesday at 6pm.
Tuesday at 6pm.
Local Goodwill find for $1.99.
November 13, 2025 at 1:15 AM
Local Goodwill find for $1.99.
Reposted by Jay Jennings
Chaser; a great Charles Portis piece on life on the open road:
oxfordamerican.org/magazine/iss...
oxfordamerican.org/magazine/iss...
Motel Life, Lower Reaches
MOTEL #1 Back when Roger Miller was King of the Road, in the 1960s, he sang of rooms to let …
oxfordamerican.org
October 23, 2025 at 3:23 PM
Chaser; a great Charles Portis piece on life on the open road:
oxfordamerican.org/magazine/iss...
oxfordamerican.org/magazine/iss...
Some news: My screenplay adapted from Kate Kruimink's historical novel A Treacherous Country has won the top prize at the Byron Bay Film Festival in Australia. I'm gobsmacked. www.filmink.com.au/public-notic...
A Treacherous Country wins BBFF Screenplay Competition - FilmInk
Submissions to the Byron Bay International Film Festival’s 2025 Screenplay Competition came from around the world - from Turkey to Canada - with a particularly strong showing from the United States.
www.filmink.com.au
October 23, 2025 at 2:56 AM
Some news: My screenplay adapted from Kate Kruimink's historical novel A Treacherous Country has won the top prize at the Byron Bay Film Festival in Australia. I'm gobsmacked. www.filmink.com.au/public-notic...
As a former Vanderbilt walk-on football player (admittedly, for only about six weeks), I never thought I’d live long enough to see the Commodores in the Top 10.
October 21, 2025 at 10:53 AM
As a former Vanderbilt walk-on football player (admittedly, for only about six weeks), I never thought I’d live long enough to see the Commodores in the Top 10.
Reposted by Jay Jennings
No question that Charles Portis is exactly the kind of writer I am thinking about -- totally his own man, writing in his own way and unlike anyone else alive. Although he was clearly channeling the spirit of Mark Twain, bless him.
Thanks to @ghoward1950.bsky.social for this clear-eyed essay. To his list of once-neglected writers now acknowledged as masters, I’d of course add Charles Portis. I hope Gilbert Rogin also achieves the latter.
The Dogged, Irrational Persistence of Literary Fiction www.nytimes.com/2025/10/20/o...
The Dogged, Irrational Persistence of Literary Fiction www.nytimes.com/2025/10/20/o...
Opinion | The Dogged, Irrational Persistence of Literary Fiction
www.nytimes.com
October 20, 2025 at 2:52 PM
No question that Charles Portis is exactly the kind of writer I am thinking about -- totally his own man, writing in his own way and unlike anyone else alive. Although he was clearly channeling the spirit of Mark Twain, bless him.
Thanks to @ghoward1950.bsky.social for this clear-eyed essay. To his list of once-neglected writers now acknowledged as masters, I’d of course add Charles Portis. I hope Gilbert Rogin also achieves the latter.
The Dogged, Irrational Persistence of Literary Fiction www.nytimes.com/2025/10/20/o...
The Dogged, Irrational Persistence of Literary Fiction www.nytimes.com/2025/10/20/o...
Opinion | The Dogged, Irrational Persistence of Literary Fiction
www.nytimes.com
October 20, 2025 at 11:35 AM
Thanks to @ghoward1950.bsky.social for this clear-eyed essay. To his list of once-neglected writers now acknowledged as masters, I’d of course add Charles Portis. I hope Gilbert Rogin also achieves the latter.
The Dogged, Irrational Persistence of Literary Fiction www.nytimes.com/2025/10/20/o...
The Dogged, Irrational Persistence of Literary Fiction www.nytimes.com/2025/10/20/o...
Reposted by Jay Jennings
“If you riff hard enough, you end up in the bedrock of shared humanity,” writes @girinathan.bsky.social in Defector. “At least if you’re as potent a riffer as Charles Portis.” A reader enters the hilarious and turbulent world of Portis’s 1979 gem The Dog of the South: defector.com/charles-port...
Charles Portis Can Make You Love A Loser | Defector
I am more likely to laugh at a movie than a book. I’m sure this is true of many people, and I’m sure there are a host of social-emotional reasons for this disparity, but I can think of at least one cr...
defector.com
October 16, 2025 at 2:28 PM
“If you riff hard enough, you end up in the bedrock of shared humanity,” writes @girinathan.bsky.social in Defector. “At least if you’re as potent a riffer as Charles Portis.” A reader enters the hilarious and turbulent world of Portis’s 1979 gem The Dog of the South: defector.com/charles-port...
Reposted by Jay Jennings
This is going to be my new favorite True Grit-themed restaurant.
Utah Eats: Le Boeuf is a new French-inspired restaurant in Salt Lake City's Central Ninth neighborhood, serving up steaks and, yes, escargot — but without the stuffy attitude.
A French restaurant opens in Central Ninth, without the stuffy attitude
Utah Eats: Le Boeuf is a new French-inspired restaurant in Salt Lake City's Central Ninth neighborhood, serving up steaks and, yes, escargot — but without the stuffy attitude.
www.sltrib.com
October 16, 2025 at 7:52 PM
This is going to be my new favorite True Grit-themed restaurant.
Defector goes deep on The Dog of the South.
Charles Portis can make you love a loser: defector.com/charles-port...
Charles Portis Can Make You Love A Loser | Defector
I am more likely to laugh at a movie than a book. I’m sure this is true of many people, and I’m sure there are a host of social-emotional reasons for this disparity, but I can think of at least one…
defector.com
October 16, 2025 at 9:07 AM
Defector goes deep on The Dog of the South.
I sent Kaleb an early version of the newly discovered Portis fiction that appeared in @harpers.bsky.social and hoped he would write more about Portis. A heartfelt, wrenching appreciation here from Luke O’Neil.
It seems that Kaleb Horton has passed away. A devastating loss. One of the best writers of this generation. Kaleb was a friend for ten years and in all our conversations I was trying to convince him how good he was, something he seemed to know but also never fully believe. I am going to go cry now.
October 2, 2025 at 10:20 AM
I sent Kaleb an early version of the newly discovered Portis fiction that appeared in @harpers.bsky.social and hoped he would write more about Portis. A heartfelt, wrenching appreciation here from Luke O’Neil.
R.I.P. Kaleb Horton. When I recently reread this memorial tribute he wrote on Charles Portis—one of the best Portis essays ever—I wrote to ask if he had this in the can or if he wrote it fresh. I was astonished to learn it was the latter. That's how good he was. Everything here is worth your time.
September 28, 2025 at 12:32 PM
R.I.P. Kaleb Horton. When I recently reread this memorial tribute he wrote on Charles Portis—one of the best Portis essays ever—I wrote to ask if he had this in the can or if he wrote it fresh. I was astonished to learn it was the latter. That's how good he was. Everything here is worth your time.
Doing crowdwork opening for Nate Bargatze in North Little Rock, Julian McCullough asked a 15-year-old in the audience what book he should have been reading instead of seeing the Sunday night show and the boy replied, "Small Things Like These." Kudos to that kid's teacher whoever they might be.
September 22, 2025 at 6:58 PM
Doing crowdwork opening for Nate Bargatze in North Little Rock, Julian McCullough asked a 15-year-old in the audience what book he should have been reading instead of seeing the Sunday night show and the boy replied, "Small Things Like These." Kudos to that kid's teacher whoever they might be.
Reposted by Jay Jennings
Vroman's Bookseller Recs:
TRUE GRIT by Charles Portis
Recommended by Anne
A western for people who don't especially like westerns, True Grit is smart, funny, and full of rip-roarin' adventure!
vromansbookstore.com/book/9781590...
TRUE GRIT by Charles Portis
Recommended by Anne
A western for people who don't especially like westerns, True Grit is smart, funny, and full of rip-roarin' adventure!
vromansbookstore.com/book/9781590...
September 6, 2025 at 5:56 PM
Vroman's Bookseller Recs:
TRUE GRIT by Charles Portis
Recommended by Anne
A western for people who don't especially like westerns, True Grit is smart, funny, and full of rip-roarin' adventure!
vromansbookstore.com/book/9781590...
TRUE GRIT by Charles Portis
Recommended by Anne
A western for people who don't especially like westerns, True Grit is smart, funny, and full of rip-roarin' adventure!
vromansbookstore.com/book/9781590...
Reposted by Jay Jennings
Attention journalists!
If you report on national security, space, AI, climate change, the environment, and/or local economic and health issues, attend this year's free Nuclear Reporting Summit on October 9-10 near Little Rock, Arkansas, to discuss how these are all connected. Details in the link.
If you report on national security, space, AI, climate change, the environment, and/or local economic and health issues, attend this year's free Nuclear Reporting Summit on October 9-10 near Little Rock, Arkansas, to discuss how these are all connected. Details in the link.
Looking forward to attending and speaking at the 2025 @outrider.org Nuclear Reporting Summit, held this year, appropriately, in a decommissioned Titan II ICBM silo near Little Rock, Arkansas. Click the link below to learn more or to apply to attend this free, two-day conference. Space is limited.
2025 Outrider Nuclear Reporting Summit
This fall, in a former nuclear missile silo, we'll convene journalists at the nexus of health, climate, artificial intelligence, outer space, and national security to discuss how these issues are inte...
outrider.org
August 29, 2025 at 12:27 PM
Attention journalists!
If you report on national security, space, AI, climate change, the environment, and/or local economic and health issues, attend this year's free Nuclear Reporting Summit on October 9-10 near Little Rock, Arkansas, to discuss how these are all connected. Details in the link.
If you report on national security, space, AI, climate change, the environment, and/or local economic and health issues, attend this year's free Nuclear Reporting Summit on October 9-10 near Little Rock, Arkansas, to discuss how these are all connected. Details in the link.
My first-grader daughter brought this home from school today. I feel seen under her don’ts.
August 27, 2025 at 1:36 AM
My first-grader daughter brought this home from school today. I feel seen under her don’ts.
My 6-year-old-daughter and I were stopped on a freeway frontage road next to a building with a big sign reading CENTERFOLDS, and I had to explain that some people pay to watch origami.
August 24, 2025 at 2:32 PM
My 6-year-old-daughter and I were stopped on a freeway frontage road next to a building with a big sign reading CENTERFOLDS, and I had to explain that some people pay to watch origami.
Reposted by Jay Jennings
Tried using Chatgpt 5 to look up 1918 rail routes. It's still useless. Still confidently reports made-up nonsense. Still sneakily gives links to unrelated websites, or sites that give facts flatly contradicting chatgpt. It'll send you on wild goose chases. Credulous users are a danger to us all.
August 10, 2025 at 2:30 AM
Tried using Chatgpt 5 to look up 1918 rail routes. It's still useless. Still confidently reports made-up nonsense. Still sneakily gives links to unrelated websites, or sites that give facts flatly contradicting chatgpt. It'll send you on wild goose chases. Credulous users are a danger to us all.
Dwight Garner quite rightly recommends Charles Portis's Dog of the South as a great road-trip read— "the fullest flowering of his particular kind of genius"—but the article links to the original NYTBR review from Larry L. King, who doesn't get it at all. www.nytimes.com/2025/07/30/b...
18 Great Road Trip Books That Aren’t ‘On the Road’
www.nytimes.com
August 5, 2025 at 10:59 AM
Dwight Garner quite rightly recommends Charles Portis's Dog of the South as a great road-trip read— "the fullest flowering of his particular kind of genius"—but the article links to the original NYTBR review from Larry L. King, who doesn't get it at all. www.nytimes.com/2025/07/30/b...