Jill Christman
@jillchristman.bsky.social
Author of THE HEART FOLDS EARLY (U Nebraska Press March 1 2026). Editor at RIVER TEETH (riverteethjournal.com) & BEAUTIFUL THINGS: @riverteeth.bsky.social!
NEA Prose Fellow. Ball State Professor. Raised by hippies. Kind of witchy.
jillchristman.com
NEA Prose Fellow. Ball State Professor. Raised by hippies. Kind of witchy.
jillchristman.com
This dog shopping at the meat counter was hands down the best thing I saw out in the world last weekend. Laser focus. Paws gripping the bar. The way his sweet brown belly rhymes with the hams in the case.
October 6, 2025 at 3:56 PM
This dog shopping at the meat counter was hands down the best thing I saw out in the world last weekend. Laser focus. Paws gripping the bar. The way his sweet brown belly rhymes with the hams in the case.
I've gotten repeated voicemails on my university phone this semester trying to sell me an AI service that would enable me to comment on a student essay in "less than ninety seconds." Appalling.
Students, here's the thing: I would NEVER. I will never.
Students, here's the thing: I would NEVER. I will never.
September 15, 2025 at 10:08 PM
I've gotten repeated voicemails on my university phone this semester trying to sell me an AI service that would enable me to comment on a student essay in "less than ninety seconds." Appalling.
Students, here's the thing: I would NEVER. I will never.
Students, here's the thing: I would NEVER. I will never.
Yes! Isn't it amazing?!
Sue William Silverman's latest essay collection: Amazing. I knew it would be when I saw glowing blurbs by other amazing essayists: @paullisicky.bsky.social @jillchristman.bsky.social & Sonja Livingston. @univnebpress.bsky.social
September 15, 2025 at 10:05 PM
Yes! Isn't it amazing?!
Occasionally, at Beautiful Things, we ask the author if they have a photo they want to share. This was such a week. ❤️🌸
“The flowers had just started blooming, so my mom gathered yellow daffodils and pink azaleas from her yard for your bridal bouquet.”
-from “No Ugly Crying,” this week’s Beautiful Things essay by Allison Kirkland
Read the rest: riverteethjournal.com/beautiful-th...
-from “No Ugly Crying,” this week’s Beautiful Things essay by Allison Kirkland
Read the rest: riverteethjournal.com/beautiful-th...
September 8, 2025 at 3:42 PM
Occasionally, at Beautiful Things, we ask the author if they have a photo they want to share. This was such a week. ❤️🌸
Recommend!
Join me and an amazing community of mother writers for a my five-week Motherhood & Words online class this fall and write the stories you need to write! Link in bio! Two discounted spots for BIPOC women.
#writingcommunity #writersky #booksky
#motherhood #amwri̇ti̇ng #memoirwriting #poetry
#writingcommunity #writersky #booksky
#motherhood #amwri̇ti̇ng #memoirwriting #poetry
August 23, 2025 at 9:55 PM
Recommend!
In case anyone is wondering what I want for my birthday
August 16, 2025 at 10:27 PM
In case anyone is wondering what I want for my birthday
Sharing this writing advice from the Poet delivered generously and often in our own home: "Make it shorter and less boring."
August 6, 2025 at 5:09 PM
Sharing this writing advice from the Poet delivered generously and often in our own home: "Make it shorter and less boring."
Reposted by Jill Christman
If I have to explain to you why it's a bad idea to use a machine that makes shit up 15-80% of the time AND destroys the environment AND contributes to rising fascism and genocide AND puts brilliant skillful creatives out of work by stealing their work, then we're already speaking different languages
August 6, 2025 at 1:01 AM
If I have to explain to you why it's a bad idea to use a machine that makes shit up 15-80% of the time AND destroys the environment AND contributes to rising fascism and genocide AND puts brilliant skillful creatives out of work by stealing their work, then we're already speaking different languages
Reposted by Jill Christman
i wrote about the amazing new Sinead O'Connor anthology for Salon. it is absolutely a celebration of life, both Sinead's and each of the writers: www.salon.com/2025/08/05/a...
A literary tribute to Sinéad O'Connor takes her legacy off the back burner
In “Nothing Compares to You,” 26 writers emotionally describe how O’Connor’s music made an overlooked impact.
www.salon.com
August 5, 2025 at 4:14 PM
i wrote about the amazing new Sinead O'Connor anthology for Salon. it is absolutely a celebration of life, both Sinead's and each of the writers: www.salon.com/2025/08/05/a...
Did y’all do your Wordle today? 💕
July 31, 2025 at 2:22 AM
Did y’all do your Wordle today? 💕
Reposted by Jill Christman
Chicagolanders! @sonyahuber.bsky.social will be Zooming into @wgntv.com in the next hour (?) talking about NOTHING COMPARES TO YOU: WHAT SINEAD O'CONNOR MEANS TO US. (Not me bc union rules prohibit Zoom interviews w/folks within 30 miles of Chicago. Which is fine by me bc I am uncomfortable on TV!)
July 28, 2025 at 2:06 PM
Chicagolanders! @sonyahuber.bsky.social will be Zooming into @wgntv.com in the next hour (?) talking about NOTHING COMPARES TO YOU: WHAT SINEAD O'CONNOR MEANS TO US. (Not me bc union rules prohibit Zoom interviews w/folks within 30 miles of Chicago. Which is fine by me bc I am uncomfortable on TV!)
I have determined that the best part of publishing a book--after, you know, the life altering and enriching process of WRITING the book--is when those real blurbs come in that help you to know you connected your brain and heart to another human's brain and heart.
July 22, 2025 at 3:43 PM
I have determined that the best part of publishing a book--after, you know, the life altering and enriching process of WRITING the book--is when those real blurbs come in that help you to know you connected your brain and heart to another human's brain and heart.
Today's the day! Check out our collective love letter to Sinéad O'Connor--and if you're in Brooklyn, by all means:
July 22, 2025 at 3:39 PM
Today's the day! Check out our collective love letter to Sinéad O'Connor--and if you're in Brooklyn, by all means:
If you're not a subscriber to Beautiful Things, my goodness, what are you waiting for?! I mean, we're making beauty and giving it away over here. For free. Every Monday.
✨ This July begins the summer series for Beautiful Things, our weekly online magazine featuring micro–essays of 250 words or fewer.
✨ Subscribe for free and start your week with Beautiful Things, delivered to your inbox every Monday.
#BeautifulThings #RiverTeeth #CreativeNonfiction
✨ Subscribe for free and start your week with Beautiful Things, delivered to your inbox every Monday.
#BeautifulThings #RiverTeeth #CreativeNonfiction
June 30, 2025 at 9:30 PM
If you're not a subscriber to Beautiful Things, my goodness, what are you waiting for?! I mean, we're making beauty and giving it away over here. For free. Every Monday.
I hope you'll read this beautiful thing by @ishmish17.bsky.social about nurture and healing and "what might come next."
"This phase of recovery is luxurious mornings on the porch, sipping tea through a straw and reading on a propped-up Kindle, birds chirping and sunlight flickering down through rustling leaves."
- “Two weeks post-top surgery," essay by Ash Trebisacci
riverteethjournal.com/beautiful-th...
- “Two weeks post-top surgery," essay by Ash Trebisacci
riverteethjournal.com/beautiful-th...
June 30, 2025 at 9:25 PM
I hope you'll read this beautiful thing by @ishmish17.bsky.social about nurture and healing and "what might come next."
You know you want to . . .
Hey, I'm accepting book pitches for @barrelhouse.bsky.social for our new nonfiction series, For What It's Worth. Book-length essays (25-30K words) on a pop cultural obsession, ideally with a personal angle that makes the book something only you could write.
Barrelhouse - Book Pitches: For What It's Worth (CNF)
We're accepting pitches for a new book series, For What It's Worth: short (25-30K words) works of creative nonfiction that have some pop-cultural "thing" at their center and combine elements of memoir...
barrelhouse.submittable.com
June 30, 2025 at 12:36 AM
You know you want to . . .
Oh Cloo. What a good boy. What a beautiful thing, Jax.
"I carry my dog to the lake and we sit in the grass. He closes his eyes against sunlight that tosses itself like spare change through the trees."-from “The End," this week's Beautiful Things essay by Jax Connelly
Read the rest: riverteethjournal.com/beautiful-th...
Read the rest: riverteethjournal.com/beautiful-th...
June 23, 2025 at 3:04 PM
Oh Cloo. What a good boy. What a beautiful thing, Jax.
Got soaked to the skin, but I’m not made of sugar. Not even close. #NoKings
June 14, 2025 at 8:54 PM
Got soaked to the skin, but I’m not made of sugar. Not even close. #NoKings
Reposted by Jill Christman
NonfictionNOW is this week at Notre Dame University! Here is where you can find River Teeth.
#NonfictionNOW #RiverTeeth #CreativeNonfiction #EssaysThatMatter #LiteraryJournal #LitMag #LiteraryCommunity #WritingCommunity
#NonfictionNOW #RiverTeeth #CreativeNonfiction #EssaysThatMatter #LiteraryJournal #LitMag #LiteraryCommunity #WritingCommunity
June 9, 2025 at 4:06 PM
NonfictionNOW is this week at Notre Dame University! Here is where you can find River Teeth.
#NonfictionNOW #RiverTeeth #CreativeNonfiction #EssaysThatMatter #LiteraryJournal #LitMag #LiteraryCommunity #WritingCommunity
#NonfictionNOW #RiverTeeth #CreativeNonfiction #EssaysThatMatter #LiteraryJournal #LitMag #LiteraryCommunity #WritingCommunity
En route to Notre Dame! Who’s going to be there?!
This Wednesday at NonfictionNOW, River Teeth editor, Jill Christman, will join the panel: "In Search of Coherence, Shaping a Memoir-in-Essays."
This panel will take place in DeBartolo, Room 136 from 10:45am–12pm.
#NonfictionNOW #RiverTeeth #CreativeNonfiction #EssaysThatMatter #LiteraryJournal
This panel will take place in DeBartolo, Room 136 from 10:45am–12pm.
#NonfictionNOW #RiverTeeth #CreativeNonfiction #EssaysThatMatter #LiteraryJournal
June 10, 2025 at 8:15 PM
En route to Notre Dame! Who’s going to be there?!
Looking so forward to seeing old friends & new at NonfictioNow next week: right here in Indiana! @riverteeth.bsky.social
June 6, 2025 at 12:07 PM
Looking so forward to seeing old friends & new at NonfictioNow next week: right here in Indiana! @riverteeth.bsky.social
My 59yo brother Ian died 2 weeks ago of a progressive lung disease; our parents separated when I was a toddler, & passed between them as we were, Ian was the only other human on this earth with whom I shared a memory for our childhood, our own language. I am missing him & finding him everywhere.
June 3, 2025 at 5:26 PM
My 59yo brother Ian died 2 weeks ago of a progressive lung disease; our parents separated when I was a toddler, & passed between them as we were, Ian was the only other human on this earth with whom I shared a memory for our childhood, our own language. I am missing him & finding him everywhere.
If you haven’t listened, give yourself a treat! I happen to know that Lindsey comes in at minute 24:30 🐊
Look, Ma! I'm a rerun! It was a truly bewildering experience to pull up my podcasts today and stumble across my own mug. Thank you Pop of Culture at Indiana Public Radio and @riverteeth.bsky.social ! Listen to S2 E21 here: indianapublicradio.org/popofculture/
May 30, 2025 at 11:24 PM
If you haven’t listened, give yourself a treat! I happen to know that Lindsey comes in at minute 24:30 🐊
Reposted by Jill Christman
"But in the end, stories are about one person saying to another: This is the way it feels to me. Can you understand what I'm saying? Does it also feel this way to you?" ~ Kazuo Ishiguro
May 9, 2025 at 11:10 AM
"But in the end, stories are about one person saying to another: This is the way it feels to me. Can you understand what I'm saying? Does it also feel this way to you?" ~ Kazuo Ishiguro
Reposted by Jill Christman
Applications are open for my next Essay Collection Incubator—an intensive 10-session class designed to help you complete & revise a full manuscript. There will be workshops, generative- & revision-focused assignments, & class visits w/ authors, agents, & editors. Apply by 6/4! bit.ly/4iYMEj3
Essay Collection Incubator
Generate, revise, and prepare your essay-collection manuscript for submission—with guest authors and industry professionals, craft lectures and exercises, and multiple rounds of feedback.
bit.ly
May 8, 2025 at 3:02 PM
Applications are open for my next Essay Collection Incubator—an intensive 10-session class designed to help you complete & revise a full manuscript. There will be workshops, generative- & revision-focused assignments, & class visits w/ authors, agents, & editors. Apply by 6/4! bit.ly/4iYMEj3