Maureen Aitken
@maureenaitken.bsky.social
Author of The Patron Saint of Lost Girls, winner of the Foreword Review INDIE Gold Prize, The Nilsen Prize; a Kirkus Star, and a Foreword Review Star. Stories in Missouri Review, Prairie Schooner, New Letters.
It's publication day for The Patron Saint of Lost Girls!
You can get your copy through my website or from your favorite
#bookseller
maureenaitken.com
#survival #thepatronsaintoflostgirls #midwest #maureenaitken #domesticlife #shortstorycollection #readingcommunity #literaryfiction #availablenow
You can get your copy through my website or from your favorite
#bookseller
maureenaitken.com
#survival #thepatronsaintoflostgirls #midwest #maureenaitken #domesticlife #shortstorycollection #readingcommunity #literaryfiction #availablenow
September 16, 2025 at 4:41 PM
It's publication day for The Patron Saint of Lost Girls!
You can get your copy through my website or from your favorite
#bookseller
maureenaitken.com
#survival #thepatronsaintoflostgirls #midwest #maureenaitken #domesticlife #shortstorycollection #readingcommunity #literaryfiction #availablenow
You can get your copy through my website or from your favorite
#bookseller
maureenaitken.com
#survival #thepatronsaintoflostgirls #midwest #maureenaitken #domesticlife #shortstorycollection #readingcommunity #literaryfiction #availablenow
I’m thrilled that my collection, The Patron Saint of Lost Girls, is available for preorder through the links below. Thank you to Wayne State University Press for this beautiful reissue!
wsupress.wayne.edu/9780814352465/
www.amazon.com/Patron-Saint...
wsupress.wayne.edu/9780814352465/
www.amazon.com/Patron-Saint...
The Patron Saint of Lost Girls
Award-winning stories about growing up and finding resiliency amid uncertainty.
In 1970s and '80s Detroit, the city wrestles with an u...
wsupress.wayne.edu
August 6, 2025 at 2:50 PM
I’m thrilled that my collection, The Patron Saint of Lost Girls, is available for preorder through the links below. Thank you to Wayne State University Press for this beautiful reissue!
wsupress.wayne.edu/9780814352465/
www.amazon.com/Patron-Saint...
wsupress.wayne.edu/9780814352465/
www.amazon.com/Patron-Saint...
“I suppose you are scared too because you read poetry.
Each of us decided to dig a hole in the ground to reach out to
the other hand of our fate.”
From The Rules of Blind Obedience by Amirah Al Wassif
This reads like a memoir and poetry. Lovely.
Each of us decided to dig a hole in the ground to reach out to
the other hand of our fate.”
From The Rules of Blind Obedience by Amirah Al Wassif
This reads like a memoir and poetry. Lovely.
July 13, 2025 at 10:56 PM
“I suppose you are scared too because you read poetry.
Each of us decided to dig a hole in the ground to reach out to
the other hand of our fate.”
From The Rules of Blind Obedience by Amirah Al Wassif
This reads like a memoir and poetry. Lovely.
Each of us decided to dig a hole in the ground to reach out to
the other hand of our fate.”
From The Rules of Blind Obedience by Amirah Al Wassif
This reads like a memoir and poetry. Lovely.
Reposted by Maureen Aitken
Lucy Culliton, contemporary Australian artist, known for her paintings of landscapes and still lifes #WomensArt
July 8, 2025 at 5:35 AM
Lucy Culliton, contemporary Australian artist, known for her paintings of landscapes and still lifes #WomensArt
It’s the Monday short you need from Gary Duncan in @fictivedream.bsky.social.
#writingcommunity
#flashfiction
fictivedream.com/2025/07/07/m...
#writingcommunity
#flashfiction
fictivedream.com/2025/07/07/m...
MicroMonday #14
My Mother, the Former Bank Robber by Gary Duncan My mother, the former bank robber, keeps a claw hammer in her handbag, just in case. She says she’s never had to use it, except that one time. She s…
fictivedream.com
July 7, 2025 at 10:46 AM
It’s the Monday short you need from Gary Duncan in @fictivedream.bsky.social.
#writingcommunity
#flashfiction
fictivedream.com/2025/07/07/m...
#writingcommunity
#flashfiction
fictivedream.com/2025/07/07/m...
Many thanks to everyone at
The Missouri Review for selecting my short story as a finalist for The Perkoff Prize!
The story will be published in August.
Congratulations to all of the winners!
missourireview.com/contests/per...
#writingcommunity
#fiction
#shortstory
The Missouri Review for selecting my short story as a finalist for The Perkoff Prize!
The story will be published in August.
Congratulations to all of the winners!
missourireview.com/contests/per...
#writingcommunity
#fiction
#shortstory
Past Winners | The Missouri Review
Discovering the best in fiction, essays, and poetry
missourireview.com
June 28, 2025 at 1:31 PM
Many thanks to everyone at
The Missouri Review for selecting my short story as a finalist for The Perkoff Prize!
The story will be published in August.
Congratulations to all of the winners!
missourireview.com/contests/per...
#writingcommunity
#fiction
#shortstory
The Missouri Review for selecting my short story as a finalist for The Perkoff Prize!
The story will be published in August.
Congratulations to all of the winners!
missourireview.com/contests/per...
#writingcommunity
#fiction
#shortstory
“Stand, in the end, you'll still be you
One that's done all the things you set out to do
Stand, there's a cross for you to bear
Things to go through if you're goin' anywhere.”
RIP Sly Stone🥺
#slyandthefamilystone
www.rollingstone.com/music/music-...
One that's done all the things you set out to do
Stand, there's a cross for you to bear
Things to go through if you're goin' anywhere.”
RIP Sly Stone🥺
#slyandthefamilystone
www.rollingstone.com/music/music-...
Sly Stone, Family Stone Architect Who Fused Funk, Rock, and Soul, Dead at 82
Sly Stone, the wildly inventive musician and head of Sly & the Family Stone who fused rock, funk and soul, has died at age 82.
www.rollingstone.com
June 9, 2025 at 10:52 PM
“Stand, in the end, you'll still be you
One that's done all the things you set out to do
Stand, there's a cross for you to bear
Things to go through if you're goin' anywhere.”
RIP Sly Stone🥺
#slyandthefamilystone
www.rollingstone.com/music/music-...
One that's done all the things you set out to do
Stand, there's a cross for you to bear
Things to go through if you're goin' anywhere.”
RIP Sly Stone🥺
#slyandthefamilystone
www.rollingstone.com/music/music-...
Wayne State University Press (@WSUpress) will release a new edition of my collection, The Patron Saint of Lost Girls, this September.
Many thanks to the Wayne State University Press team for the new cover.
#shortstory
#flashfiction
#writingcommunity
#fictionwriter
#5amwritersclub
Many thanks to the Wayne State University Press team for the new cover.
#shortstory
#flashfiction
#writingcommunity
#fictionwriter
#5amwritersclub
June 4, 2025 at 3:06 PM
Wayne State University Press (@WSUpress) will release a new edition of my collection, The Patron Saint of Lost Girls, this September.
Many thanks to the Wayne State University Press team for the new cover.
#shortstory
#flashfiction
#writingcommunity
#fictionwriter
#5amwritersclub
Many thanks to the Wayne State University Press team for the new cover.
#shortstory
#flashfiction
#writingcommunity
#fictionwriter
#5amwritersclub
Day 4 of #1000wordsofsummer complete.
I’m watching inspirational athlete interviews to stay limber.
@jamiattenberg.bsky.social.
I’m watching inspirational athlete interviews to stay limber.
@jamiattenberg.bsky.social.
It's the end times, might as well write that book, people. 🖤
Come write 1000 words a day with 52,000 other people for two weeks straight. Starts tomorrow, see you then!
#1000wordsofsummer let's gooooo
1000wordsofsummer.substack.com/p/1000wordso...
Come write 1000 words a day with 52,000 other people for two weeks straight. Starts tomorrow, see you then!
#1000wordsofsummer let's gooooo
1000wordsofsummer.substack.com/p/1000wordso...
#1000WordsofSummer 2025 FAQ
Starts May 31, 2025!
1000wordsofsummer.substack.com
June 3, 2025 at 12:45 PM
Day 4 of #1000wordsofsummer complete.
I’m watching inspirational athlete interviews to stay limber.
@jamiattenberg.bsky.social.
I’m watching inspirational athlete interviews to stay limber.
@jamiattenberg.bsky.social.
Reposted by Maureen Aitken
Many thanks to
@mczyzniejewski.bsky.social and @mooncityreview.bsky.social for publishing my retelling of Hopper’s “Summer Evening.”
First of two pages below.
#writingcommunity
#writer
#readersofbluesky
@mczyzniejewski.bsky.social and @mooncityreview.bsky.social for publishing my retelling of Hopper’s “Summer Evening.”
First of two pages below.
#writingcommunity
#writer
#readersofbluesky
May 16, 2025 at 1:09 PM
Many thanks to
@mczyzniejewski.bsky.social and @mooncityreview.bsky.social for publishing my retelling of Hopper’s “Summer Evening.”
First of two pages below.
#writingcommunity
#writer
#readersofbluesky
@mczyzniejewski.bsky.social and @mooncityreview.bsky.social for publishing my retelling of Hopper’s “Summer Evening.”
First of two pages below.
#writingcommunity
#writer
#readersofbluesky
Wonderful piece by @megpokrass.bsky.social in @fictivedream.bsky.social.
fictivedream.com/2025/05/12/m...
fictivedream.com/2025/05/12/m...
MicroMonday #6
Vampira Tutorial by Meg Pokrass I was sleeping over at my best friend Sheila’s and Fright Night was about to start, which meant being glued-together scared. We were combining our sleeping bags when…
fictivedream.com
May 12, 2025 at 12:22 PM
Wonderful piece by @megpokrass.bsky.social in @fictivedream.bsky.social.
fictivedream.com/2025/05/12/m...
fictivedream.com/2025/05/12/m...
Reposted by Maureen Aitken
“Just calm down and let people enjoy chatgpt.” Sorry, no. I find it creepy that folks are treating a machine that mimics human speech as their friend / therapist. It is feeding you lies. It is destroying your thinking abilities. Shut it off. Talk to other humans. Go outside.
April 15, 2025 at 6:49 PM
“Just calm down and let people enjoy chatgpt.” Sorry, no. I find it creepy that folks are treating a machine that mimics human speech as their friend / therapist. It is feeding you lies. It is destroying your thinking abilities. Shut it off. Talk to other humans. Go outside.
Reposted by Maureen Aitken
ICYMI - my May #CraftArticle - which I promise will be the last time I bang on about climbing stairs!!! (can't believe I was still in the midst of that this time last week 🤪)
My #craftarticle this month may or may not make sense. I wrote it yesterday when my brain was like mud. But here it is regardless - some reflections on climbing mountains / stairs and the many parallels to the writing journey / to writing craft:
prattlefogandgravelrap.substack.com/p/climbing-m...
prattlefogandgravelrap.substack.com/p/climbing-m...
Climbing Mountains
At the weekend, I climbed a mountain.
prattlefogandgravelrap.substack.com
May 10, 2025 at 10:47 AM
ICYMI - my May #CraftArticle - which I promise will be the last time I bang on about climbing stairs!!! (can't believe I was still in the midst of that this time last week 🤪)
Congrats to Ben Tanzer for the publication of After Hours, a fine book about his father, grief, and the power of film.
🚨NEW EPISODE!🚨 On @thefilmographers.bsky.social, @michaelmoreci.bsky.social & I talk to the incomparable Ben Tanzer, who channeled his grief for his father and their love Martin Scorsese into a book called “After Hours: Scorsese, Grief, and the Grammar of Cinema.”
www.youtube.com/watch?v=FNQ_...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=FNQ_...
Talking “After Hours” with author Ben Tanzer
YouTube video by The Filmographers Podcast
www.youtube.com
May 8, 2025 at 7:27 PM
Congrats to Ben Tanzer for the publication of After Hours, a fine book about his father, grief, and the power of film.
Here’s a gem resource for writers:
@bradlisti.bsky.social of @otherpp.bsky.social podcast talks with @janefriedman.com about the business of writing.
podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/h...
#literaryfiction
#flashfiction
#writingcommunity
#fiction
@bradlisti.bsky.social of @otherpp.bsky.social podcast talks with @janefriedman.com about the business of writing.
podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/h...
#literaryfiction
#flashfiction
#writingcommunity
#fiction
brad listi (@bradlisti.bsky.social)
author of books. host of the otherppl podcast. in-depth interviews w writers. hermit. good at walking.
https://linktr.ee/bradlisti
#booksky
bradlisti.bsky.social
April 30, 2025 at 2:32 PM
Here’s a gem resource for writers:
@bradlisti.bsky.social of @otherpp.bsky.social podcast talks with @janefriedman.com about the business of writing.
podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/h...
#literaryfiction
#flashfiction
#writingcommunity
#fiction
@bradlisti.bsky.social of @otherpp.bsky.social podcast talks with @janefriedman.com about the business of writing.
podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/h...
#literaryfiction
#flashfiction
#writingcommunity
#fiction
“SLY LIVES!” It just gutted me for the right reasons: yes, Sly Stone is the beautiful being I remembered and yes he made the music we believed in when we needed it most. Those incandescent sounds are more amazing now.
Long live Sly Stone.
#SlyStone
#SlyandtheFamilyStone
#Questlove
#documentary
Long live Sly Stone.
#SlyStone
#SlyandtheFamilyStone
#Questlove
#documentary
Inspired by watching the documentary "Sly Lives!" yesterday, here's my tribute to the genius of Sly and the Family Stone #weekendsingles #SlyStone #Slyandthefamilystone
April 29, 2025 at 3:22 PM
“SLY LIVES!” It just gutted me for the right reasons: yes, Sly Stone is the beautiful being I remembered and yes he made the music we believed in when we needed it most. Those incandescent sounds are more amazing now.
Long live Sly Stone.
#SlyStone
#SlyandtheFamilyStone
#Questlove
#documentary
Long live Sly Stone.
#SlyStone
#SlyandtheFamilyStone
#Questlove
#documentary
Looking forward to this reading!
Join us in St. Paul for a reading with co-editor Michelle Filkins and contributors Sha Cage,
@slipfast.bsky.social, @maureenaitken.bsky.social, and Pat Cumbie at the East Side Freedom Library May 15th, 7pm! Register here eastsidefreedomlibrary.app.neoncrm.com/np/clients/e...
@slipfast.bsky.social, @maureenaitken.bsky.social, and Pat Cumbie at the East Side Freedom Library May 15th, 7pm! Register here eastsidefreedomlibrary.app.neoncrm.com/np/clients/e...
April 28, 2025 at 2:01 PM
Looking forward to this reading!
You won!!!
Congratulations, @spoutpress.bsky.social!
Congratulations, @spoutpress.bsky.social!
We are delighted and humbled to have our book LOCKER ROOM TALK nominated for the Minnesota Book Award for Best Anthology!! It feels too appropriate to have this collection protesting Trump's misogyny to be recognized now at the onset of another Trump term. Buy @asterismbooks.bsky.social
April 23, 2025 at 7:49 PM
You won!!!
Congratulations, @spoutpress.bsky.social!
Congratulations, @spoutpress.bsky.social!
Reposted by Maureen Aitken
Now is a time of perceived powerlessness for many, of despair, when things feel truly hopeless and meaningless.
It is in these moments when small kindnesses mean so much.
Check on people. Help strangers. Tell people you care.
It’s trite, but even little lights shine brightly in dark times.
It is in these moments when small kindnesses mean so much.
Check on people. Help strangers. Tell people you care.
It’s trite, but even little lights shine brightly in dark times.
April 15, 2025 at 2:09 PM
Now is a time of perceived powerlessness for many, of despair, when things feel truly hopeless and meaningless.
It is in these moments when small kindnesses mean so much.
Check on people. Help strangers. Tell people you care.
It’s trite, but even little lights shine brightly in dark times.
It is in these moments when small kindnesses mean so much.
Check on people. Help strangers. Tell people you care.
It’s trite, but even little lights shine brightly in dark times.
Reposted by Maureen Aitken
No food or bathroom breaks: How Cory Booker is pulling off his incredible Senate talk-a-thon
No food or bathroom breaks: How Cory Booker is pulling off his Senate talk-a-thon
Cory Booker is nearing the record for the longest recorded floor speech in Senate history.
www.aol.com
April 1, 2025 at 9:15 PM
No food or bathroom breaks: How Cory Booker is pulling off his incredible Senate talk-a-thon
Reposted by Maureen Aitken
Elon Musk takes $8 million a day from the federal government—your tax dollars—while doing zero philanthropic work. No giving back to society.
FOCUS: gutting jobs in the most ruthless way possible. Hoarding wealth, boosting Nazis, and leaving folks terrified about their future.
FOCUS: gutting jobs in the most ruthless way possible. Hoarding wealth, boosting Nazis, and leaving folks terrified about their future.
March 29, 2025 at 2:12 AM
Elon Musk takes $8 million a day from the federal government—your tax dollars—while doing zero philanthropic work. No giving back to society.
FOCUS: gutting jobs in the most ruthless way possible. Hoarding wealth, boosting Nazis, and leaving folks terrified about their future.
FOCUS: gutting jobs in the most ruthless way possible. Hoarding wealth, boosting Nazis, and leaving folks terrified about their future.
Sarah Freleigh’s book looks amazing.
March 20, 2025 at 7:23 PM
Sarah Freleigh’s book looks amazing.
If you are at AWP LA this looks like a gem.
@mooncitypress.bsky.social's AWP reading will feature @andrewbertaina.bsky.social, @avitusbcarle.bsky.social, Clayton Clark, @sfreligh.bsky.social, Jeannine Hall Gailey, @kimmagowan.bsky.social, @artichokeheart.bsky.social, Michelle Ross, and @tms2072.bsky.social! Details on the attached flier!
March 20, 2025 at 7:23 PM
If you are at AWP LA this looks like a gem.