Michael Zapata
@michaelzapata.bsky.social
Author of the novel THE LOST BOOK OF ADANA MOREAU. Faculty at StoryStudio Chicago & Northwestern University. Descended from Andean farmers, poets, and union organizers.
michaelzapata.com
michaelzapata.com
Pinned
I love you Chicago! Stay strong!
Reposted by Michael Zapata
Abolish and prosecute ICE. They did a murder in broad daylight today. Imagine what they're doing in the closed facilities we're somehow not even allowed to see.
January 7, 2026 at 6:20 PM
Abolish and prosecute ICE. They did a murder in broad daylight today. Imagine what they're doing in the closed facilities we're somehow not even allowed to see.
Reposted by Michael Zapata
Hey so this modern terror squad is doing exactly what they were hired to do. This has always been about terrorizing residents into submission. He didn't cozy up to dictatorship fans for shits & giggles. He idolized them and wants to be one.
ice agents simply aren't trained well enough to be on the street. they are a genuine danger to citizens
January 7, 2026 at 7:49 PM
Hey so this modern terror squad is doing exactly what they were hired to do. This has always been about terrorizing residents into submission. He didn't cozy up to dictatorship fans for shits & giggles. He idolized them and wants to be one.
Reposted by Michael Zapata
Mayor Jacob Frey: “To ICE, get the fuck out of Minneapolis.”
January 7, 2026 at 6:43 PM
Mayor Jacob Frey: “To ICE, get the fuck out of Minneapolis.”
Well, Plato‘s Cave is famously about becoming woke. Lol.
From an email to one of our faculty members....
Not even Plato can escape censorship at Texas A&M!
Not even Plato can escape censorship at Texas A&M!
January 6, 2026 at 11:43 PM
Well, Plato‘s Cave is famously about becoming woke. Lol.
My god I love this.
January 6, 2026 at 7:43 PM
My god I love this.
Lol.
January 6, 2026 at 7:40 PM
Lol.
Why have fun at all?
Patent documents filed by Sony show plans to offer an in-game "AI Ghost" that can demonstrate how to progress further, or alternatively have your control fully taken over by the AI in order to make progress for you. https://bit.ly/4aFW2aS
January 6, 2026 at 2:57 PM
Why have fun at all?
Reposted by Michael Zapata
This is going to be such a fun, exciting year for Chicago books and writing!
We're double-digits! To our readers, @mbwwelch.bsky.social writes, thank you for your continued trust and support. It’s been a beautiful ten years of talking books with you, and the best has yet to come. Here’s to decade two of the Chicago Review of Books!
chireviewofbooks.com/2026/01/05/t...
chireviewofbooks.com/2026/01/05/t...
The Chicago Review of Books Turns 10 - Chicago Review of Books
A letter from Editor-In-Chief Michael Welch on the Chicago Review of Book's 10 year anniversary.
chireviewofbooks.com
January 5, 2026 at 8:24 PM
This is going to be such a fun, exciting year for Chicago books and writing!
Reposted by Michael Zapata
Ultimately no form of identification will be sufficient, and this is deliberate, in order to smooth the way to internment and exportation of any US citizen they decide is undesirable.
January 4, 2026 at 6:45 PM
Ultimately no form of identification will be sufficient, and this is deliberate, in order to smooth the way to internment and exportation of any US citizen they decide is undesirable.
THIS. Along this, my best parenting advice is to embrace boredom in the home.
If I’m tired, I’ll say, ‘My body needs a break, so I’m going to rest on the couch for a bit. You’re welcome to grab your toys and hang out near me.’
I’m naming my state, not handing them the responsibility.
I’m naming my state, not handing them the responsibility.
January 4, 2026 at 6:29 PM
THIS. Along this, my best parenting advice is to embrace boredom in the home.
Reposted by Michael Zapata
american innovation continues unabated
January 4, 2026 at 5:24 PM
american innovation continues unabated
Oil, war, theft, all at the behest of capital. An endless and violent American cycle even as America fades into its own imperial past.
January 3, 2026 at 3:48 PM
Oil, war, theft, all at the behest of capital. An endless and violent American cycle even as America fades into its own imperial past.
When I was nine I wanted to be a paleontologist. I think @cbsnews.com should invite me (a regular guy) to talk about oil reserves in Venezuela.
The triumph of the stupid.
CBS: "On too many stories, the press has missed the story. Because we've taken into account the perspective of advocates and not the average American. Or we put too much weight in the analysis of academics or elites, and not enough on you."
CBS: "On too many stories, the press has missed the story. Because we've taken into account the perspective of advocates and not the average American. Or we put too much weight in the analysis of academics or elites, and not enough on you."
January 3, 2026 at 12:37 AM
When I was nine I wanted to be a paleontologist. I think @cbsnews.com should invite me (a regular guy) to talk about oil reserves in Venezuela.
We’re gonna sound so stupid trying to tell our grandchildren about social media.
January 3, 2026 at 12:29 AM
We’re gonna sound so stupid trying to tell our grandchildren about social media.
Chicago: Please join us on Sat, January 24th at The Hideout to raise money for the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant & Refugee Rights. A reading & panel with writers, artists, and activists @anandalima.bsky.social Jose-Luis Moctezuma, @cynthiapelayo.bsky.social, Nissa Rhee. Hosted by Michael Zapata.
January 2, 2026 at 9:32 PM
Chicago: Please join us on Sat, January 24th at The Hideout to raise money for the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant & Refugee Rights. A reading & panel with writers, artists, and activists @anandalima.bsky.social Jose-Luis Moctezuma, @cynthiapelayo.bsky.social, Nissa Rhee. Hosted by Michael Zapata.
Cities outlast empires.
January 1, 2026 at 5:05 PM
Cities outlast empires.
The older I get the less I understand about writing or reading and the more I just want to experience it in my bones. It's that uncertainty, however difficult, that gives me great joy. I think this is why AI is so appalling. It offers, and still can't even deliver, lifeless, bland certainty.
December 30, 2025 at 8:46 PM
The older I get the less I understand about writing or reading and the more I just want to experience it in my bones. It's that uncertainty, however difficult, that gives me great joy. I think this is why AI is so appalling. It offers, and still can't even deliver, lifeless, bland certainty.
My reading is on fire lately.
December 27, 2025 at 5:44 PM
My reading is on fire lately.
The heart of a ruling class that demands profit for the few over the survival of our planet is nihilism. Nihilists on gold toilet thrones. Capitalism will always lead to meaninglessness.
In 2026, we can end this regime. We can fight fascists by fighting for each other and our humanity.
In 2026, we can end this regime. We can fight fascists by fighting for each other and our humanity.
December 24, 2025 at 6:50 PM
The heart of a ruling class that demands profit for the few over the survival of our planet is nihilism. Nihilists on gold toilet thrones. Capitalism will always lead to meaninglessness.
In 2026, we can end this regime. We can fight fascists by fighting for each other and our humanity.
In 2026, we can end this regime. We can fight fascists by fighting for each other and our humanity.
Maybe an AI draft is worse than a blank page because it is at least my blank page, it holds thoughts, stares, frustrations and finally it is my thing to think away.
December 24, 2025 at 5:14 AM
Maybe an AI draft is worse than a blank page because it is at least my blank page, it holds thoughts, stares, frustrations and finally it is my thing to think away.
Reposted by Michael Zapata
"Newsweek asked DHS what evidence it had that Diaz Morales was not a U.S. citizen, and how her citizenship had been checked and verified. The department did not answer these questions."
Homeland Security will burn your life to the ground before admitting they're wrong. Abolish ICE.
Homeland Security will burn your life to the ground before admitting they're wrong. Abolish ICE.
"Her family has now been told she has been deported, despite US District Judge Brendan Hurson ruling Thursday that she could not be deported pending a hearing...attorneys said Monday that they have...confirm[ed] with the hospital she was born in Maryland." https://bit.ly/3MMdJvz
ICE detains woman whose lawyer insists is US citizen. DHS says she isn't
Federal agents arrested Dulce Consuelo Diaz Morales on her way home in Baltimore, Maryland.
bit.ly
December 23, 2025 at 2:53 PM
"Newsweek asked DHS what evidence it had that Diaz Morales was not a U.S. citizen, and how her citizenship had been checked and verified. The department did not answer these questions."
Homeland Security will burn your life to the ground before admitting they're wrong. Abolish ICE.
Homeland Security will burn your life to the ground before admitting they're wrong. Abolish ICE.
This is corporatism - Mussolini‘s wet dream.
December 23, 2025 at 5:30 AM
This is corporatism - Mussolini‘s wet dream.