Rhian Sasseen
@rhiansasseen.bsky.social
Words at The Atlantic, BOMB, The Baffler, Granta, The Paris Review, etc https://www.rhiansasseen.com
tonight!
Tomorrow, November 18 — come by Bar Jade in Bushwick at 7 p.m. for the latest Wish You Were Here reading series I help co-curate! Tomorrow’s will feature Elvia Wilk, Jack Sheehan, Colleen Grablick, Kate Peters, and myself! RSVP: partiful.com/e/q8CbHkPnTT...
wish you were here: a prose reading | Partiful
Featuring prose readings by Elvia Wilk, Rhian Sasseen, Kate Peters, Colleen Grablick, and Jack Sheehan.
If you are interested in participating in the future, email us! katelyn.d.peters@gmail.com and ...
partiful.com
November 18, 2025 at 6:58 PM
tonight!
For MUBI Notebook, I wrote about Christian Marclay’s follow up to “The Clock”—“Doors”—and the doorway as possibility, transformation, and crossroads.
mubi.com/en/notebook/...
mubi.com/en/notebook/...
At the Threshold of a Dream: On Christian Marclay’s “Doors”
The artist behind “The Clock” returns with a litany of passageways.
mubi.com
November 18, 2025 at 4:24 PM
For MUBI Notebook, I wrote about Christian Marclay’s follow up to “The Clock”—“Doors”—and the doorway as possibility, transformation, and crossroads.
mubi.com/en/notebook/...
mubi.com/en/notebook/...
Tomorrow, November 18 — come by Bar Jade in Bushwick at 7 p.m. for the latest Wish You Were Here reading series I help co-curate! Tomorrow’s will feature Elvia Wilk, Jack Sheehan, Colleen Grablick, Kate Peters, and myself! RSVP: partiful.com/e/q8CbHkPnTT...
wish you were here: a prose reading | Partiful
Featuring prose readings by Elvia Wilk, Rhian Sasseen, Kate Peters, Colleen Grablick, and Jack Sheehan.
If you are interested in participating in the future, email us! katelyn.d.peters@gmail.com and ...
partiful.com
November 17, 2025 at 5:49 PM
Tomorrow, November 18 — come by Bar Jade in Bushwick at 7 p.m. for the latest Wish You Were Here reading series I help co-curate! Tomorrow’s will feature Elvia Wilk, Jack Sheehan, Colleen Grablick, Kate Peters, and myself! RSVP: partiful.com/e/q8CbHkPnTT...
Oops, I didn't realize until now this was live — but last month, for the @washingtonpost.com, I reviewed the Bulgarian writer Georgi Gospodinov’s new novel about the death of a parent, Death and the Gardener: www.washingtonpost.com/books/2025/1...
Review | How do you tell the story of a dying parent?
Georgi Gospodinov reckons with the passing of his father in his autobiographical novel “Death and the Gardener.”
www.washingtonpost.com
November 3, 2025 at 5:56 PM
Oops, I didn't realize until now this was live — but last month, for the @washingtonpost.com, I reviewed the Bulgarian writer Georgi Gospodinov’s new novel about the death of a parent, Death and the Gardener: www.washingtonpost.com/books/2025/1...
For @thenation.com , I wrote about Ron Padgett’s latest poetry collection, Pink Dust, and life as a continual act of reading. www.thenation.com/article/cult...
The Immortal Poetry of Ron Padgett
Pink Dust, a collection about aging and death, offers an optimistic vision of life as a continual act of reading.
www.thenation.com
October 29, 2025 at 1:30 PM
For @thenation.com , I wrote about Ron Padgett’s latest poetry collection, Pink Dust, and life as a continual act of reading. www.thenation.com/article/cult...
For The Atlantic, I wrote about Claire-Louise Bennett’s latest novel, Big Kiss, Bye-Bye, and what it has to say about the internet’s favorite topic—the relationship between heterosexual women and men: www.theatlantic.com/books/2025/1...
A Novel That Understands Where Romance Is Going
Claire-Louise Bennett’s new novel offers an unexpected take on the gender divide.
www.theatlantic.com
October 22, 2025 at 5:20 PM
For The Atlantic, I wrote about Claire-Louise Bennett’s latest novel, Big Kiss, Bye-Bye, and what it has to say about the internet’s favorite topic—the relationship between heterosexual women and men: www.theatlantic.com/books/2025/1...
I have a short story, “The Pessimist”—following a woman as she stalks her apartment building’s halls at night—in the dreamy new issue of @angelfoodmag.bsky.social: angelfoodmag.com/the-pessimist
The Pessimist — Angel Food
cargo.site
angelfoodmag.com
October 22, 2025 at 3:54 PM
I have a short story, “The Pessimist”—following a woman as she stalks her apartment building’s halls at night—in the dreamy new issue of @angelfoodmag.bsky.social: angelfoodmag.com/the-pessimist
Tonight!!
Tomorrow! I’ll be asking Eimear McBride some questions about her wonderful new novel, The City Changes Its Face, at McNally Jackson Seaport starting at 7 p.m.—hope to see you there! www.mcnallyjackson.com/eimear-mcbri...
www.mcnallyjackson.com
September 17, 2025 at 2:08 PM
Tonight!!
Tomorrow! I’ll be asking Eimear McBride some questions about her wonderful new novel, The City Changes Its Face, at McNally Jackson Seaport starting at 7 p.m.—hope to see you there! www.mcnallyjackson.com/eimear-mcbri...
www.mcnallyjackson.com
September 16, 2025 at 4:24 PM
Tomorrow! I’ll be asking Eimear McBride some questions about her wonderful new novel, The City Changes Its Face, at McNally Jackson Seaport starting at 7 p.m.—hope to see you there! www.mcnallyjackson.com/eimear-mcbri...
For the fall issue of Kinfolk, I interviewed Vincenzo Latronico about the process of writing Perfection, the influence of Georges Perec on his work, what it’s like to be translated as a translator, and more: www.kinfolk.com/stories/on-t...
September 9, 2025 at 5:08 PM
For the fall issue of Kinfolk, I interviewed Vincenzo Latronico about the process of writing Perfection, the influence of Georges Perec on his work, what it’s like to be translated as a translator, and more: www.kinfolk.com/stories/on-t...
For the Poetry Foundation, I wrote about the Chinese poet Zheng Xiaoqiong’s incredible collection In the Roar of the Machine, translated by Eleanor Goodman and published by @nyrb-imprints.bsky.social, and the work of Chinese migrant worker poets. www.poetryfoundation.org/articles/172...
Bodies on the Line
Poems, readings, poetry news and the entire 110-year archive of POETRY magazine.
www.poetryfoundation.org
September 8, 2025 at 2:30 PM
For the Poetry Foundation, I wrote about the Chinese poet Zheng Xiaoqiong’s incredible collection In the Roar of the Machine, translated by Eleanor Goodman and published by @nyrb-imprints.bsky.social, and the work of Chinese migrant worker poets. www.poetryfoundation.org/articles/172...
For @clereviewbooks.bsky.social, I wrote about Lara Mimosa Montes’s excellent ‘The Time of the Novel,’ and the book’s porous boundary between reality and fiction: clereviewofbooks.com/inside-out-o...
Inside Out: On Lara Mimosa Montes’s “The Time of the Novel” - Cleveland Review of Books
In "The Time of the Novel", these anxieties concerning what constitutes the real versus the fictional are pushed to their logical extreme: a young woman quits her bookstore job in order to instead, sh...
clereviewofbooks.com
August 19, 2025 at 6:17 PM
For @clereviewbooks.bsky.social, I wrote about Lara Mimosa Montes’s excellent ‘The Time of the Novel,’ and the book’s porous boundary between reality and fiction: clereviewofbooks.com/inside-out-o...
For @electricliterature.com, I interviewed Rosalind Belben in anticipation of the rerelease of her seductively strange 1979 novel ‘Dreaming of Dead People’ this month from @andotherstories.bsky.social: electricliterature.com/rosalind-bel...
Rosalind Belben Reflects on the Foreplay of Wordplay - Electric Literature
The author of “Dreaming of Dead People” discusses sexuality, double standards in art, and the vicissitudes of literary publishing
electricliterature.com
August 19, 2025 at 2:34 PM
For @electricliterature.com, I interviewed Rosalind Belben in anticipation of the rerelease of her seductively strange 1979 novel ‘Dreaming of Dead People’ this month from @andotherstories.bsky.social: electricliterature.com/rosalind-bel...
Wrote a bit about Marlen Haushofer’s ecofeminist classic The Wall on my newsletter phrasebooks.substack.com/p/returning-...
Returning to The Wall
On Marlen Haushofer’s ecofeminist classic.
phrasebooks.substack.com
July 16, 2025 at 4:03 PM
Wrote a bit about Marlen Haushofer’s ecofeminist classic The Wall on my newsletter phrasebooks.substack.com/p/returning-...
Wrote briefly about the crowds I’ve been surrounded by the last few weeks—political crowds, crowds of tourists, parties— phrasebooks.substack.com/p/the-crowd
The Crowd
There is always a moment, when standing in a crowd, in which the press of bodies turns diffuse, oddly amorphous; the individual obscured by this mass of flesh.
phrasebooks.substack.com
July 2, 2025 at 4:19 PM
Wrote briefly about the crowds I’ve been surrounded by the last few weeks—political crowds, crowds of tourists, parties— phrasebooks.substack.com/p/the-crowd
For the @lareviewofbooks.bsky.social, I wrote about Caleb Femi’s panoramic poetry collection from earlier this year, The Wickedest, and writing about parties: lareviewofbooks.org/article/my-d...
My Direct Debits Hit at Midnight | Los Angeles Review of Books
Rhian Sasseen considers party-writing in Caleb Femi’s latest poetry collection, “The Wickedest.”
lareviewofbooks.org
June 25, 2025 at 3:51 PM
For the @lareviewofbooks.bsky.social, I wrote about Caleb Femi’s panoramic poetry collection from earlier this year, The Wickedest, and writing about parties: lareviewofbooks.org/article/my-d...
Next Wednesday, May 28th! Come by Bar Jade in Bushwick at 7 p.m. for another reading organized by Kate Peters and me! Featuring work by:
- Jenna Klorfein
- Ismail Muhammad
- Alex Wolfe
- Rob Rubsam (@robrubsam.bsky.social)
See you there!! partiful.com/e/LhcoSXdMXe...?
- Jenna Klorfein
- Ismail Muhammad
- Alex Wolfe
- Rob Rubsam (@robrubsam.bsky.social)
See you there!! partiful.com/e/LhcoSXdMXe...?
May 23, 2025 at 6:37 PM
Next Wednesday, May 28th! Come by Bar Jade in Bushwick at 7 p.m. for another reading organized by Kate Peters and me! Featuring work by:
- Jenna Klorfein
- Ismail Muhammad
- Alex Wolfe
- Rob Rubsam (@robrubsam.bsky.social)
See you there!! partiful.com/e/LhcoSXdMXe...?
- Jenna Klorfein
- Ismail Muhammad
- Alex Wolfe
- Rob Rubsam (@robrubsam.bsky.social)
See you there!! partiful.com/e/LhcoSXdMXe...?
Reposted by Rhian Sasseen
This was just posted by @tbretc.bsky.social on another platform. The Chicago Sun-Times obviously gets ChatGPT to write a ‘summer reads’ feature almost entirely made up of real authors but completely fake books. What are we coming to?
May 20, 2025 at 11:04 AM
This was just posted by @tbretc.bsky.social on another platform. The Chicago Sun-Times obviously gets ChatGPT to write a ‘summer reads’ feature almost entirely made up of real authors but completely fake books. What are we coming to?
For @thebaffler.com, I wrote about Mathias Énard’s incredible new novel, The Deserters, the end of the twentieth century, and time repeating itself both in fiction and in real life: thebaffler.com/latest/the-t...
The Time of Return | Rhian Sasseen
In Mathias Énard’s “The Deserters,” history has a way of repeating itself.
thebaffler.com
May 19, 2025 at 3:01 PM
For @thebaffler.com, I wrote about Mathias Énard’s incredible new novel, The Deserters, the end of the twentieth century, and time repeating itself both in fiction and in real life: thebaffler.com/latest/the-t...
Reposted by Rhian Sasseen
I will be reading from the new novel at Bushwick's Bar Jade on Wednesday, May 28th. Many thanks to @rhiansasseen.bsky.social for inviting me to read alongside some truly fantastic people, and to try out what I've been writing these past months.
May 18, 2025 at 4:44 PM
I will be reading from the new novel at Bushwick's Bar Jade on Wednesday, May 28th. Many thanks to @rhiansasseen.bsky.social for inviting me to read alongside some truly fantastic people, and to try out what I've been writing these past months.
I wrote a newsletter about the Portuguese artist Helena Almeida, her use of the color blue, and the words “listen to me” phrasebooks.substack.com/p/i-turn-mys...
April 21, 2025 at 8:47 PM
I wrote a newsletter about the Portuguese artist Helena Almeida, her use of the color blue, and the words “listen to me” phrasebooks.substack.com/p/i-turn-mys...
For @theatlantic.com, I wrote about Claire Baglin’s new novel On the Clock, a book that dares to take mundane work seriously www.theatlantic.com/books/archiv...
What Does the Literature of the Working Class Look Like?
A portrait of life at a fast-food restaurant shows that there’s both dignity and drudgery in all kinds of labor.
www.theatlantic.com
April 17, 2025 at 5:19 PM
For @theatlantic.com, I wrote about Claire Baglin’s new novel On the Clock, a book that dares to take mundane work seriously www.theatlantic.com/books/archiv...
Got the inaugural issue of @fallowmedia.bsky.social in the mail a few days ago, and it’s beautiful — plus, I’ve got an essay in it on the work of the Polish photographer Joanna Piotrowska in it
April 9, 2025 at 6:18 PM
Got the inaugural issue of @fallowmedia.bsky.social in the mail a few days ago, and it’s beautiful — plus, I’ve got an essay in it on the work of the Polish photographer Joanna Piotrowska in it
Reposted by Rhian Sasseen
Announcing issue 1 of fallow, a new literary journal, featuring new work by @evagriff.bsky.social @waynekoestenbaum.bsky.social @greggerkesocrates.bsky.social Oisin Fagan, Ellen Dillon, Gabriel Josipivici, Helen Charman, Chris Beausang, Pascale Sardin @rhiansasseen.bsky.social & Patrick Nathan
March 18, 2025 at 6:31 PM
Announcing issue 1 of fallow, a new literary journal, featuring new work by @evagriff.bsky.social @waynekoestenbaum.bsky.social @greggerkesocrates.bsky.social Oisin Fagan, Ellen Dillon, Gabriel Josipivici, Helen Charman, Chris Beausang, Pascale Sardin @rhiansasseen.bsky.social & Patrick Nathan
Some of you might recall that I used to have a newsletter called phrase books, mostly about literature and art mostly in translation. After ignoring it for, oh, two or three years, I'm bringing it back. This new one is about Christian Marclay's The Clock and more: open.substack.com/pub/phrasebo...
the return of phrase books
On Christian Marclay’s The Clock and Georgi Gospodinov’s Time Shelter
open.substack.com
March 10, 2025 at 2:14 PM
Some of you might recall that I used to have a newsletter called phrase books, mostly about literature and art mostly in translation. After ignoring it for, oh, two or three years, I'm bringing it back. This new one is about Christian Marclay's The Clock and more: open.substack.com/pub/phrasebo...