Ruby Rosenthal
@rubyprosenthal.bsky.social
arts & culture journalist/writer, second funniest person you know, was once called "garbage propaganda" on twitter and stands by it | All opinions are my own
https://52badessays.substack.com/
https://rubyprosenthal.com/
https://52badessays.substack.com/
https://rubyprosenthal.com/
This was such a beautiful essay by @eshanisurya.bsky.social 😍
"Support disabled writers by reading them, publishing them, paying them, caring for and with them, and centering them," @eshanisurya.bsky.social writes. Want more Eshani? Read her debut novel "Ravishing" (Roxane Gay Books, 2025).
chireviewofbooks.com/2026/01/23/w...
chireviewofbooks.com/2026/01/23/w...
Writing the Joy of Chronic Illness as a Form of Resistance - Chicago Review of Books
“And why do you have to keep telling everyone you’re sick?” This, on a summer day, one humid from a colder-than-expected rain, five months before my debut novel, Ravishing, would come out. The comment...
chireviewofbooks.com
January 26, 2026 at 3:04 PM
This was such a beautiful essay by @eshanisurya.bsky.social 😍
Reposted by Ruby Rosenthal
"..I didn’t know yet that in my twenties, I would become dry everywhere—dry knuckles in the winter: peeling, bleeding, cutting, blood dripping onto my laptop..."
@rubyprosenthal.bsky.social on the skin we shed, scratch free from & the new bodies we reveal
www.completesentencelit.com/post/dry-mai...
@rubyprosenthal.bsky.social on the skin we shed, scratch free from & the new bodies we reveal
www.completesentencelit.com/post/dry-mai...
Dry Maintenance
By Ruby Rosenthal
www.completesentencelit.com
January 23, 2026 at 9:37 PM
"..I didn’t know yet that in my twenties, I would become dry everywhere—dry knuckles in the winter: peeling, bleeding, cutting, blood dripping onto my laptop..."
@rubyprosenthal.bsky.social on the skin we shed, scratch free from & the new bodies we reveal
www.completesentencelit.com/post/dry-mai...
@rubyprosenthal.bsky.social on the skin we shed, scratch free from & the new bodies we reveal
www.completesentencelit.com/post/dry-mai...
I'm in Complete Sentence Lit today! Have been a fan of this journal since I was in college and am quite grateful to be in it.
www.completesentencelit.com/post/dry-mai...
www.completesentencelit.com/post/dry-mai...
Dry Maintenance
By Ruby Rosenthal
www.completesentencelit.com
January 17, 2026 at 7:57 PM
I'm in Complete Sentence Lit today! Have been a fan of this journal since I was in college and am quite grateful to be in it.
www.completesentencelit.com/post/dry-mai...
www.completesentencelit.com/post/dry-mai...
In my first for @chicagotribune.com, I interviewed Chicago-based artists Edra Soto, Ben LaMar Gay, and Sharon Udoh who are all recipients of $50,000 @unitedstatesartists.org fellowships!
www.chicagotribune.com/2026/01/14/u...
www.chicagotribune.com/2026/01/14/u...
3 Chicago artists are among the 2026 winners of $50,000 USA Fellowships
The Chicago-based philanthropic organization United States Artists has announced its latest fellowships, awarding $50,000 to 50 artists in 10 disciplines, including three artists local to Chicago.
www.chicagotribune.com
January 14, 2026 at 4:09 PM
In my first for @chicagotribune.com, I interviewed Chicago-based artists Edra Soto, Ben LaMar Gay, and Sharon Udoh who are all recipients of $50,000 @unitedstatesartists.org fellowships!
www.chicagotribune.com/2026/01/14/u...
www.chicagotribune.com/2026/01/14/u...
Reposted by Ruby Rosenthal
January is full of book releases you won’t want to miss, @mbwwelch.bsky.social writes. From the return of American literary icon George Saunders to a number of can’t-miss works in translation, you’ll find plenty of books to get 2026 started on the right foot.
chireviewofbooks.com/2026/01/05/1...
chireviewofbooks.com/2026/01/05/1...
12 Must-Read Books of January 2026 - Chicago Review of Books
Here are the 12 books you need to read this January 2026.
chireviewofbooks.com
January 5, 2026 at 4:10 PM
January is full of book releases you won’t want to miss, @mbwwelch.bsky.social writes. From the return of American literary icon George Saunders to a number of can’t-miss works in translation, you’ll find plenty of books to get 2026 started on the right foot.
chireviewofbooks.com/2026/01/05/1...
chireviewofbooks.com/2026/01/05/1...
Reposted by Ruby Rosenthal
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 4:05 PM
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...
Make yourself a New Year's Resolution that you can keep! I'm back on Subst*ck :)
open.substack.com/pub/52badess...
open.substack.com/pub/52badess...
January 1, 2026 at 6:49 PM
Make yourself a New Year's Resolution that you can keep! I'm back on Subst*ck :)
open.substack.com/pub/52badess...
open.substack.com/pub/52badess...
Reposted by Ruby Rosenthal
And just like that, I finished editing one of our last @chicagorevbooks.bsky.social reviews of the year!
...which also reminded me: it's been a year since I joined the masthead as a daily editor. What a joy to edit writers you adore and be part of the @storystudiochicago.bsky.social community!
...which also reminded me: it's been a year since I joined the masthead as a daily editor. What a joy to edit writers you adore and be part of the @storystudiochicago.bsky.social community!
December 23, 2025 at 7:37 PM
And just like that, I finished editing one of our last @chicagorevbooks.bsky.social reviews of the year!
...which also reminded me: it's been a year since I joined the masthead as a daily editor. What a joy to edit writers you adore and be part of the @storystudiochicago.bsky.social community!
...which also reminded me: it's been a year since I joined the masthead as a daily editor. What a joy to edit writers you adore and be part of the @storystudiochicago.bsky.social community!
Reposted by Ruby Rosenthal
"Reiner understood how people would act in real life, how two people could love each other even if they weren’t quite done hating each other just yet."
@carriecourogen.bsky.social on the genius of Rob Reiner: https://lareviewofbooks.org/article/he-understood-us
@carriecourogen.bsky.social on the genius of Rob Reiner: https://lareviewofbooks.org/article/he-understood-us
December 22, 2025 at 5:55 PM
"Reiner understood how people would act in real life, how two people could love each other even if they weren’t quite done hating each other just yet."
@carriecourogen.bsky.social on the genius of Rob Reiner: https://lareviewofbooks.org/article/he-understood-us
@carriecourogen.bsky.social on the genius of Rob Reiner: https://lareviewofbooks.org/article/he-understood-us
LOVED Crawl by @maxdelsohn.bsky.social (from @graywolfpress.bsky.social) so much this year!!!
While we already ran a list of the best books we read in 2025 last week, it pains us to leave so many out. Sooo we’re offering another “best of 2025” list—introducing the best debuts we read in 2025.
chireviewofbooks.com/2025/12/22/t...
chireviewofbooks.com/2025/12/22/t...
The Best Debuts We Read in 2025 - Chicago Review of Books
A delectable selection of books from this year's first-time authors.
chireviewofbooks.com
December 22, 2025 at 5:30 PM
LOVED Crawl by @maxdelsohn.bsky.social (from @graywolfpress.bsky.social) so much this year!!!
i'm so competitive, i'm listening to the new Ken Burns @pbs.org documentary and thinking "damn, Jefferson was only 33 when he worked on the Declaration of Independence? i better get moving if i want to be anything at ALL!"
December 18, 2025 at 9:36 PM
i'm so competitive, i'm listening to the new Ken Burns @pbs.org documentary and thinking "damn, Jefferson was only 33 when he worked on the Declaration of Independence? i better get moving if i want to be anything at ALL!"
Reposted by Ruby Rosenthal
that Chicagoans, when hazing you with Malört, will also consume it themselves is not at all mitigating, but rather speaks to the depravity inherent in the existence of this foul liquid, which defies physics by having an *escalating* aftertaste
Today’s That’s Marvelous newsletter is up featuring some thoughts about Judaism and community and nü-metal and Malört. Lots of umlauts this week. Read it all: www.thatsmarvelousnewsletter.com/162-malort-a...
December 16, 2025 at 7:09 PM
that Chicagoans, when hazing you with Malört, will also consume it themselves is not at all mitigating, but rather speaks to the depravity inherent in the existence of this foul liquid, which defies physics by having an *escalating* aftertaste
Reposted by Ruby Rosenthal
"I have been delighted to see how many people are excited about literature from their hometown and region."
The Q&A for LINGERING INLAND is live!
www.press.uillinois.edu/wordpress/?p...
cc: @andyoler.bsky.social
The Q&A for LINGERING INLAND is live!
www.press.uillinois.edu/wordpress/?p...
cc: @andyoler.bsky.social
December 12, 2025 at 4:30 PM
"I have been delighted to see how many people are excited about literature from their hometown and region."
The Q&A for LINGERING INLAND is live!
www.press.uillinois.edu/wordpress/?p...
cc: @andyoler.bsky.social
The Q&A for LINGERING INLAND is live!
www.press.uillinois.edu/wordpress/?p...
cc: @andyoler.bsky.social
Reposted by Ruby Rosenthal
"More than anything, I craved community. I wanted to be a Chicagoan and a writer, but mostly a Chicago writer."
@mbwwelch.bsky.social's "A City Where Words Breathe," a lovely reflection on 10 years of the CHIRBys, is out now.
chireviewofbooks.com/2025/12/08/a...
@mbwwelch.bsky.social's "A City Where Words Breathe," a lovely reflection on 10 years of the CHIRBys, is out now.
chireviewofbooks.com/2025/12/08/a...
A City Where Words Breathe: On Celebrating 10 Years of the CHIRBy Awards - Chicago Review of Books
I arrived late to my first Chicago Review of Books Awards in 2019. I was a new editor on the team then, nervous and uncertain about how early to arrive for the ceremony and lost between the awfully na...
chireviewofbooks.com
December 8, 2025 at 4:49 PM
"More than anything, I craved community. I wanted to be a Chicagoan and a writer, but mostly a Chicago writer."
@mbwwelch.bsky.social's "A City Where Words Breathe," a lovely reflection on 10 years of the CHIRBys, is out now.
chireviewofbooks.com/2025/12/08/a...
@mbwwelch.bsky.social's "A City Where Words Breathe," a lovely reflection on 10 years of the CHIRBys, is out now.
chireviewofbooks.com/2025/12/08/a...
Reposted by Ruby Rosenthal
It was a delight to speak--with @bethrooney.bsky.social--to @rubyprosenthal.bsky.social of Newcity about LEAF TOWN FOREVER from @uminnpress.bsky.social (& about how capitalism is corrosive & inner children are crucial): lit.newcity.com/2025/12/04/h...
How Kathleen and Beth Rooney Conceived Their New Picture Book, “Leaf Town Forever”
Written in thirty-two haikus, the book is about a band of kids who dream about creating a town that could last forever.
lit.newcity.com
December 7, 2025 at 2:42 PM
It was a delight to speak--with @bethrooney.bsky.social--to @rubyprosenthal.bsky.social of Newcity about LEAF TOWN FOREVER from @uminnpress.bsky.social (& about how capitalism is corrosive & inner children are crucial): lit.newcity.com/2025/12/04/h...
Oh yes 😁 We long to relieve a (suburban) past where things felt... Normal? Whatever that means?
I've had three conversations with three different Gen-Zers this week about how much they love the restaurant Chili's. Is this a thing? Gen-Z ❤️s Chili's? I mean, fine, no issues here -- but it feels like a glitch in the Matrix...
December 5, 2025 at 4:19 PM
Oh yes 😁 We long to relieve a (suburban) past where things felt... Normal? Whatever that means?
Reposted by Ruby Rosenthal
It's publication day for LEAF TOWN FOREVER, the picture book I co-wrote with my sister @bethrooney.bsky.social, illustrated by Betsy Bowen & published by @uminnpress.bsky.social! See you at one of our upcoming events, & in the meantime, add to cart! www.leaftownforever.com/news-and-event
October 14, 2025 at 12:25 PM
It's publication day for LEAF TOWN FOREVER, the picture book I co-wrote with my sister @bethrooney.bsky.social, illustrated by Betsy Bowen & published by @uminnpress.bsky.social! See you at one of our upcoming events, & in the meantime, add to cart! www.leaftownforever.com/news-and-event
Was super lovely to chat with @kathleenmrooney.bsky.social and @bethrooney.bsky.social about their absolutely warm and wonderful children's book LEAF TOWN FOREVER (@uminnpress.bsky.social).
lit.newcity.com/2025/12/04/h...
lit.newcity.com/2025/12/04/h...
How Kathleen and Beth Rooney Conceived Their New Picture Book, “Leaf Town Forever”
Written in thirty-two haikus, the book is about a band of kids who dream about creating a town that could last forever.
lit.newcity.com
December 4, 2025 at 3:40 PM
Was super lovely to chat with @kathleenmrooney.bsky.social and @bethrooney.bsky.social about their absolutely warm and wonderful children's book LEAF TOWN FOREVER (@uminnpress.bsky.social).
lit.newcity.com/2025/12/04/h...
lit.newcity.com/2025/12/04/h...
My latest for Newcity: a feature on Chicago poet laureate avery r. young—who was a joy to talk to!—on the Chicago Soul Poem @poetryfoundation.bsky.social event Dec 4 🥳
lit.newcity.com/2025/11/24/p...
lit.newcity.com/2025/11/24/p...
avery r. young on the Soloem Form and "Chicago Soul Poem"
Chicago’s inaugural poet laureate talks about his perspective on poetry, the upcoming event at the Poetry Foundation and how to place poetry in the middle of a time like this.
lit.newcity.com
November 24, 2025 at 3:49 PM
My latest for Newcity: a feature on Chicago poet laureate avery r. young—who was a joy to talk to!—on the Chicago Soul Poem @poetryfoundation.bsky.social event Dec 4 🥳
lit.newcity.com/2025/11/24/p...
lit.newcity.com/2025/11/24/p...
🥳🥳🥳!!!!
BOOM. ⚡️🧨 Consider a pre-order! My debut collection explores grief for our mothers and ourselves.💥The vibe: end times in the multiverse, tender apocalypses, music, the extinct, ancient, alien, and animal. A bit speculative, a bit strange. Links in bio & here genevievedeguzman.carbonmade.com/karaoke
November 23, 2025 at 5:46 AM
🥳🥳🥳!!!!
Reposted by Ruby Rosenthal
We are so thrilled for @poetpatriciasmith.bsky.social, who just won a National Book Award!! In 2023, @recycledgiraffe.bsky.social interviewed her about “Unshuttered” (@nupress.bsky.social), check it out as we celebrate her win in Chicago 🥳
chireviewofbooks.com/2023/03/13/u...
chireviewofbooks.com/2023/03/13/u...
Summoning the Past Through Words and Images: A Conversation with Patricia Smith About "Unshuttered" - Chicago Review of Books
A list of Patricia Smith’s achievements in poetry could take up much of this interview. A poet, playwright, essayist, educator and mentor, she’s deservedly won nearly every accolade and award, includi...
chireviewofbooks.com
November 20, 2025 at 4:17 PM
We are so thrilled for @poetpatriciasmith.bsky.social, who just won a National Book Award!! In 2023, @recycledgiraffe.bsky.social interviewed her about “Unshuttered” (@nupress.bsky.social), check it out as we celebrate her win in Chicago 🥳
chireviewofbooks.com/2023/03/13/u...
chireviewofbooks.com/2023/03/13/u...
Reposted by Ruby Rosenthal
Yuliya Klochan’s beading practice taps into her Ukrainian roots. https://bit.ly/3WOXyiP
‘Seeing the world in bead color’ - Chicago Reader
In her original bead works, Yuliya Klochan portrays queer love, nonbinary and Ukrainian American pride, and women’s issues.
bit.ly
November 17, 2025 at 5:59 PM
Yuliya Klochan’s beading practice taps into her Ukrainian roots. https://bit.ly/3WOXyiP
Read my latest—a Craft Work piece in @chicagoreader.com about lovely beading artist Yuliya Klochan!
chicagoreader.com/visual-arts/...
chicagoreader.com/visual-arts/...
‘Seeing the world in bead color’ - Chicago Reader
In her original bead works, Yuliya Klochan portrays queer love, nonbinary and Ukrainian American pride, and women’s issues.
chicagoreader.com
November 12, 2025 at 10:00 PM
Read my latest—a Craft Work piece in @chicagoreader.com about lovely beading artist Yuliya Klochan!
chicagoreader.com/visual-arts/...
chicagoreader.com/visual-arts/...
Reposted by Ruby Rosenthal
We are always very proud to be a part of the Stories Matter Foundation, but today especially.
October 29, 2025 at 9:15 PM
We are always very proud to be a part of the Stories Matter Foundation, but today especially.
Reposted by Ruby Rosenthal
"Funny, psychologically astute, and full of sharp imagery."
@rubyprosenthal.bsky.social's review of “Crawl” by Max Delsohn (@graywolfpress.bsky.social) is out now.
chireviewofbooks.com/2025/10/21/w...
@rubyprosenthal.bsky.social's review of “Crawl” by Max Delsohn (@graywolfpress.bsky.social) is out now.
chireviewofbooks.com/2025/10/21/w...
Writing the Trans Experience with Humor and Charm in Max Delsohn’s “Crawl” - Chicago Review of Books
There’s a tense moment when Matthew, a transmasculine character in Crawl—a smart, funny debut short story collection by Max Delsohn—is chatting casually with Harvest, his boss’s boss, at his workplace...
chireviewofbooks.com
October 21, 2025 at 4:42 PM
"Funny, psychologically astute, and full of sharp imagery."
@rubyprosenthal.bsky.social's review of “Crawl” by Max Delsohn (@graywolfpress.bsky.social) is out now.
chireviewofbooks.com/2025/10/21/w...
@rubyprosenthal.bsky.social's review of “Crawl” by Max Delsohn (@graywolfpress.bsky.social) is out now.
chireviewofbooks.com/2025/10/21/w...