the thought of the thing
@thoughtofthething.bsky.social
Breathing out of love for respiration.
thethoughtofthething.substack.com
thethoughtofthething.substack.com
Currently hopping between Can Xue and Ben Okri, both stellar.
August 5, 2025 at 2:12 PM
Currently hopping between Can Xue and Ben Okri, both stellar.
I wrote about some of the best books I've read in the heat of this summer, including works by António Lobo Antunes, Lisa Tuttle, Alexis Wright, Jacqueline Harpman, Irene Solá, Yoko Tawada, and Marcia Douglas. thethoughtofthething.substack.com/p/summer-rea...
Summer Reading
"Iʼll keep after summer/until Iʼve forestalled his pretexts and lies,/Iʼll keep after him/and heʼll keep after me—/summer and a man/telling each other lies." —Najwan Darwish
thethoughtofthething.substack.com
July 16, 2025 at 8:42 PM
I wrote about some of the best books I've read in the heat of this summer, including works by António Lobo Antunes, Lisa Tuttle, Alexis Wright, Jacqueline Harpman, Irene Solá, Yoko Tawada, and Marcia Douglas. thethoughtofthething.substack.com/p/summer-rea...
Some highly anticipated library orders of mine came in. I can’t believe Quiet Dawn hasn’t been discussed much online since it just released. Just look at that opening.
July 15, 2025 at 6:50 PM
Some highly anticipated library orders of mine came in. I can’t believe Quiet Dawn hasn’t been discussed much online since it just released. Just look at that opening.
Midnight is Not In Everyone’s Reach and Lili is Crying share a certain fluidity that is helping me work through some polyvocal stuff I’m doing in my own book.
July 8, 2025 at 7:04 PM
Midnight is Not In Everyone’s Reach and Lili is Crying share a certain fluidity that is helping me work through some polyvocal stuff I’m doing in my own book.
My debut chapbook, Some Odd Days, is available now from Bottlecap Press! It is a collection of journal writing from 2020-2024 that blends daily life, fiction, memories, travel writing, and thoughts on the nature writing to form a portrait of yours truly. bottlecap.press/products/som...
Some Odd Days: Journals, 2020-2024, by Joseph Alcala
Prose, chapbook, 20 pages, from Bottlecap Features. Some Odd Days is a collection of journal entries pulled from handwritten notebooks dated between 2020-2024. Daily observations and struggles, pieces of fiction, memories, and thoughts on the process and nature of writing all converge to form a portrait of a writer working through the post-pandemic era. Much of the work is grounded in and around the city of Indianapolis, however regional and international travel punctuate the text and bring forth new movements and ideas within memory and art. Sequenced not so much chronologically as thematically, Some Odd Days exemplifies the role of the personal journal to condense time and space into a more honest and multi-faceted vision of self-hood.
bottlecap.press
April 10, 2025 at 12:55 AM
My debut chapbook, Some Odd Days, is available now from Bottlecap Press! It is a collection of journal writing from 2020-2024 that blends daily life, fiction, memories, travel writing, and thoughts on the nature writing to form a portrait of yours truly. bottlecap.press/products/som...
I spoke with Sophia Terazawa about her new novel, Tetra Nova. Like the book, our conversation is an expansive exploration of borders, ghosts, disfluency, time, and love. open.substack.com/pub/thethoug...
In Conversation with Sophia Terazawa
"I believe I'm a ghost..."
open.substack.com
March 19, 2025 at 5:06 PM
I spoke with Sophia Terazawa about her new novel, Tetra Nova. Like the book, our conversation is an expansive exploration of borders, ghosts, disfluency, time, and love. open.substack.com/pub/thethoug...
Brief notes on some of my favorite reads from last year: open.substack.com/pub/thethoug...
The Year in Reading
Brief notes on great books
open.substack.com
January 9, 2025 at 10:01 PM
Brief notes on some of my favorite reads from last year: open.substack.com/pub/thethoug...
New shelves, new books, new lines (from Herscht 07769) to mull over
December 14, 2024 at 6:12 PM
New shelves, new books, new lines (from Herscht 07769) to mull over
My writing nook is coming along nicely 😏
December 2, 2024 at 5:45 PM
My writing nook is coming along nicely 😏
Moving entails boxes of books, empty shelves, and a good long novel to see me through.
November 29, 2024 at 5:08 PM
Moving entails boxes of books, empty shelves, and a good long novel to see me through.
Working on author photos for her upcoming story collection Hagiographies of Lost Dogs.
November 24, 2024 at 12:51 AM
Working on author photos for her upcoming story collection Hagiographies of Lost Dogs.
The White Book // Han Kang // Deborah Smith
November 23, 2024 at 4:40 PM
The White Book // Han Kang // Deborah Smith
On the Calculation of Volume by Solvej Balle. Translated by Barbara Haveland.
I feel unsafe reading this. 10/10.
I feel unsafe reading this. 10/10.
November 20, 2024 at 4:12 PM
On the Calculation of Volume by Solvej Balle. Translated by Barbara Haveland.
I feel unsafe reading this. 10/10.
I feel unsafe reading this. 10/10.
Absolutely engrossed in Oğuz Atay. Had to read this spread several times.
November 19, 2024 at 3:08 AM
Absolutely engrossed in Oğuz Atay. Had to read this spread several times.
For those outside of my twitter crowd, I wrote about memory and trauma in the novels Miss Macintosh, my Darling by Marguerite Young and Anniversaries by Uwe Johnson. My latest on Substack: open.substack.com/pub/thethoug...
On Anniversaries and Miss Macintosh, My Darling
"Every heart is the other heart. Every soul is the other soul. Every face is the other face. The individual is the one illusion."
open.substack.com
November 16, 2024 at 5:05 PM
For those outside of my twitter crowd, I wrote about memory and trauma in the novels Miss Macintosh, my Darling by Marguerite Young and Anniversaries by Uwe Johnson. My latest on Substack: open.substack.com/pub/thethoug...
Finding solace in the dead-eyed humor of Etheridge Knight’s poetry
November 16, 2024 at 1:57 AM
Finding solace in the dead-eyed humor of Etheridge Knight’s poetry
Beautiful book mail from New Directions 😍
Glad to see Schoolgirl, one of Dazai’s best stories, is included in No One Knows.
Glad to see Schoolgirl, one of Dazai’s best stories, is included in No One Knows.
November 15, 2024 at 2:38 PM
Beautiful book mail from New Directions 😍
Glad to see Schoolgirl, one of Dazai’s best stories, is included in No One Knows.
Glad to see Schoolgirl, one of Dazai’s best stories, is included in No One Knows.
I have to stop reading when he gives me this look
November 15, 2024 at 12:11 AM
I have to stop reading when he gives me this look
Hoping to spend much of next year completing and thinking through the work of Mishima, Dazai, & Tsushima. All three share an emotional landscape within me. Currently loving the gentleness in The Sound of Waves.
November 14, 2024 at 4:28 PM
Hoping to spend much of next year completing and thinking through the work of Mishima, Dazai, & Tsushima. All three share an emotional landscape within me. Currently loving the gentleness in The Sound of Waves.
the thought of the thing is thinking in the blue sky
November 14, 2024 at 3:41 AM
the thought of the thing is thinking in the blue sky