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gr8earlofhell.bsky.social
mosh pit daria
@gr8earlofhell.bsky.social
1.8K followers 720 following 380 posts
poet laureate of the void • many books in many places • proud dad of @fifthwheelpress.bsky.social • mica/ubalt alum • they

📍unceded piscataway + susquehannock land (baltimore)

visit me online @ natraum.com/links
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gr8earlofhell.bsky.social
for newbies and veterans alike, this workshop breaks down the nitty gritty of how and why i submit to literary magazines. it's very helpful, according to my students who have received most of this advice already.

natraum.com/workshops to sign up
it's lit: a literary magazine submissions workshop led by nat raum. $10-30 sliding scale. oct 29 @ 7PM EST. register at natraum.com/workshops. about the workshop: This is an informative workshop designed to break down the process of submitting to literary magazines. Hear expertise from the instructor and their network, learn about new magazines, and gain insight into the editorial process. This workshop is genreless—writers and artists working in any genre or medium are invited to join. register at natraum.com/workshops about your instructor: nat raum’s writing and artwork has been published by beestung, Poet Lore, Split Lip Magazine, and more. They hold an MFA in Creative Writing with a focus in Poetry, and have served as an adjunct faculty member at the Maryland Institute College of Art and The University of Baltimore. They’re the author of 22 books of poetry, all of which were proudly published independently. register at natraum.com/workshops Can't make it? You can donate a smaller amount for just the slide deck. Select “i’m just here for the prompts” on the registration form. register at natraum.com/workshops
October 12, 2025 at 4:15 PM
gr8earlofhell.bsky.social
made some extremely adorable, extremely tiny books tonight at a workshop and i am THRILLED ok
two mini hardcover quarter cloth books, tied together on a crafting table
October 9, 2025 at 1:52 AM
gr8earlofhell.bsky.social
icymi, i lost my job and am running some workshops to make money to uh, live?

tickets for the first run of THE RANDOMIZER are up now at natraum.com/links. the rest are coming soon!
2025 workshops It's Lit: Literary Magazine Submissions. October 29 @ 7PM EST. THE RANDOMIZER #1. November 6 @ 7pm EST. No Choice But to Stan: Writing Pop Culture in Poetry. November 15 @ 12pm EST Writing to Grieve: Poetry as Processing. November 22 @ 12pm EST THE RANDOMIZER #2. TBD late November. About your instructor nat raum is a queer, disabled, and recently unemployed artist and writer based on unceded Piscataway and Susquehannock land in Baltimore. They hold an MFA in Creative Writing with a focus in Poetry, and have served as an adjunct faculty member at the Maryland Institute College of Art and The University of Baltimore. They’re the author of 22 books of poetry, all of which were proudly published independently.
October 6, 2025 at 9:14 PM
gr8earlofhell.bsky.social
hi squad, i am hoping to supplement my unexpectedly reduced income with some gig work, including the first of a few workshops!

tix: forms.gle/AHW4sQLEJh5v...
stretchy geralt monotone background. text overlay: no choice but to stan. a generative pop-culture focused virtual poetry workshop. hosted by nat raum. october 1 at 7pm est. $10-30 sliding scale. proceeds help nat with living expenses while out of work. for tickets: natraum.com/links. stretchy geralt monotone background. text overlay: about your instructor. nat raum (they/them) exists where Iris von Everec’s soul meets Triss Merigold’s body. They hold an MFA in Creative Writing with a focus in Poetry, and have served as an adjunct faculty member at the Maryland Institute College of Art and The University of Baltimore. They’re the author of 22 books of poetry, all proudly published independently. stretchy geralt monotone background. text overlay: i can't make it! can i get the prompts? yes!!!! fill out the form and select "i'm just here for the prompts." suggested donation: $2-5.
September 19, 2025 at 1:41 AM
gr8earlofhell.bsky.social
this month, instead of only writing poetry, i did The Aurelie 30 and wrote a bunch of random shit, including a lot of hybrid shit. here are all the titles:
a word map of nat's 2025 Aurelie 30 titles: flesh wounds inflammation besieges the body eternal return as blooper scooper* driving breakdown ghosts prey on the pile of half empty lacroix cans on my nightstand give up the ship wasting disorderly beguiling lost consider sorry eternal return as geralt of rivia’s last wish no one told me my gender is jaywalking in stilettos i have yet to examine don’t say stop speaking in absolutes eternal return as seed souls** every year since 2016 has been a year of realizing stuff part of me believes i'm thinking in poem fragments again i hear a doorbell buzzer last night understand me when i say hey! listen an entire galaxy for a cheese pupusa holding on
April 30, 2025 at 9:02 PM
gr8earlofhell.bsky.social
hiiiiiiii i'm co-judging issue 2 of @artfrommaryland.bsky.social 👀 i'd love to read work that evokes a vivid sense of place—show me your corner of the state in all its details. make me feel something!

oh, and did i mention this is a paid opportunity?
Artists from Maryland Issue 2 submission graphic For Issue 2 of Artists from Maryland, we will be PAYING contributors, through a free-to-enter contest! Winner receives $40 USD, Runner-ups receive $20, Finalists receive $10. All honorees will be published in Issue 2! Details at artistsfrommaryland.org/guidelines. Submissions close April 26th.
March 9, 2025 at 7:51 PM
gr8earlofhell.bsky.social
so sorry to every editor who has received 3 separate withdrawal emails from me in the last 72 hours
a meme of a stoplight falling apart but still hanging, with overlaid text "the 1 poem left in my 5-poem submission packet"
January 27, 2025 at 10:21 PM
gr8earlofhell.bsky.social
oh yeah, here's my really cool book
December 12, 2024 at 3:07 AM
gr8earlofhell.bsky.social
tonight & tomorrow!
this tour will not save you: virtual launch. sat dec 7 2024, 6pm est, contact for invite. featuring nat raum, author of 'this book will not save you' + cavar, c.m. green this tour will not save you: washington, d.c.. sun dec 8 2024, 2pm est, the potter's house. featuring nat raum, author of 'this book will not save you' + alex carrigan, katherine schmidt
December 7, 2024 at 8:16 PM
gr8earlofhell.bsky.social
please let this be how glass animals bluesky finds me at last
stop using anti-glass animals language instead of hello, say hi my little naked man instead of thank you, say thanks for all the fish instead of goodbye, say bye bye baby blue instead of bless you, say squish squirmies in your nose instead of here, let me help you with your shoes, say you're a fucking coconut can't even put em on
December 6, 2024 at 3:04 AM
gr8earlofhell.bsky.social
hosting the third iteration of my quarterly queer reading, FRUITCAKE, and also continuing to celebrate this bb from @dogleechbooks.bsky.social
nat standing inside 2640 space holding a copy of 'this book will not save you.' they are wearing a red dress and sheer black tights.
December 4, 2024 at 3:35 PM
gr8earlofhell.bsky.social
this portion of my lore predates my migration to bluesky, but basically: wrote a chap of ekphrastic poems based on sounds from a sound map, it got published, the publisher ghosted a really absurd number of authors, and then A Moonlit Café decided to revive a few of them as a bundle
a photo of a page in 'foundwaves' with the poem "salton seabreeze through tattered fabric" salton seabreeze through tattered fabric Bombay Beach, CA, USA the sea swallows living room sets whole & eats your tapestry & your bespoke armchair next to the armoire & static hangs in the dry air to give salt water corrosion some sparkle nat's hand holding up a copy of 'foundwaves,' an A6 paperback publication with a cover made collaboratively by nat and A Moonlit Café EIC Nicks Walker
November 30, 2024 at 5:03 PM
gr8earlofhell.bsky.social
book = launched ✅
nat reading from 'this book will not save you' onstage at the club car
November 25, 2024 at 2:45 AM
gr8earlofhell.bsky.social
have always loved this poem by Callie Jennings that we published at @fifthwheelpress.bsky.social a while back

fifthwheelpress.com/anth5backend...
Do Nothing to fresh raspberries. Salt, butter, even heat sully a cob of timely summer corn. Half the mint leaf belongs between your teeth and cheek. Peaches: bursting. Empty the bag. Your mother never will have been the mother you most needed. But look, now, she is perfect, quickly, now. poem by Callie Jennings
November 24, 2024 at 6:44 PM
gr8earlofhell.bsky.social
still feel like i am feeling out who is familiar with me/my work here, so thought this might be fun!
Get to know my writing. For every like, I will post one piece I wrote.
November 19, 2024 at 1:23 AM
gr8earlofhell.bsky.social
last one for today, poem vs. poet: the abyss is staring back (@querenciapress.bsky.social)

www.querenciapress.com/the-abyss-is...
a selfie of nat in their old apartment bathroom i have a lot of questions what do you do when the abyss stares back? what do you do when you no longer have a joker origin story, but a joker origin trilogy? why are my feet so firmly planted on broken earth? why was i bred during the years where the world kept inventing more ways to break your heart? what would baby blonde me in a polyester plaid jumper say if i tell her my first love and i used to fight in public online? that i’d never have met my college partner if not for an anonymous question on my blog? that i’d lived with someone who started out a stranger on the internet? does the moon change phases in the night, sometimes? is it possible that the waxing crescent i saw when the sun first went down has swelled up before my eyes so minutely that i’ve just noticed it now? whether or not this can happen to the moon, can it happen to other things, like people you used to love? when you take a picture of the moon on your phone, you know how you can never capture the craters or glow the way they actually look? do you know that everyone i’ve let love me has shied even further away from my camera than the moon? do you think that’s why no one has ever believed i could choose wisely, that i didn’t have anything to show for it? is it stupid to compare a lover to the moon, knowing he’ll never be as graceful, as silent, or as steady? is it worth letting anyone see my collection of pixelated photos of a shadow blurred with moonlight? will the internet be what breaks the earth, in the end? can the internet break your heart, too?
November 16, 2024 at 4:41 PM
gr8earlofhell.bsky.social
poem vs. poet: specter dust (@bullshitlit.bsky.social)
nat standing in front of the jukebox at the mount royal tavern, wearing a white dress and their grandmother's chain specter dust when you’re young, you learn object permanence once something disappears from view but you know it still exists. it stops feeling like a blade through wraithly ribs when something goes away and you no longer howl to heaven when you open your eyes in the morning and find yourself missing something vital. this could be because you’ll eventually lose people far more often than things and it won’t seem like such a tragedy of cosmic proportion when you’ve misplaced anything you can replace. moreover, one day you may find you’ve reached a point where there are things you once held dear that you’d rather see turn to dust before your eyes. you’d rather forget what you learned and loved in tandem, rather toss relics of heartbreak in a thrifted cigar box to quietly decompose, but even though you can’t see it, the void you run from is sure as hell still there. so why not offer up the artifacts that tie you endlessly to the ghost of a goodbye that wouldn’t have possibly happened how you wanted anyway? why not sift the specter dust through loose and skeletal fingers and watch it fall to earth without you?
November 16, 2024 at 4:37 PM
gr8earlofhell.bsky.social
poem vs. poet: you stupid slut (out of print, but coming back)

cw: sexual assault, originally published in impossible archetype. full alt text can be found by reading the issue: impossiblearchetype.wordpress.com/11-2/
nat smoking a cigarette in 2017 at a 90s-themed party a poem by nat raum in the form of a materials safety data sheet. full alt text for the piece can be found at https://impossiblearchetype.wordpress.com/11-2/
November 16, 2024 at 4:33 PM
gr8earlofhell.bsky.social
poem vs. poet: a progression

first up is my self-published debut, 'preparatory school for the end of the world'

natraum.com/prepschool
a mirror pic of nat in their bedroom, circa 2021. blue and pink light bathes the room. o hell yes i chewed and spat first communion in the same gutter from which i graduated carefully choreographed processionals through oil-slicked puddles in kitten heels and floor-length white gowns baring crooked teeth at curious schoolboys peering into the cage here stands a deserter a feeble lamb escaped from split-rail fenced pastures shepherded by handwritten holy tomes maps drawn on old receipts shoved into apron pockets scattered like ashes on beaches or mosquito welts on stocky thighs fresh tracks forged through thickets of humble black oaks [upon reaching the clearing we happen upon molehills and burrows with intrepid steps and rolling ankles. we sprint onward, certain that this is only momentary.] there is comfort in chaos in variables for which i can never solve in days or weeks where i long for the splendor of a silence that wilts like a vase of cut freesias after one hour’s time pleasure without the company of far more pain is a futile fiction [i’ve never come face to face with balance but i imagine it looks like writhing earthworms on forest floors and stares back like the abyss of two fist-shaped holes.]
November 16, 2024 at 4:28 PM
gr8earlofhell.bsky.social
new photozine just dropped!

www.natraum.com/shop/the-unt...
a copy of 'the untamed camera: extended cut' by nat raum. the cover features a blue-toned image of a ceiling light fixture. an open copy of 'the untamed camera: extended cut' by nat raum. the spread features an image of a snow-dusted sundial on the left and a window casting shadows on a concrete wall on the right. an open copy of 'the untamed camera: extended cut' by nat raum. the spread features a photograph of a pink-toned hotel room, with a smaller image of a dive bar table setup on the right-hand page. a copy of 'the untamed camera: extended cut' by nat raum. the back cover features a photograph of a rose taped to a plaster wall.
November 15, 2024 at 9:50 PM
gr8earlofhell.bsky.social
realized i never showed the internet my most recent book tattoo, so here ya go
nat holding up a copy of 'camera indomita' next to their tattooed arm, which includes a tattoo of a camera aperture
November 14, 2024 at 11:25 PM
gr8earlofhell.bsky.social
not written as recently, but published recently!
pushing pixels does anyone else hear the music from dig dug as they inch closer and closer to their limit? no, just me? okay, well, i’m there, in the tunnel pumping pookas full of hot air, and i realize i’m wedged in a corner between boulder and fire breathing dragon, defenses downed. i only know dread from dreams, from the lurch of stomach as body catapults south through the sky. until i wake, i lie suspended in death. in the morning, i pour hot water over prickly pear tea, cupping my lidded mushroom mug as a substitute for human warmth. the sun rises over my series of jagged tunnels, cut across bedrock all serpentine. the ground paints green over dirt, tunnels obscured by the early spring crocuses. yes, there are so many crocuses.
November 13, 2024 at 4:44 PM
gr8earlofhell.bsky.social
you heard it here first!
this tour will not save you bmore 11.24 | the club car 12.3 | 2640 space 1.30 | red emma's virtual launch 12.7 | contact for invite d.c. 12.8 | the potter's house philly 12.14 | wooden shoe books nyc 1.4 | bar freda boston 1.5 | trident booksellers & cafe columbia 1.12 | queer haven books
November 12, 2024 at 3:22 PM
gr8earlofhell.bsky.social
a summary of last week

state of american politics: bad
receiving my author copies from @dogleechbooks.bsky.social: good
nat holding a copy of 'this book will not save you' while wearing a shirt that says "surviving purely out of spite"
November 11, 2024 at 2:30 PM
gr8earlofhell.bsky.social
man, @tc221bee.bsky.social's book with @masonjarpress.bsky.social is so good
a white hand holds up a copy of "A Prayer For A Non-Religious Autistic" by Lucas Scheelk against a forested background
September 2, 2023 at 8:31 PM