Jenny Rowe
@jenny-rowe.bsky.social
Bookseller at Prairie Lights in Iowa City, IA. 2024 MFA in creative nonfiction, the University of Montana. '23-'24 EiC of CutBank lit mag. Working on first book and building creative community. Owner of a way-too-smart adopted tabby named Shakespeare.
Just finished Peter Orner 's The Gossip Columnist's Daughter at the register of @prairielights.com and enjoyed it...very unusual, deconstructed novel, like a story within a story. Looking forward to meeting Peter tonight at his reading and asking him about his newest book!
September 8, 2025 at 7:52 PM
Just finished Peter Orner 's The Gossip Columnist's Daughter at the register of @prairielights.com and enjoyed it...very unusual, deconstructed novel, like a story within a story. Looking forward to meeting Peter tonight at his reading and asking him about his newest book!
My newest Substack post is up: backdesk.substack.com/p/bestseller... (Free to subscribe 🎉📚)
June 27, 2025 at 6:48 PM
My newest Substack post is up: backdesk.substack.com/p/bestseller... (Free to subscribe 🎉📚)
I wrote in this week's Substack post about some recent writing milestones and keeping the momentum: backdesk.substack.com/p/moving-for...
June 21, 2025 at 7:47 PM
I wrote in this week's Substack post about some recent writing milestones and keeping the momentum: backdesk.substack.com/p/moving-for...
A @prairielights.com customer asked me this morning if I was Claire Lombardo (who used to work here). She pointed at a picture of Claire on the back of her novel Same As It Ever Was & insisted we look similar. I took that as the highest compliment. 📚🩵
June 1, 2025 at 4:53 PM
A @prairielights.com customer asked me this morning if I was Claire Lombardo (who used to work here). She pointed at a picture of Claire on the back of her novel Same As It Ever Was & insisted we look similar. I took that as the highest compliment. 📚🩵
My latest Substack post is up--I think this monthly one might be my favorite to write: backdesk.substack.com/p/bestseller...
May 30, 2025 at 8:46 PM
My latest Substack post is up--I think this monthly one might be my favorite to write: backdesk.substack.com/p/bestseller...
I often forget to post about my Substack, backdesk.substack.com (still figuring out Blue Sky), but it's growing slowly and is a lot of fun to make. If you want to know what it's like to be a bookseller at @prairielights.com or how I'm working to become a "real" (i.e., paid) writer, take a look!
April 25, 2025 at 7:07 PM
I often forget to post about my Substack, backdesk.substack.com (still figuring out Blue Sky), but it's growing slowly and is a lot of fun to make. If you want to know what it's like to be a bookseller at @prairielights.com or how I'm working to become a "real" (i.e., paid) writer, take a look!
Today's random thought: I now hear "I am a zen cow" in my head every time I eat a kale salad, thanks to @rachelyoder.bsky.social and her marvelous novel Nightbitch.
April 24, 2025 at 9:37 PM
Today's random thought: I now hear "I am a zen cow" in my head every time I eat a kale salad, thanks to @rachelyoder.bsky.social and her marvelous novel Nightbitch.
Reposted by Jenny Rowe
My new book THE NATURAL ORDER OF THINGS comes out October 7 and is available for pre-order! If you order from @prairielights.com I'll sign your copy! www.prairielightsbooks.com/book/9781644...
@graywolfpress.bsky.social
@graywolfpress.bsky.social
March 14, 2025 at 3:44 PM
My new book THE NATURAL ORDER OF THINGS comes out October 7 and is available for pre-order! If you order from @prairielights.com I'll sign your copy! www.prairielightsbooks.com/book/9781644...
@graywolfpress.bsky.social
@graywolfpress.bsky.social
Reposted by Jenny Rowe
The government runs out of money tomorrow at midnight.
Let me explain how we got here.
Part one:
Let me explain how we got here.
Part one:
March 13, 2025 at 11:23 PM
The government runs out of money tomorrow at midnight.
Let me explain how we got here.
Part one:
Let me explain how we got here.
Part one:
A little good news with my nightmare of a fed loan servicer, MOHELA: called & got a process forbearance because I applied for IDR recertification right before it was banned. Hoping senator @warren.senate.gov & others joining her keep fighting for borrowers like me who got stuck w/ the worst one.
March 14, 2025 at 3:03 PM
A little good news with my nightmare of a fed loan servicer, MOHELA: called & got a process forbearance because I applied for IDR recertification right before it was banned. Hoping senator @warren.senate.gov & others joining her keep fighting for borrowers like me who got stuck w/ the worst one.
Reposted by Jenny Rowe
I think some in the Senate have convinced themselves that the backlash to folding will be limited to “the left” and therefore ignorable.
Those people are deeply and profoundly misreading the moment and the stakes.
Virtually every swing district House Dem walked the plank to vote NO for a reason.
Those people are deeply and profoundly misreading the moment and the stakes.
Virtually every swing district House Dem walked the plank to vote NO for a reason.
March 14, 2025 at 2:46 AM
I think some in the Senate have convinced themselves that the backlash to folding will be limited to “the left” and therefore ignorable.
Those people are deeply and profoundly misreading the moment and the stakes.
Virtually every swing district House Dem walked the plank to vote NO for a reason.
Those people are deeply and profoundly misreading the moment and the stakes.
Virtually every swing district House Dem walked the plank to vote NO for a reason.
As of next month, my fed loan servicer, MOHELA, wants me to pay nearly half of my monthly salary. No warning or explanation, and it looks like they've been trying to force borrowers to pay unlawful amounts of money for awhile: protectborrowers.org/education-de...
Education Department Finds Widespread Servicing Failures at MOHELA - Student Borrower Protection Center
Advocates renew calls to ban MOHELA from the student loan industry.
protectborrowers.org
March 12, 2025 at 1:25 PM
As of next month, my fed loan servicer, MOHELA, wants me to pay nearly half of my monthly salary. No warning or explanation, and it looks like they've been trying to force borrowers to pay unlawful amounts of money for awhile: protectborrowers.org/education-de...
What I'm reading tonight at the upstairs info desk of @prairielights.com : Eat the Buddha by Barbara Demick--a rare blend of thorough research & exquisite storytelling. A careful explanation of what China did to Tibet & why.
Excited for her next, Daughters of the Bamboo Grove--coming May 20th!
Excited for her next, Daughters of the Bamboo Grove--coming May 20th!
February 11, 2025 at 2:18 AM
What I'm reading tonight at the upstairs info desk of @prairielights.com : Eat the Buddha by Barbara Demick--a rare blend of thorough research & exquisite storytelling. A careful explanation of what China did to Tibet & why.
Excited for her next, Daughters of the Bamboo Grove--coming May 20th!
Excited for her next, Daughters of the Bamboo Grove--coming May 20th!
I just finished my seventh Substack post & am enjoying this no-expectations creating more than I thought I would.
backdesk.substack.com
backdesk.substack.com
February 8, 2025 at 6:07 PM
I just finished my seventh Substack post & am enjoying this no-expectations creating more than I thought I would.
backdesk.substack.com
backdesk.substack.com
Happy Sunday! Yesterday I posted a Substack entry on waiting for a "Big Deal Lit Mag" (not naming them yet) to follow up with me on a forthcoming essay publication.
If you've been in this boat before, you know the agony.
backdesk.substack.com
If you've been in this boat before, you know the agony.
backdesk.substack.com
February 2, 2025 at 7:15 PM
Happy Sunday! Yesterday I posted a Substack entry on waiting for a "Big Deal Lit Mag" (not naming them yet) to follow up with me on a forthcoming essay publication.
If you've been in this boat before, you know the agony.
backdesk.substack.com
If you've been in this boat before, you know the agony.
backdesk.substack.com
What I'm reading today at the upstairs info desk of @prairielights.com : American Bulk by Emily Mester, an Iowa NWP alum. (I'll be introducing Emily at Prairie Lights for the reading on February 17th, too.)
Forty pages in & so far impressed by the honesty and insightfulness. Plenty to think about.
Forty pages in & so far impressed by the honesty and insightfulness. Plenty to think about.
January 26, 2025 at 8:05 PM
What I'm reading today at the upstairs info desk of @prairielights.com : American Bulk by Emily Mester, an Iowa NWP alum. (I'll be introducing Emily at Prairie Lights for the reading on February 17th, too.)
Forty pages in & so far impressed by the honesty and insightfulness. Plenty to think about.
Forty pages in & so far impressed by the honesty and insightfulness. Plenty to think about.
My fifth Substack post is online, and I managed to keep it from being a mere rant about AI in my word processor (though I'm still greatly concerned about it).
January 25, 2025 at 1:13 AM
My fifth Substack post is online, and I managed to keep it from being a mere rant about AI in my word processor (though I'm still greatly concerned about it).
I've never been this offended by Microsoft. What makes them think we want AI in our word processor? It also took more time than it should have to figure out how to disable Copilot, but I'm relieved I did. Couldn't write a word this morning until that sh*t was gone.
January 22, 2025 at 5:27 PM
I've never been this offended by Microsoft. What makes them think we want AI in our word processor? It also took more time than it should have to figure out how to disable Copilot, but I'm relieved I did. Couldn't write a word this morning until that sh*t was gone.
Shakespeare's ready for a new day ☀️
January 16, 2025 at 2:09 PM
Shakespeare's ready for a new day ☀️
My fourth Substack post is up, and this one merges a bit of physics with creative nonfiction. ✨
backdesk.substack.com
backdesk.substack.com
January 14, 2025 at 8:30 PM
My fourth Substack post is up, and this one merges a bit of physics with creative nonfiction. ✨
backdesk.substack.com
backdesk.substack.com
Third Substack post, and this one features my inscribed paperback copy of Martyr! and what it helped me realize as an emerging writer:
backdesk.substack.com
backdesk.substack.com
January 10, 2025 at 6:33 PM
Third Substack post, and this one features my inscribed paperback copy of Martyr! and what it helped me realize as an emerging writer:
backdesk.substack.com
backdesk.substack.com
I started a Substack as a still learning-everything emerging writer (for other writers figuring it all out, too). Forgot to mention my first post, but here's the second!
backdesk.substack.com
backdesk.substack.com
January 8, 2025 at 2:00 AM
I started a Substack as a still learning-everything emerging writer (for other writers figuring it all out, too). Forgot to mention my first post, but here's the second!
backdesk.substack.com
backdesk.substack.com
Reposted by Jenny Rowe
Vice President Kamala Harris last night at the Naval Observatory, her home for the last 4 years, reminding all of us of our strength, our blessings and why she is one of them.
December 4, 2024 at 1:05 PM
Vice President Kamala Harris last night at the Naval Observatory, her home for the last 4 years, reminding all of us of our strength, our blessings and why she is one of them.
Reposted by Jenny Rowe
Submissions to The Commuter are OPEN! We want to see your short prose, poetry, and graphic narratives. Each category will be capped at 375 submissions, so don't wait to submit! https://buff.ly/3PoeZ6l
December 2, 2024 at 4:00 PM
Submissions to The Commuter are OPEN! We want to see your short prose, poetry, and graphic narratives. Each category will be capped at 375 submissions, so don't wait to submit! https://buff.ly/3PoeZ6l
Reposted by Jenny Rowe
We're excited to announce that the next Shorter is Better meeting will be on Tuesday May 28th at 7:30 PM ET and that we'll be reading Everywhere, Tony Danza by @wendyoleson.bsky.social from CutBank Books!
Buy a copy here: www.cutbankonline.org/2024-chapbooks
Buy a copy here: www.cutbankonline.org/2024-chapbooks
April 12, 2024 at 12:07 AM
We're excited to announce that the next Shorter is Better meeting will be on Tuesday May 28th at 7:30 PM ET and that we'll be reading Everywhere, Tony Danza by @wendyoleson.bsky.social from CutBank Books!
Buy a copy here: www.cutbankonline.org/2024-chapbooks
Buy a copy here: www.cutbankonline.org/2024-chapbooks