Karen Palmer
@karenpalmer.bsky.social
Writer, editor, teacher, karenpalmer.com. Memoir coming in 2025 from Algonquin Books. NEA, Best American Essays, Pushcart Prize. If I had to choose between reading and eating, I'd be dead in a week. She/her
Pinned
Karen Palmer
@karenpalmer.bsky.social
· Nov 13
Reintroducing myself. I'm a diehard leftie, an editor & teacher @ Lighthouse Writers. I've published 2 novels. A memoir that took abso-effen-lutely forever to complete (SHE'S UNDER HERE) is coming next fall from Algonquin Books. Looking forward to meeting more lit community folks.
Today I spoke to a book club in TX—via Zoom—about She's Under Here. They asked great questions. Made me happy. One lady said she has three friends who belong to other groups that are also reading it. That made me happy, too.
The holidays are coming. If you buy books as gifts, pls consider mine.
The holidays are coming. If you buy books as gifts, pls consider mine.
November 19, 2025 at 1:03 AM
Today I spoke to a book club in TX—via Zoom—about She's Under Here. They asked great questions. Made me happy. One lady said she has three friends who belong to other groups that are also reading it. That made me happy, too.
The holidays are coming. If you buy books as gifts, pls consider mine.
The holidays are coming. If you buy books as gifts, pls consider mine.
This is the horror show endgame of conservative politics: women charged with murder, women convicted of murder, women punished as murderers.
A South Carolina woman who police say tried to end her pregnancy with medication has been arrested and charged with attempted murder and child neglect.
Don't miss this story from @kylietcheung.bsky.social
jessica.substack.com/p/south-caro...
Don't miss this story from @kylietcheung.bsky.social
jessica.substack.com/p/south-caro...
A South Carolina 20-Year-Old Has Been Charged With Attempted Murder
Police say she took medication to end her pregnancy
jessica.substack.com
November 18, 2025 at 7:54 PM
This is the horror show endgame of conservative politics: women charged with murder, women convicted of murder, women punished as murderers.
I miss my iPod Nano.
November 18, 2025 at 7:30 PM
I miss my iPod Nano.
Reposted by Karen Palmer
With thanks to @therumpus.net for publishing and to @robbiemaakestad.bsky.social for his excellent edits.
Don't miss @karenpalmer.bsky.social's "Aftermath" at @therumpus.net—a stunning essay about the Eaton Fire and the significance of what we surround ourselves with. #RumpusEssays
therumpus.net/2025/11/12/a...
therumpus.net/2025/11/12/a...
Aftermath - The Rumpus
Time-lapsed satellite video shows the Palisades Fire at 10:45 a.m., a hot red ball with an orange center sitting right on the coast. A wedge of smoke shoots out over the Pacific Ocean. At around 7:00 ...
therumpus.net
November 14, 2025 at 5:50 PM
With thanks to @therumpus.net for publishing and to @robbiemaakestad.bsky.social for his excellent edits.
The things Colin shares are fascinating—today's newsletter is especially good.
Really glad that my newsletter this week was five really great pieces of writing that you can read instead of….[gestures]…that
Glacial Errata, No. 45
Five Things for the Week of November 17, 2025.
glacialerrata.beehiiv.com
November 17, 2025 at 3:46 PM
The things Colin shares are fascinating—today's newsletter is especially good.
-Nothing good ever happens in an underground parking garage
-Sea Shanties 'R' Us
-Virus gonna get ya
-Love hurts
-Men driving fast while their women fret
-Sea Shanties 'R' Us
-Virus gonna get ya
-Love hurts
-Men driving fast while their women fret
Top 5 movie genres:
Guy who’s a pathetic piece of shit
Woman falling apart and it’s hard to watch but goddamn
Theater production/movie production falling apart and it’s so fun to watch
Detective but sad
Period film where they just said fuck it
Guy who’s a pathetic piece of shit
Woman falling apart and it’s hard to watch but goddamn
Theater production/movie production falling apart and it’s so fun to watch
Detective but sad
Period film where they just said fuck it
Top 5 movie genres are:
heist
intelligence/espionage thriller
pitch perfect
cerebral ensemble oscar fodder drama
heist some more
heist
intelligence/espionage thriller
pitch perfect
cerebral ensemble oscar fodder drama
heist some more
November 17, 2025 at 1:34 AM
-Nothing good ever happens in an underground parking garage
-Sea Shanties 'R' Us
-Virus gonna get ya
-Love hurts
-Men driving fast while their women fret
-Sea Shanties 'R' Us
-Virus gonna get ya
-Love hurts
-Men driving fast while their women fret
This class sounds incredible.
Have you heard?! The force of nature that is @meganstielstra.bsky.social is teaching a four-session online class starting Jan 8. This class will give writers everything they need to know to write powerful personal essays that center the human experience.
buff.ly/kjE6IyR
#writers
buff.ly/kjE6IyR
#writers
Urgency and the Personal Essay: Four Lessons on What to Say, How to Say it, Revision, and Submitting with Megan Stielstra - StoryStudio Chicago
"I’ve written a hundred course descriptions in my career, but over the past few months these paragraphs feel new and charged and vital. What does it mean to write in this time? To write of this time?…
buff.ly
November 16, 2025 at 8:11 PM
This class sounds incredible.
Reposted by Karen Palmer
Alice is the gold standard of what Twitter was when it was great - how you could just find these brilliant, remarkable people with the kind of voices that rarely get platformed or taken seriously, and hear about their lives in their own words without intruding on them or demanding emotional labor
Watching disabled people around the world mourn Alice is a reminder of the good aspect of the internet. 30 years ago, few people outside of SF would ever have known Alice existed. I never would have met her. The internet connected us all. Let’s honor Alice’s memory by using that power and community.
My social media is wall-to-wall love for the incomparable Alice Wong, and I need more words. What captures sadness and/also affection for a community that knows what's been lost?
November 16, 2025 at 5:29 AM
Alice is the gold standard of what Twitter was when it was great - how you could just find these brilliant, remarkable people with the kind of voices that rarely get platformed or taken seriously, and hear about their lives in their own words without intruding on them or demanding emotional labor
I'm interested in following more artist accounts, and would be very grateful for links to your favorite painters, sculptors, and photographers. TIA.
November 15, 2025 at 5:32 PM
I'm interested in following more artist accounts, and would be very grateful for links to your favorite painters, sculptors, and photographers. TIA.
Reposted by Karen Palmer
"Absence feels like a wound, because the things we surround ourselves with have meaning..."
From "Aftermath," a new original essay by @karenpalmer.bsky.social.
➡️ buff.ly/yKwsomF
From "Aftermath," a new original essay by @karenpalmer.bsky.social.
➡️ buff.ly/yKwsomF
November 15, 2025 at 4:01 PM
"Absence feels like a wound, because the things we surround ourselves with have meaning..."
From "Aftermath," a new original essay by @karenpalmer.bsky.social.
➡️ buff.ly/yKwsomF
From "Aftermath," a new original essay by @karenpalmer.bsky.social.
➡️ buff.ly/yKwsomF
With thanks to @therumpus.net for publishing and to @robbiemaakestad.bsky.social for his excellent edits.
Don't miss @karenpalmer.bsky.social's "Aftermath" at @therumpus.net—a stunning essay about the Eaton Fire and the significance of what we surround ourselves with. #RumpusEssays
therumpus.net/2025/11/12/a...
therumpus.net/2025/11/12/a...
Aftermath - The Rumpus
Time-lapsed satellite video shows the Palisades Fire at 10:45 a.m., a hot red ball with an orange center sitting right on the coast. A wedge of smoke shoots out over the Pacific Ocean. At around 7:00 ...
therumpus.net
November 14, 2025 at 5:50 PM
With thanks to @therumpus.net for publishing and to @robbiemaakestad.bsky.social for his excellent edits.
Reposted by Karen Palmer
My essay "Aftermath" is up at The Rumpus. It's about the Eaton Fire, and the Aurora Borealis, and what we do with loss. This one means a great deal to me. I'd be honored if you read it.
therumpus.net/2025/11/12/a...
therumpus.net/2025/11/12/a...
Aftermath - The Rumpus
Time-lapsed satellite video shows the Palisades Fire at 10:45 a.m., a hot red ball with an orange center sitting right on the coast. A wedge of smoke shoots out over the Pacific Ocean. At around 7:00 ...
therumpus.net
November 13, 2025 at 1:52 PM
My essay "Aftermath" is up at The Rumpus. It's about the Eaton Fire, and the Aurora Borealis, and what we do with loss. This one means a great deal to me. I'd be honored if you read it.
therumpus.net/2025/11/12/a...
therumpus.net/2025/11/12/a...
Considering how long most people keep a home, you would build almost no equity for years and years and years.
Kevin Hassett: "The 50 year mortgage is just one of many many policies that are currently being studied ... the argument for it is that it would really lower the monthly payment. The downside is it would take longer to build equity in the home."
November 13, 2025 at 2:38 PM
Considering how long most people keep a home, you would build almost no equity for years and years and years.
My essay "Aftermath" is up at The Rumpus. It's about the Eaton Fire, and the Aurora Borealis, and what we do with loss. This one means a great deal to me. I'd be honored if you read it.
therumpus.net/2025/11/12/a...
therumpus.net/2025/11/12/a...
Aftermath - The Rumpus
Time-lapsed satellite video shows the Palisades Fire at 10:45 a.m., a hot red ball with an orange center sitting right on the coast. A wedge of smoke shoots out over the Pacific Ocean. At around 7:00 ...
therumpus.net
November 13, 2025 at 1:52 PM
My essay "Aftermath" is up at The Rumpus. It's about the Eaton Fire, and the Aurora Borealis, and what we do with loss. This one means a great deal to me. I'd be honored if you read it.
therumpus.net/2025/11/12/a...
therumpus.net/2025/11/12/a...
This is Thanksgiving dinner at our house.
Used the phrase “roiling boil” and someone corrected me and said “it’s rolling boil” and we went back and forth then looked it up and roiling boil is an older term for rolling boil and we both left the conversation dissatisfied and everything feels like that these days
November 12, 2025 at 5:42 PM
This is Thanksgiving dinner at our house.
Convincing you to read SHE'S UNDER HERE by *also* sharing (almost) two paragraphs instead of one sentence. Because I'm a giver.
Share yours.
Share yours.
November 11, 2025 at 11:46 PM
Convincing you to read SHE'S UNDER HERE by *also* sharing (almost) two paragraphs instead of one sentence. Because I'm a giver.
Share yours.
Share yours.
Oxymoronic headline on the NYT homepage.
November 10, 2025 at 8:26 PM
Oxymoronic headline on the NYT homepage.
Currently reading Laura van den Berg's STATE OF PARADISE, which for some reason I missed last year. Her voice is so distinct. Clean, affecting. Off-kilter in the best way. Highly recommended.
November 10, 2025 at 6:41 PM
Currently reading Laura van den Berg's STATE OF PARADISE, which for some reason I missed last year. Her voice is so distinct. Clean, affecting. Off-kilter in the best way. Highly recommended.
Wish I had something—maybe you do?
Hi writers! I’m looking to assign a couple of features for Slate before the end of the year. If you have anything in mind that you think would be a fit please send me a pitch! Jenée.Desmond- harris@slate.com or dm me.
RTs are appreciated so this can reach more people. Thanks!
RTs are appreciated so this can reach more people. Thanks!
November 10, 2025 at 6:22 PM
Wish I had something—maybe you do?
I've long been a fan of Brian Kiteley's THE 3 A.M. EPIPHANY. Picked it up today to look for some inspiration for a class I'm teaching, and it struck me that a fun project would be to write an entire novel based on all the prompts, using the same set of characters and adjusting things accordingly.
November 10, 2025 at 5:33 PM
I've long been a fan of Brian Kiteley's THE 3 A.M. EPIPHANY. Picked it up today to look for some inspiration for a class I'm teaching, and it struck me that a fun project would be to write an entire novel based on all the prompts, using the same set of characters and adjusting things accordingly.
She's Under Here will be available from Hachette Australia February 10, 2026. Preorders are up now.
www.hachette.com.au/book/shes-un...
www.hachette.com.au/book/shes-un...
She's Under Here: A Memoir - Books
"Heart-pounding, illuminating, and ominously timeless" (Gina Frangello), this honest and poignant memoir reflects on a woman's escape from a violent marriage and what it cost to protect her and her fa...
www.hachette.com.au
November 10, 2025 at 4:56 PM
She's Under Here will be available from Hachette Australia February 10, 2026. Preorders are up now.
www.hachette.com.au/book/shes-un...
www.hachette.com.au/book/shes-un...
Reposted by Karen Palmer
The centrists in the Senate Democratic caucus saw that the country was rallying to the party in the 2025 elections and resolved that they would do anything they could to kill that momentum.
November 10, 2025 at 12:52 AM
The centrists in the Senate Democratic caucus saw that the country was rallying to the party in the 2025 elections and resolved that they would do anything they could to kill that momentum.
It's not just snatching failure from victory, it's an utter betrayal of the one thing voters want most from Dems—to fight. The CR was the only leverage we had. What other opportunity will there be? Rs must be beside themselves with joy at escaping responsibility (via the Ds!) for America's pain.
November 10, 2025 at 12:36 AM
It's not just snatching failure from victory, it's an utter betrayal of the one thing voters want most from Dems—to fight. The CR was the only leverage we had. What other opportunity will there be? Rs must be beside themselves with joy at escaping responsibility (via the Ds!) for America's pain.
From NBC News, a sickening example of sane-washing.
November 9, 2025 at 2:10 PM
From NBC News, a sickening example of sane-washing.
What a week. Waiting for the husband to get home so we can have a cocktail and eat dinner and then spend hours looking for something decent to watch on TV.
November 8, 2025 at 12:42 AM
What a week. Waiting for the husband to get home so we can have a cocktail and eat dinner and then spend hours looking for something decent to watch on TV.