Katie Warczak
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katiewarczak.bsky.social
Katie Warczak
@katiewarczak.bsky.social
330 followers 100 following 240 posts
Human companion to a horse (Impulse) and cat (Nella Larsen); Ph.D in English and African American Studies with research interests in the intersections of race, animality, disability, and pseudoscience.

Pronouns: she/her/hers
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katiewarczak.bsky.social
If the text says she "had shot at the buffalo," I'm going to need people to stop saying she murdered her husband.
An excerpt from Ernest Hemingway's "The Short Happy Life of Francis Macomber." The sentence that includes the words "had shot at the buffalo" is highlighted in yellow.
November 3, 2025 at 11:18 PM
katiewarczak.bsky.social
It's here, it's in the world!!!! 😁
October 17, 2025 at 5:46 PM
katiewarczak.bsky.social
So as someone new to #gardening, my goal for my first year tomato plant was to grow *something* (ideally a tomato, but probably just get the plant bigger). And I am happy to say I ACHIEVED THAT GOAL!!!!
A small green tomato attached to the green branch of a tomato plant.
October 2, 2025 at 12:13 PM
katiewarczak.bsky.social
I wish for the casual flexibility of my cat.
A torbie cat with one ear sits on a bed with her left hind leg raised casually behind her head. The photographer is envious.
August 13, 2025 at 1:58 AM
katiewarczak.bsky.social
It feels like 97 degrees here and Nella remains adamant about spending the day on the balcony.
A torbie cat with white paws and belly naps in a curled shrimp shape on a reclining chair.
July 12, 2025 at 6:56 PM
katiewarczak.bsky.social
A delightful #cat poem from The Boston Daily Globe of August 1, 1895.
I Am the Family Cat (Our Dumb Animals.) I can fold up my claws In my soft velvet paws, And purr in the sun Till the short day is done -- For I am the family cat. I can doze by the hour In the vine covered bower. Winking and blinking Through sunshine and shower, For I am the family cat. From the gooseberry bush, Or where bright currants blush, I may suddenly spring For a bird on the wing. Or dart up a tree, If a brown nest I see, And select a choice morsel For dinner or tea. And no one to blame me, Berate or shame me -- For I am the family cat. In the cold winter night When the ground is all white, And the icicles shine In a long silver line, I stay not to shiver In the moonbeam's pale quiver, But curl up in the house As snug as a mouse. And play Jack Horner In the coziest corner, Breaking nobody's laws, With my chin on my paws. Asleep with one eye and awake with the other, For pats from the children, kind words from the mother -- For I am the family cat.
June 13, 2025 at 1:37 PM
katiewarczak.bsky.social
One of my favorite things about historical research is some of the WILD article titles, like this one, "Gossip About Women," which features hard-hitting news items like "Mrs. Alva Vanderbilt and her daughters have gone into bicycle training."

The Omaha Evening Bee [Omaha, NE], 14 Aug. 1895, p. 4
Gossip About Women Mrs. Alva Vanderbilt and her daughters have gone into bicycle training. The Omaha Evening Bee, 14 Aug. 1895, p. 4
June 2, 2025 at 6:47 PM
katiewarczak.bsky.social
Now that the weather is warmer and Nella's love affair with the furnace has been forcibly ended, she has informed me that I need to reinstate her supervisory chair so she can continue overseeing my work from a comfortable position.
A torbie cat with one ear sits awkwardly on a fuzzy gray-and-white blanket, crammed between her human's chest and a dark cherry-colored desk. Her human's left arm supports her chest and prevents her from falling off. A torbie cat with one ear looks up disapprovingly at her human. She lays on a gray-carpeted floor next to a black computer charging cord. Her human's work remains out of her sight. A torbie cat with one ear reclines in a USPS box lined with a blue towel positioned on a dark cherry-colored chair. She can now adequately supervise her human's work.
May 28, 2025 at 7:00 PM
katiewarczak.bsky.social
I think my cat is happy I've returned from my travels.
A torbie cat with one ear licks her human's jeans while settling her graceful bulk on the human's lap.
May 25, 2025 at 8:00 PM
katiewarczak.bsky.social
Happy publishing centennial to the book that made me decide to go to grad school...even if it was never in the running for my dissertation 🥂
Instructor: and what does the green light represent? Me: the decadence and futility of the American dream Instructor: this is a driver's exam
April 11, 2025 at 12:24 AM
katiewarczak.bsky.social
Funnily(?) enough, Max gets the same meds I was given after my own seizure-like event 😁
A golden retriever with a white face and brown nose sits on a striped rug and looks expectantly at the photographer with soft brown eyes.
April 10, 2025 at 5:05 PM
katiewarczak.bsky.social
My mom's recipe for chocolate chip cookies, just needs a handmixer, no fancy one required!
CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES {Preheat over - 350 degrees} 4-1/2 C Flour 2 tsp Baking Soda 2 tsp Salt 4 sticks Butter (or Margarine) (soften in the microwave - not melted) 1-1/2 C sugar 1-1/2 Brown Sugar 2 tsp. Vanilla 4 Eggs 2 pkgs. Chocolate Chips BEAT butter, sugar, brown sugar and vanilla until creamy. ADD EGGS, one at a time, until mixed well. Gradually add dry ingredients: Four, Salt, Baking Soda Mix well. Stir in chocolate chips Ungreased cookie sheets BAKE Note: This is a "doubled" recipe. You may freeze some of the dough for future cookie needs.
March 18, 2025 at 11:06 PM
katiewarczak.bsky.social
I have a stomachache...worth it (also no, I did not eat all four, more like 1.5)
A white box filled with donuts. At the top of the box, it reads "Oakmont Bakery: We Create Delicious Memories." Diagonally across the box is the word "Paczki." Four donuts in a box.
March 3, 2025 at 8:13 PM
katiewarczak.bsky.social
If you'd like to read "The Ones Who Stay and Fight," it's available in Jemisin's collection How Long 'Til Black Future Month and online here:
lightspeedmagazine.com/.../the-ones...

10/10
The cover of How Long 'Til Black Future Month. The title is in white font at the top of the cover and the author's name, N. K. Jemisin, is at the bottom in yellow letters. The cover image is a Black girl in profile with a black dress, white bead necklace, natural Black hair in a mohawk style, and white prisms that look like flowers interwoven in her hair. A photograph of N. K. Jemisin (copyright Laura Hanifin, 2015). Jemisin looks at the camera, unsmiling, with shoulder-length dreadlocks. She wears a red shirt and a gray necklace.
March 1, 2025 at 2:47 AM
katiewarczak.bsky.social
Ultimately, the beauty and frustration of poetry is that we must often read it for ourselves to determine what we think it means, so I invite you to consider Brooks's "The Bean Eaters." 5/5
The Bean Eaters By Gwendolyn Brooks They eat beans mostly, this old yellow pair. Dinner is a casual affair. Plain chipware on a plain and creaking wood, Tin flatware. Two who are Mostly Good. Two who have lived their day, But keep on putting on their clothes And putting things away. And remembering ... Remembering, with twinklings and twinges, As they lean over the beans in their rented back room that is full of beads and receipts and dolls and cloths, tobacco crumbs, vases and fringes. A black-and-white photograph of Gwendolyn Brooks. She smiles at the camera as she sits before a typewriter on a desk with a full bookcase in the background. She has short, curly black hair and wears a dark sweater with lighter pants or a skirt.
February 28, 2025 at 5:02 AM
katiewarczak.bsky.social
While Sam and the Tigers isn't available online, Lester's and Pinkney's works are widely available at public libraries and bookstores, so feel free to check them out there! 8/8
The cover of Sam and the Tigers. The cover features a young Black boy in a forest setting; he wears a yellow hat, red jacket, yellow shirt, green bowtie, purple pants, white shoes, and striped socks. He also carries a green umbrella. Hidden between the umbrella and some green bushes is the head of a tiger who looks at the boy somewhat menacingly. A photograph of Jerry Pinkney. He sits on a chair in his art studio in a red and gray plaid shirt and jeans. He smiles at the camera as he works on an illustration of a lion. In the foreground of the photo are pencils, brushes, and other art supplies. A photograph of Julius Lester. He sits in a wooden chair at a table covered with a woven green tablecloth. Behind him is a wall of books. Lester wears glasses, a blue sweater, and a red, yellow, and blue plaid shirt. His hands are folded on the table and he appears to be talking to the camera.
February 27, 2025 at 3:49 PM
katiewarczak.bsky.social
Although Baldwin wrote The Fire Next Time in the mid-twentieth century, his work remains highly relevant in 2025, so consider borrowing the text or audiobook version from your local library! 8/8
A headshot of James Baldwin. He smiles directly at the camera while wearing a white collared shirt and a tie. The cover of The Fire Next Time. The words "The Fire Next Time" are in red and the author's name, "James Baldwin," is orange.
February 26, 2025 at 1:12 AM
katiewarczak.bsky.social
If you'd like to read "Cotton Gonna Kill Me Yet" or other works by Chester Himes, his anthology, Black on Black: Baby Sister and Selected Writings (1973), is available via the Internet Archive:

archive.org/.../blackonb...

8/8
A photograph of Chester Himes from the waist up. He looks directly at the camera, unsmiling, and has very short black hair. He wears a black suit with a white pocket handkerchief on his left side, a high-collared white shirt, and a wide black tie. In the lower left-hand corner of the photo is a handwritten note that says "With Love From Chester Himes."
February 25, 2025 at 3:55 PM
katiewarczak.bsky.social
Such a move encourages readers to interrogate their own racial assumptions, which is precisely what "Recitatif" is designed to do.

If you'd like to read any of Morrison's novels, they're widely available, but you can read "Recitatif" here: bergen.edu/wp.../upload...
A photograph of Toni Morrison. She looks directly at the camera, unsmiling. Her gray dreadlocks are pulled back revealing a gold earring on her right ear. She wears a black turtleneck under an open gray-green sweater and her hands are folded over each other on the table before her. In the background is a white wall with an out-of-focus, multi-colored wall hanging.
February 24, 2025 at 2:40 AM
katiewarczak.bsky.social
That said, I invite you to read "Po' Sandy" -- and any other works from Chesnutt -- and decide for yourself. All of his published work, including "Po' Sandy," is available online courtesy of the wonderful Charles W. Chesnutt Archive: chesnuttarchive.org/item/ccda.wo...

12/12
A photograph of Charles W. Chesnutt. He looks directly at the camera, unsmiling, and has a somewhat receding hairline and neatly groomed mustache. He wears a black suit jacket, a black bowtie, and a high-collared white shirt.
February 23, 2025 at 3:08 AM
katiewarczak.bsky.social
If you'd like to find out what happens in "Talma Gordon," the full text is available here: multoghost.wordpress.com/.../2021/11/...

10/10
A headshot of Pauline Hopkins. She looks slightly to the right of the camera and doesn't smile. Her black hair is pulled back in a high bun and she wears a high-collared dress with stripes and a dark collar.
February 22, 2025 at 3:29 AM
katiewarczak.bsky.social
If you're interested in reading the Crafts' story, it's available for free via the Internet Archive: archive.org/details/runn...

A TV movie was also produced but, as always, the book is better: youtube.com/watch?v=F1hY....

11/11
Etchings of Ellen Craft (left) and William Craft (right). Ellen is a light-skinned woman looking straight at the artist, unsmiling. She wears a dark bonnet, a dark dress, and a white neck scarf. William has dark skin with textured black hair and a beard. He, too, looks at the artist directly and without smiling. He wears a black suit jacket, a white collared shirt, and a tie.
February 21, 2025 at 3:47 AM
katiewarczak.bsky.social
Therefore, an enslaved woman reaching freedom via disability presented a rhetorical challenge. Ultimately, this element of the Crafts' masquerade was discarded. We can see this in the etching of Ellen that precedes her narrative: she wears neither a poultice nor a clear sling. 9/11
An etching of Ellen Craft in the disguise she used to reach freedom along with her husband, William. She wears a top hat, glasses, a dark suit jacket, and a tie. A scarf, and possibly a sling, are draped across her chest.
February 21, 2025 at 3:47 AM
katiewarczak.bsky.social
Often described as ahead of its time, Oreo quickly went out of print in the 1970s but was republished in 2000 by Northeastern University Press. Oreo remains a little harder to find, but some libraries have the book if you wish to accompany Oreo on her adventures. 5/5
A black-and-white photograph of Fran Ross. She is standing at a window with her right arm raised to one of the window panes. She looks unsmilingly at the camera in a 3/4 profile. She has a short afro and wears a medium-colored, loose-fitting, shirt. The cover of Oreo. The background is pink and the white-colored "RE" is sandwiched between two black "Os."
February 20, 2025 at 4:27 AM
katiewarczak.bsky.social
-Wheatley's work is firmly in the public domain, so while I've shared one poem, if you would like to read more of her work, visit the Internet Archive:

archive.org/.../poemsonv...

8/8
An oval sketch of Phillis Wheatley. She sits facing left at a desk holding a quill over a blank piece of paper. She wears a white bonnet, a black dress, and a white shawl. Her left hand is raised to her cheek in a gesture that denotes thought. On Being Brought from Africa to America By Phillis Wheatley Peters 'Twas mercy brought me from my Pagan land, Taught my benighted soul to understand That there's a God, that there's a Saviour too: Once I redemption neither sought nor knew. Some view our sable race with scornful eye, "Their colour is a diabolic die." Remember, Christians, Negros, black as Cain, May be refin'd, and join th' angelic train.
February 19, 2025 at 4:05 AM