Kelly Caldwell
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kkc212.bsky.social
Kelly Caldwell
@kkc212.bsky.social
Writer; dean of faculty @GothamWriters. she/her I live in NYC but still say gapers' block.
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I'm super psyched to say one of my essays is included in this week's @memoirland.bsky.social roundup! Especially given the impressive company I'm in.

Read them all (and especially Robin Pickering's "The Fuckitall." So good.)

open.substack.com/pub/memoirla...
Personal Essays Galore, PLUS Some Great Workshops and Calls for Submissions...
Including: Workshops from Writing Co-Lab, Alexander Chee, Narratively Academy, and Melissa Petro; and calls for submissions from Blaise Allysen Kearsley and Literary Liberation.
open.substack.com
Reposted by Kelly Caldwell
My story "The Gospel of Malachi Slim" is out now in Stygian Lepus Magazine Edition 29, page 89. A supernatural noir tale from River City Gospel. www.stygianlepus.com/edition-29/ #SupernaturalNoir #PublishedAuthor #DarkFiction
Edition 29 - OUT NOW
This issue is dedicated in part to the memory of Dennis McFadden—whose final story appears within—celebrating a voice that shaped the magazine’s dark heart.
www.stygianlepus.com
November 23, 2025 at 2:38 PM
Reposted by Kelly Caldwell
“I wrote [MY NAME MEANS FIRE] for the ones who had to change something about themselves in order to stay whole. The ones who needed to leave their mother tongue in order to find their true voice.”—Atash Yaghmaian @literaryhub.bsky.social
A Different Side of the Self: On Finding Freedom By Telling My Story in English
When it came time to write my memoir, My Name Means Fire, I chose to write it in English. There’s irony in that, of course. I wrote in English, but my name, “Atash”—which means “fire” in Persian—is…
buff.ly
November 21, 2025 at 7:26 PM
Did I vote for Guy In Your MFA, just so I can watch JCO crush him in the final?

You bet I did.

lithub.com/what-was-lit...
What Was Literary Twitter? The Bracket *Day 5*
Day five and only four remain! Pour out a cold plum for yesterday’s runner-ups, including “This Is Just To Say,” bad art friend, and the transparency and advocacy campaign #PublishingPaidMe The fou…
lithub.com
November 22, 2025 at 9:15 PM
Way more entertaining, and without all the ethical ick.
if you’re gonna pay $8 a month to read way too much about someone’s sexual past i think you should pay it to me. and it doesn’t even have to be $8! it can be as little as $1!
patreon.com/raxkingisdead
Get more from rax king on Patreon
Creating a newsletter
patreon.com
November 22, 2025 at 8:29 PM
She’s been on a reputation rehab tour for months.

Is she walking away from that? Doubtful.

GA gov filing deadline is March 6th.
She can stay until 2027 without running again. But she’s leaving early.
November 22, 2025 at 2:22 AM
Deadline to file to run for governor in Georgia is March 6th.
Okay but why not serve out the rest of her term? Why leave a year early? Not that I’m complaining…
BREAKING: Marjorie Taylor Greene announces she is resigning from Congress. Her last day in office will be January 5, 2026.
November 22, 2025 at 1:45 AM
Reposted by Kelly Caldwell
Okay but why not serve out the rest of her term? Why leave a year early? Not that I’m complaining…
BREAKING: Marjorie Taylor Greene announces she is resigning from Congress. Her last day in office will be January 5, 2026.
November 22, 2025 at 1:32 AM
FINAL HOURS!

If you’re a woman journalist or writer in the greater NYC area, and you’re proud of something you produced in the last year, you still have time to enter the Front Page Awards.

Celebrate your work! Enter before midnight!

www.newswomensclubnewyork.com

#journalism #writingcommunity
THE NEWSWOMEN'S CLUB OF NEW YORK
Established in 1922, The Newswomen’s Club of New York is the only professional organization exclusively for women journalists in the New York metropolitan area.
www.newswomensclubnewyork.com
November 22, 2025 at 12:53 AM
Joyce Carol Oates did best Bad Art Friend!

I kinda thought that scrappy little kidney might bring her down. Shows what I know.

Don't forget to make your picks today, #WritingCommunity!

lithub.com/what-was-lit...
November 21, 2025 at 4:27 PM
"Any story can be told over & over & over again. The newness is in the questions you’re asking, even if you don’t have an answer.” — @theoffingmag.bsky.social EIC Vonetta Young on what reading the slush pile taught her about good writing.

blogs.gothamwriters.com/2025/11/18/n...
#WritingCommunity
November 20, 2025 at 10:32 PM
Reposted by Kelly Caldwell
Scoop: Rep. Eugene Vindman knows what Trump said on a 2019 call with the Saudi Crown Prince about Jamal Khashoggi's killing, and his effort to make it public is about to rachet up.

Tomorrow, Vindman will appear alongside Khossoggi's widow to call on Trump to release the transcript
Exclusive: Congressman Plans New Push For Trump-MBS Transcript
Rep. Eugene Vindman will appear with Jamal Khashoggi's widow to push for release of a "shocking" transcript between Trump and MBS
time.com
November 20, 2025 at 7:41 PM
Reposted by Kelly Caldwell
Tip your local reporters, please! (Every bit helps.)

buff.ly/lUv9nlu
November 20, 2025 at 8:21 PM
Reposted by Kelly Caldwell
November 20, 2025 at 8:48 PM
Is anyone surprised Joyce Carol Oates made it to the Retweeted Eight, after smacking down American Dirt and Kathleen Hale?

Of course not! Look what she just did to Elno, and is now doing to MTG.

Today, tho, she's up against Bad Art Friend.

Only one can survive. Who will it be, #WritingCommunity?
November 20, 2025 at 4:15 PM
Reposted by Kelly Caldwell
Jamal Khashoggi's widow: I did feel disappointed by Trump describing my husband in this way and justifying the crime. There is nothing to justify the crime. And he's taking away, as well, the freedom for journalists to ask a question. What is the difference then between the US and any dictatorship?
November 19, 2025 at 3:59 PM
Reposted by Kelly Caldwell
Meanwhile the President just yesterday said an assassinated journalist deserved it and celebrated his killer
New: Reuters has tallied job losses, suspensions and investigations stemming from the reaction to Charlie Kirk's Sept. 10 assassination. Its findings: More than 600 Americans have been punished, and the figure is likely to be an under-count.

www.reuters.com/investigatio...
November 19, 2025 at 12:53 PM
This is a delight!

#WritingCommunity
On day three of our What was Literary Twitter? bracket, some top seeds remain in the game, but the upsets haven’t stopped. Vote here to help your favorite literary internet moments keep climbing!
What Was Literary Twitter? The Bracket *Day 3*
Welcome to the third day of voting! We’re down to just 16, and it’s getting harder for me to discern how this thing will shake out, to be honest. Unsurprisingly, a few top seeds remain—bad art frie…
buff.ly
November 19, 2025 at 3:44 PM
Reposted by Kelly Caldwell
Covering Jamal Khashoggi's murder was one of the most disturbing things I've worked on. Hearing Trump say he was "extremely controversial" and people "didn't like him" is chilling. Hard to take any other way than he thinks there is moral ambiguity in the murder of a journalist.
November 18, 2025 at 8:24 PM
Hey there #WritingCommunity and #journalist Bluesky. Highly recommend taking a break from reading all the Nuzzi-Lizza-Olbermann goss to vote on the best Literary Twitter insanities over at @literaryhub.bsky.social. It's a hoot!

lithub.com/what-was-lit...
What Was Literary Twitter? The Bracket *Day 2*
Welcome to day two of What Was Literary Twitter! Plenty of you voted yesterday in our first round of polling, and it was exciting to go though the results. The top seeds sailed through, YA won all …
lithub.com
November 18, 2025 at 9:30 PM
Reposted by Kelly Caldwell
PSA for any Apub authors whose books are in the Anthropic settlement list: Amazon is not participating in the settlement, since they have an investment in Anthropic. When you submit your claim form, you DO NOT have to list Amazon as an add'l rightsholder, & can claim 100% of settlement money.
November 18, 2025 at 4:26 PM
Reposted by Kelly Caldwell
I will never forget having to edit Jamal’s final, posthumous piece for the Washington Post, after he was murdered.

He was calling for free expression in the Arab world. You can read it here :

www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/glo...
Opinion | Jamal Khashoggi: What the Arab world needs most is free expression
The Arab world needs a modern version of the old transnational media so citizens can be informed about global events.
www.washingtonpost.com
November 18, 2025 at 6:48 PM
Reposted by Kelly Caldwell
RIP Jamal. You deserved better.
In Memory of Jamal Khashoggi 🙏🕊️ 2018 #Khashoggi
November 18, 2025 at 6:54 PM
Reposted by Kelly Caldwell
And yes, I wrote a full book about Jamal Khashoggi and his murder. Delivered edits, everything.

Until my editors at Harper Collins completely disappeared and stopped work on my manuscript, forcing me to pull it.

www.thedailybeast.com/harpercollin...
HarperCollins Halts Work on Book About Jamal Khashoggi
Khashoggi, a critic of Saudi Arabia, was murdered at the country’s consulate in Turkey.
www.thedailybeast.com
November 18, 2025 at 6:58 PM
Reposted by Kelly Caldwell
Seems like a good time to revisit this piece:
Donald Trump’s conflicts of interest in the Middle East are staggering
He is now openly mingling his personal and political interests.
www.motherjones.com
November 18, 2025 at 7:10 PM
OK, so at the moment, we know (I think) that the journalist on the receiving end of POTUS's "Quiet, Piggy" crack works for Bloomberg.

Later today, or tomorrow, let's make her next article go viral.

#epsteinfiles #journalism
November 18, 2025 at 4:37 PM