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“I realize no matter how many times she returns to the field and looks at me, I probably won’t feed her. I have nothing to offer.”

From "Mississippi Dog," a new original essay by Nathan Fako.

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November 16, 2025 at 5:01 PM
“How many nights of rest would it take for the feeling of being completely alone to go away?”

From "How an Earthquake Put Me on a Boat," a new original essay by Sumati Huber.

➡️ therumpus.net/2025/11/12/h...
November 15, 2025 at 9:00 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.

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November 15, 2025 at 4:01 PM
"We have survived, we will survive, we will fight tooth and nail for our survival."

Junious Ward interviews Marissa Edwards about End of Empire (@penguinbooksusa.bsky.social).

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November 14, 2025 at 10:00 PM
“Gratitude doesn’t fully encompass the feeling I have toward Boggs for this textured portrayal of Baldwin’s life.”

After Jimmy’s Heart: Kelsey L. Smoot reviews Nicolas Boggs’ Baldwin: A Love Story (@fsgbooks.bsky.social).

➡️ buff.ly/Qu9yhRq
November 14, 2025 at 3:00 PM
“He refused to give his death a name, but it knew his."

From “The Spurious Glamor of Certain Voids," a new original essay by @colinhamilton.bsky.social about the death of authors.

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November 13, 2025 at 9:01 PM
"Writing always draws on resilience."

JOYRIDE: @yvonnec.bsky.social interviews @susanorlean.bsky.social about her memoir Joyride (@avidreaderpress.bsky.social).

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November 13, 2025 at 5:00 PM
“That it is radical to think of Muslims as humans is made obvious by how casually Mamdani’s opponents in this mayoral election engage in anti-Muslim hate.”

From "Zohran Mamdani’s Campaign and the Radical Idea that Muslims are Human" by @hebagowayed.bsky.social.

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November 10, 2025 at 5:01 PM
"Bang. Bang. Bang. I even felt it in my skull. My eyes, they're still throbbing."

Our next Letter in the Mail (from authors!) comes from A. M. Sosa, author of And I'll Take Out Your Eyes (@algonquinbooks.bsky.social).

Subscribe by Nov. 14 to get Sosa's letter IRL: buff.ly/Jf8rbbW
November 9, 2025 at 6:00 PM
"Because I grew up so intimately with these Cain and Abel fables, I knew them like the back of my hand. They were the stories I grew up with, stories I fell asleep to."

Shlagha Borah interviews I.S. Jones about Bloodmercy (@ampoetryreview.bsky.social).

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November 8, 2025 at 5:00 PM
"The essay itself was just such an echo, almost like a haunting."

Avenging Aaliyah and the Non-Event of Dead Girls: Ashley-Devon Williamston interviews @mickmakesmagic.bsky.social about Dead Girl Cameo: A Love Song in Poems (@penguinrandomhouse.bsky.social).

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November 6, 2025 at 9:00 PM
"It is not my life. It is the world’s life, and the world’s life is in seasons. And when I disappear from this earth, we will have seasons."

From the Archives: Annelies Zijderveld interviews Ada Limón about The Hurting Kind (Milkweed Editions).

Re-read the full conversation now at buff.ly/ZE9aa53
November 3, 2025 at 5:03 PM
Our next Letter in the Mail (from authors!) comes from Leni Zumas (@lenizumas.bsky.social), author of Red Clocks and Wolf Bells (@algonquinbooks.bsky.social).

Sign up for Letters in the Mail by November 14 to receive Leni's letter through snail mail: buff.ly/Z6fmKL1
November 2, 2025 at 5:00 PM
Small Press Sunday is at it again featuring Jamii Publishing on Sunday, November 2! Join our host with the most @janetrodriguez.bsky.social and founder of Jamii Publishing Nikia Chaney at 3:30 PT / 6:30 ET to peek behind the curtain of one of your favorite small presses. See you there on Insta Live!
October 29, 2025 at 4:01 PM
“Imagine a whole segment of the world full of people with all these small cuts who are doing their best to move beyond the pain of their wounds.”

Chelsea Voulgares interviews Chinelo Okparanta about Harry Sylvester Bird.

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October 25, 2025 at 4:02 PM
“Grief is the Easter Moon lily that blooms in / an empty room. It is not the canyon / glowing, like the inside of a persimmon torn / open by thumbs.”

From "Lento Notes," poetry from the archives by Winshen Liu.

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October 24, 2025 at 5:00 PM
“In private, I wondered if I was the worst person I knew. It felt all the time like something terrible was about to happen.”

From "All This Will Be Underwater," fiction from the archives by Erin Gravley.

Re-read the full piece now at buff.ly/995bjjZ
October 20, 2025 at 4:13 PM
Our next Letter in the Mail (from authors!) comes from @scumbelievable.bsky.social, author of Black Flame, Cuckoo, and Manhunt. She's also this month's featured LITM author!

Sign up for Letters in the Mail by October 31 to receive Gretchen's letter through snail mail: buff.ly/Z6fmKL1
October 19, 2025 at 9:00 PM
You're gonna want to climb out of your bog for this next installment of Show Us Your Desk with @gregmania.bsky.social and this month's guest @annanorth.bsky.social, author of BOG QUEEN (@bloomsburybooksus.bsky.social). We'll see you all on Tuesday, October 14 at 3 pm ET / 12 pm PT on Instagram Live.
October 12, 2025 at 8:00 PM
"I think it's the house trying to get in. It's testing out the walls, trying to dream enough space to crawl in."

From "Which House," a new original comic by Mariah Gese.

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October 10, 2025 at 4:04 PM
“That space—the stutter, the pause, the gesture—is where the actual teaching happens.”

From "Human Error is the Point," a new original essay by @phlat-soda.bsky.social.

➡️ bit.ly/3VZ11Ld
October 9, 2025 at 6:00 PM
“It’s very much about the wish for more and for better, as well as about the faltering and footsteps along the way.”

@tiffanytroy.bsky.social interviews Kevin Young about Night Watch (@aaknopf.bsky.social).

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October 8, 2025 at 4:04 PM
"These books remake the old as not only a warning, but as a mode of collective power amidst the crises of our era."

"What to Read When It's Dangerous to Be a Girl" by @racheltaube.bsky.social. Featuring titles by @sallywenmao.bsky.social, @rebekahbergman.bsky.social and more.

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October 7, 2025 at 4:03 PM
“I didn’t want to produce another tech dystopia. We’re living that; we’re familiar enough with it.”

@chelsvoulgares.bsky.social interviews Elaine Castillo about Moderation (@vikingbooks.bsky.social).

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October 6, 2025 at 4:02 PM
“Anything feels possible—that this might go on forever, that something is broken beyond repair.”

From "Transubstantiations," a new original essay by Caitlin Hoerr.

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October 4, 2025 at 10:00 PM