Vanessa R. Bradley
@vanessarbradley.bsky.social
She/her. Poet & author, lover of fantasy novels, lowkey kitchen witch, lives in Epekwitk (PEI). 🏳️🌈 You can find my published writing here: https://linktr.ee/vanessarbradley
Pinned
Small Things - Riddle Fence
riddlefence.com
A non-fiction essay of mine was published with Riddle Fence!
It details a year in my life when my ex-husband had a psychotic break. I’m immensely proud of this essay and so grateful to RF for seeing its merit.
CW: psychosis, domestic violence, trauma.
riddlefence.com/feature/smal...
It details a year in my life when my ex-husband had a psychotic break. I’m immensely proud of this essay and so grateful to RF for seeing its merit.
CW: psychosis, domestic violence, trauma.
riddlefence.com/feature/smal...
Evelyn working on a school project: “Fuck this, I’m about to cite myself!”
October 31, 2025 at 6:47 PM
Evelyn working on a school project: “Fuck this, I’m about to cite myself!”
One of my favourite projects I’ve begun in the last few years is a Snail Mail Poetry Club.
Every month, all of us mail poems to each other — monthly, I get 3-6 poems in the mail with a little note, and it is a JOY.
If anyone is ever interested in joining the Snail Mail Poetry Club, DM me!
Every month, all of us mail poems to each other — monthly, I get 3-6 poems in the mail with a little note, and it is a JOY.
If anyone is ever interested in joining the Snail Mail Poetry Club, DM me!
October 4, 2025 at 3:35 PM
One of my favourite projects I’ve begun in the last few years is a Snail Mail Poetry Club.
Every month, all of us mail poems to each other — monthly, I get 3-6 poems in the mail with a little note, and it is a JOY.
If anyone is ever interested in joining the Snail Mail Poetry Club, DM me!
Every month, all of us mail poems to each other — monthly, I get 3-6 poems in the mail with a little note, and it is a JOY.
If anyone is ever interested in joining the Snail Mail Poetry Club, DM me!
Reposted by Vanessa R. Bradley
With science falling under increasing attack, this medical historian is here to remind people of the power of #vaccines. THREAD🧵
Hard-hitting polio advert from 1958. In the first half of the 20th century, polio was the leading cause of death in children and young adults. 1/7
Hard-hitting polio advert from 1958. In the first half of the 20th century, polio was the leading cause of death in children and young adults. 1/7
February 1, 2025 at 3:29 PM
With science falling under increasing attack, this medical historian is here to remind people of the power of #vaccines. THREAD🧵
Hard-hitting polio advert from 1958. In the first half of the 20th century, polio was the leading cause of death in children and young adults. 1/7
Hard-hitting polio advert from 1958. In the first half of the 20th century, polio was the leading cause of death in children and young adults. 1/7
Made me cry on this Thursday morning, I recommend you read and maybe cry a little too:
While it’s still September 10 & Mary Oliver’s birthday—she would have been 90—I thought I’d share this thing I wrote on the day she died, in January of 2019
Mary Oliver and Opening Doors
Musicals and Memoriams
amalelmohtar.com
September 11, 2025 at 2:16 PM
Made me cry on this Thursday morning, I recommend you read and maybe cry a little too:
Teen Vogue is doing incredible journalism, and this piece feels so hopeful amid such hopelessness.
Arkansas ranks as the second most at-risk state after Florida due to extreme heat, tornadoes, and minimal investment in climate adaptation projects from its Republican-led legislature. Here's how young people in the state are addressing climate anxiety to take care of themselves –– and each other:
Young People Are Using Parties and Free Menstrual Cups to Fight Climate Anxiety
A 2024 survey of 15- to 25-year olds found that 60% are "extremely worried" about the climate crisis; more than 40% say climate anxiety affects their mental health.
www.teenvogue.com
September 4, 2025 at 5:13 PM
Teen Vogue is doing incredible journalism, and this piece feels so hopeful amid such hopelessness.
Reposted by Vanessa R. Bradley
More than 80 people crowded into a room at the Charlottetown Library Learning Centre to offer feedback on the amendments MLA Brad Trivers is proposing to the rental act.
There were tense exchanges,shouting, jeering and one person providing feedback via a middle finger.
www.cbc.ca/news/canada/...
There were tense exchanges,shouting, jeering and one person providing feedback via a middle finger.
www.cbc.ca/news/canada/...
Tenants blast MLA Brad Trivers's suggested rental act changes at heated meeting | CBC News
Tenants aren't happy with a private members bill from MLA Brad Trivers suggesting changes to the P.E.I. Residential Tenancy Act.
www.cbc.ca
September 4, 2025 at 1:30 PM
More than 80 people crowded into a room at the Charlottetown Library Learning Centre to offer feedback on the amendments MLA Brad Trivers is proposing to the rental act.
There were tense exchanges,shouting, jeering and one person providing feedback via a middle finger.
www.cbc.ca/news/canada/...
There were tense exchanges,shouting, jeering and one person providing feedback via a middle finger.
www.cbc.ca/news/canada/...
Reposted by Vanessa R. Bradley
From Kate DiCamillo's lovely essay On Writing:
"You have no business wanting to be a writer unless you are a reader. You should read fantasies and essays, biographies and poetry, fables and fairy tales. Read, read, read, read, read."
I couldn't agree more.
www.katedicamillo.com/on_writing-2/
"You have no business wanting to be a writer unless you are a reader. You should read fantasies and essays, biographies and poetry, fables and fairy tales. Read, read, read, read, read."
I couldn't agree more.
www.katedicamillo.com/on_writing-2/
August 10, 2025 at 11:28 AM
From Kate DiCamillo's lovely essay On Writing:
"You have no business wanting to be a writer unless you are a reader. You should read fantasies and essays, biographies and poetry, fables and fairy tales. Read, read, read, read, read."
I couldn't agree more.
www.katedicamillo.com/on_writing-2/
"You have no business wanting to be a writer unless you are a reader. You should read fantasies and essays, biographies and poetry, fables and fairy tales. Read, read, read, read, read."
I couldn't agree more.
www.katedicamillo.com/on_writing-2/
Reposted by Vanessa R. Bradley
Teen climate activist (my son) needs Canadians to respond to a 2-minute survey to help him build data to bring to local Cdn politicians to urge them to make it easier for Canadians to donate used electronics for reuse (after wiped clean) and recycling. Pls share: marketing4health.formaloo.me/b8j3vp
August 9, 2025 at 2:43 AM
Teen climate activist (my son) needs Canadians to respond to a 2-minute survey to help him build data to bring to local Cdn politicians to urge them to make it easier for Canadians to donate used electronics for reuse (after wiped clean) and recycling. Pls share: marketing4health.formaloo.me/b8j3vp
Plugging @justinesnacks.bsky.social! Made this INCREDIBLE halibut with sungold tomatoes tonight and it’s 10/10. Recipe here: justinesnacks.com/breaded-hali...
August 3, 2025 at 10:04 PM
Plugging @justinesnacks.bsky.social! Made this INCREDIBLE halibut with sungold tomatoes tonight and it’s 10/10. Recipe here: justinesnacks.com/breaded-hali...
This essay on community, group work, and the human condition hit a chord in me: open.substack.com/pub/folkists...
The Idea is Not the Hard Part
On Meitheals, Group Projects, and Becoming a Maker
open.substack.com
August 2, 2025 at 10:36 AM
This essay on community, group work, and the human condition hit a chord in me: open.substack.com/pub/folkists...
Have dog bed, but will lie on the floor in the office
July 31, 2025 at 2:16 PM
Have dog bed, but will lie on the floor in the office
Reposted by Vanessa R. Bradley
Reposted by Vanessa R. Bradley
And so. When AI turns around in the year 2025 and spews words at us, often stupidly, you know what I think of?
I think of the grub, fat with words, comprehending nothing.
þēof in þȳstro
Thief in the dark.
I think of the grub, fat with words, comprehending nothing.
þēof in þȳstro
Thief in the dark.
July 4, 2025 at 10:13 AM
And so. When AI turns around in the year 2025 and spews words at us, often stupidly, you know what I think of?
I think of the grub, fat with words, comprehending nothing.
þēof in þȳstro
Thief in the dark.
I think of the grub, fat with words, comprehending nothing.
þēof in þȳstro
Thief in the dark.
Reposted by Vanessa R. Bradley
If you're also feeling salty that 5% of our GDP is going to defence and as a result, the Ministry of Women and Gender Equality's budget is being slashed, you should contact your MP and give them hell.
But you should also participate in the pre-budget consultation!
Link here :
But you should also participate in the pre-budget consultation!
Link here :
Pre-Budget Consultations 2025 - Canada.ca
Pre-Budget Consultations 2025
www.canada.ca
July 29, 2025 at 6:55 PM
If you're also feeling salty that 5% of our GDP is going to defence and as a result, the Ministry of Women and Gender Equality's budget is being slashed, you should contact your MP and give them hell.
But you should also participate in the pre-budget consultation!
Link here :
But you should also participate in the pre-budget consultation!
Link here :
Reposted by Vanessa R. Bradley
Totally!
And periodic reminder that Canadians can send mail (ie: letters, postcards, etc) to MPs for FREE.
Ask anyone who has been a staffer and they'll tell you that personalized correspondence is always more effective than a form letter.
Call! Email! Write! Make some noise, folks.
And periodic reminder that Canadians can send mail (ie: letters, postcards, etc) to MPs for FREE.
Ask anyone who has been a staffer and they'll tell you that personalized correspondence is always more effective than a form letter.
Call! Email! Write! Make some noise, folks.
Canadians need to get noisy about this betrayal. Call, write, tell your friends. Show up.
It's exhausting. We're all sick and tired of having to fight our own govt reps to treat us well and make our lives easier and better, but here we are ... so we continue to do it. I'm tired and I'm angry.
It's exhausting. We're all sick and tired of having to fight our own govt reps to treat us well and make our lives easier and better, but here we are ... so we continue to do it. I'm tired and I'm angry.
"Pre-election, the Liberals promised to “never” compromise women’s rights in Canada. Now the government is talking about cuts so deep that they will exceed those that laid waste to the women’s sector during the Harper years."
July 29, 2025 at 5:59 PM
Totally!
And periodic reminder that Canadians can send mail (ie: letters, postcards, etc) to MPs for FREE.
Ask anyone who has been a staffer and they'll tell you that personalized correspondence is always more effective than a form letter.
Call! Email! Write! Make some noise, folks.
And periodic reminder that Canadians can send mail (ie: letters, postcards, etc) to MPs for FREE.
Ask anyone who has been a staffer and they'll tell you that personalized correspondence is always more effective than a form letter.
Call! Email! Write! Make some noise, folks.
Reposted by Vanessa R. Bradley
"Pre-election, the Liberals promised to “never” compromise women’s rights in Canada. Now the government is talking about cuts so deep that they will exceed those that laid waste to the women’s sector during the Harper years."
Cuts to Women and Gender Equality Canada will take us back to the Harper days - CCPA
On April 28, women voters delivered a major victory for the Liberal party, turning around the electoral fortunes of a party that had been trailing its major opponent by 25 points in the year leading u...
www.policyalternatives.ca
July 29, 2025 at 2:03 PM
"Pre-election, the Liberals promised to “never” compromise women’s rights in Canada. Now the government is talking about cuts so deep that they will exceed those that laid waste to the women’s sector during the Harper years."
Reposted by Vanessa R. Bradley
A video that shows a man tearing down a string of Pride flags outside a store in Prince Edward Island is going viral across social media, and police are looking for the culprit.
www.cbc.ca/news/canada/...
www.cbc.ca/news/canada/...
Security footage showing man ripping Pride flags from P.E.I. storefront goes viral | CBC News
A video that shows a man tearing down a string of Pride flags outside a Charlottetown store is going viral across social media, and police are looking for the culprit.
www.cbc.ca
July 21, 2025 at 10:29 PM
A video that shows a man tearing down a string of Pride flags outside a store in Prince Edward Island is going viral across social media, and police are looking for the culprit.
www.cbc.ca/news/canada/...
www.cbc.ca/news/canada/...
Reposted by Vanessa R. Bradley
Stop what you're doing and read this extraordinary essay by Rümeysa Öztürk: "I am free, but my true freedom is interlinked with the freedom of many women I lived alongside in ICE prison."
“Even God Cannot Hear Us Here”: What I Witnessed Inside an ICE Women’s Prison
Tufts University doctoral student Rümeysa Öztürk opens up about her 45 days in a South Louisiana processing facility—and the generous and compassionate women she met.
www.vanityfair.com
July 17, 2025 at 1:27 PM
Stop what you're doing and read this extraordinary essay by Rümeysa Öztürk: "I am free, but my true freedom is interlinked with the freedom of many women I lived alongside in ICE prison."
Reposted by Vanessa R. Bradley
This is why I don't like AI use for ANY reason, even if it's just to dunk on AI. Any use takes up resources and energy that could be better used doing literally anything else. Any "good potential use" for AI is annihilated by how much energy it takes to make it. Throw it in the trash, it's no good!
A regular reminder that using Grok is actively poisoning my former home of Memphis, Tennessee, a relatively poor and majority Black major city in the American South. Allowing the DoD to use it will escalate this dramatically.
www.politico.com/news/2025/05...
www.politico.com/news/2025/05...
July 14, 2025 at 8:28 PM
This is why I don't like AI use for ANY reason, even if it's just to dunk on AI. Any use takes up resources and energy that could be better used doing literally anything else. Any "good potential use" for AI is annihilated by how much energy it takes to make it. Throw it in the trash, it's no good!
Reposted by Vanessa R. Bradley
“I asked Chat GPT” “I asked Grok”
Ok well I asked Sappho and she said
…….
…….
..[b]osom
Ok well I asked Sappho and she said
…….
…….
..[b]osom
July 10, 2025 at 1:51 PM
“I asked Chat GPT” “I asked Grok”
Ok well I asked Sappho and she said
…….
…….
..[b]osom
Ok well I asked Sappho and she said
…….
…….
..[b]osom
It’s salad season!!! Only in spring/summer do I make elaborate salads with homemade dressing. I get a lot of inspo from the cookbook Six Seasons, if anyone wants a recommendation!
This salad is: arugula, salad turnips, radishes, orange, and avocado over labneh, with a citrus dressing & poppyseeds.
This salad is: arugula, salad turnips, radishes, orange, and avocado over labneh, with a citrus dressing & poppyseeds.
June 17, 2025 at 1:35 AM
It’s salad season!!! Only in spring/summer do I make elaborate salads with homemade dressing. I get a lot of inspo from the cookbook Six Seasons, if anyone wants a recommendation!
This salad is: arugula, salad turnips, radishes, orange, and avocado over labneh, with a citrus dressing & poppyseeds.
This salad is: arugula, salad turnips, radishes, orange, and avocado over labneh, with a citrus dressing & poppyseeds.
Reposted by Vanessa R. Bradley
"Perhaps I will write—not to immortalize the pain, but to say that we were here… loving, dreaming, planting, drawing, singing, reading, writing… before our lives were reduced to a passing news bulletin or a cold political statement."
Palestinian writer Omar Hamad bears witness to genocide in his home of Gaza.
Omar Hamad in Gaza: “I once wrote with ink, today I write with ashes.”
Omar Hamad is a Palestinian writer and pharmacist bearing witness to genocide in his home of Gaza. He writes about stolen love, safety and peace, and the reality of life on the ground. * I walk bar…
buff.ly
June 9, 2025 at 6:03 PM
"Perhaps I will write—not to immortalize the pain, but to say that we were here… loving, dreaming, planting, drawing, singing, reading, writing… before our lives were reduced to a passing news bulletin or a cold political statement."
A non-fiction essay of mine was published with Riddle Fence!
It details a year in my life when my ex-husband had a psychotic break. I’m immensely proud of this essay and so grateful to RF for seeing its merit.
CW: psychosis, domestic violence, trauma.
riddlefence.com/feature/smal...
It details a year in my life when my ex-husband had a psychotic break. I’m immensely proud of this essay and so grateful to RF for seeing its merit.
CW: psychosis, domestic violence, trauma.
riddlefence.com/feature/smal...
Small Things - Riddle Fence
riddlefence.com
May 28, 2025 at 2:48 PM
A non-fiction essay of mine was published with Riddle Fence!
It details a year in my life when my ex-husband had a psychotic break. I’m immensely proud of this essay and so grateful to RF for seeing its merit.
CW: psychosis, domestic violence, trauma.
riddlefence.com/feature/smal...
It details a year in my life when my ex-husband had a psychotic break. I’m immensely proud of this essay and so grateful to RF for seeing its merit.
CW: psychosis, domestic violence, trauma.
riddlefence.com/feature/smal...
Reposted by Vanessa R. Bradley
Reposted by Vanessa R. Bradley
I’ve been thinking about this nonstop for 24 hours. It’s one of the most beautiful pieces I’ve ever read.
This is one of the most profound essays I’ve read in years. You don’t need me to tell you that Hanif Abdurraqib is one of the finest writers of our time, but this essay in particular is a hard-won offering. Please read it and share with people you love.
In Defense of Despair
The feeling is most commonly framed as an end point, a level of despondency that cannot be overcome. But it doesn’t have to be so.
www.newyorker.com
May 23, 2025 at 5:34 PM
I’ve been thinking about this nonstop for 24 hours. It’s one of the most beautiful pieces I’ve ever read.