Last week, the State Department cut funding for the International Writing Program, which brings writers from around the world to Iowa City. I wrote about why the IWP is precious, & how crucial it was for my education as a writer. Free post; no paywall. garthgreenwell.substack.com/p/a-city-of-...

Ms. Sharon lives near here. I met her last year. She’s been fighting this for a long time. She can’t sit on her porch midday and read her bible because of the stench from the plants. She can’t have a garden because the soil is poison. Her grandchildren can’t play in the grass. She’s exhausted.

Lizzie O'Leary@lizzieohreally.bsky.social · 2y ago

Hmmm who lives near this plant? www.washingtonpost.com/climate-envi...

I wrote about the Democrats, who are bad at this newrepublic.com/article/1921...

Why the Second Trump Presidency Is So Much Worse for Democrats

The first time around, the party had a plausible endgame for Trump’s reign. Today, that’s entirely absent.

newrepublic.com

OMG the new poem by Diane Seuss crushed me. Now maybe let it crush you? poets.org/poem/life-im...

In life I’m no longer capable of love,

of that old feeling of being / in love, such a rusty / feeling, rusty,

poets.org

It’s my 40th bday today and so I ate this WHOLE DAMN CAKE except the me part, boooom

www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

Jeff Bezos is muzzling the Washington Post’s opinion section. That’s a death knell | Margaret Sullivan

‘I couldn’t be more sad and disgusted,’ says former top editor Martin Baron

theguardian.com

Freedom is when the boss tells you what to write and think. bsky.app/profile/maxt...

max tani @maxtani.bsky.social · 2y ago

New: Jeff Bezos emailed staff at the Washington Post this morning announcing that the Post opinion pages going forward were largely going to focus on defending personal liberties and free markets. Current opinion section editor David Shipley is out.

currently reading an MFA student’s writing that is so staple-in-my-brain fucking brilliant I am wholly radioactive with delight, that is all, just needed you 2 know bye

“He said, you Americans are so naive. He said, you think that evil is going to come into your houses wearing big black boots and climb up the stairs—it begins in the language. Look to the language.” -Joseph Brodsky, as recounted by Marie Howe themillions.com/2018/01/tk-t...

One thing Democratic leadership could do right now is to name an alternate HHS secretary--someone to provide ongoing public updates and health information. And do it for other departments too. Start showing voters what a Democratic government would look like--press conferences, speeches, all of it.

YEAH WE ARE, see u there 😵🙃🥂💫 @ruthmadievsky.bsky.social @sallywenmao.bsky.social @mobrowne.bsky.social

i am the cranky old luddite writer i've always aspired to be 😍

“I only eat leaves” is gonna be my new artist statement

very dear pal lost everything, please join me in helping if you can 💙 www.gofundme.com/f/support-li...

Donate to Support Liz, Ray, and Saeyu After Home Loss from Eaton Fire, organized by Liz Oh

Hi everyone, it’s Liz, Ray, and Saeyu~ We just learned that… Liz Oh needs your support for Support Liz, Ray, and Saeyu After Home Loss from Eaton Fire

gofundme.com

you are toasting with champagne for NYE, I am raising a glass of tap water for the midnight initiation of congestion pricing, WE ARE NOT THE SAME

entering 2025 with dark clouds and lightning bolts, cool cool cool

incredibly important that you all know in 2002 I proposed “palindrome” as my senior year prom theme and it was soundly rejected, can you BELIEVE

submitted a letter of recommendation last night at 11:58pm before a midnight deadline, I've never felt more ALIVE

why does NYRB insist on absolutely fucking up my peace

Night the black beard a string running through it with the sound of a breath - W. S. Merwin, “The String”

say what you want, Kafka was a mensch

firmly cementing my reputation as The Guy Who Buys His Kid’s Kindergarten Teacher a Generous Gift Card for the Local Bookstore during the Holiday Season 💪

some strong NYC vibes in these lines from Margaret Draft

bad poem bad poem, whatcha gonna do, whatcha gonna do now that I've written you

love to offer my snake plant little sips from my nalgene like he’s one of the lads

thinking about that Billy Collins interview… everyone has particular turnoffs when reading; it’s natural! but it’s also worthwhile, I think, to be mindful of them and at least acknowledge the possibility that the fault lies not in the writing, but in you as a reader

truly cannot wait for the real Ben Lerner to publish a short story about the Ben Lerner imposter on Bluesky and then it turns out that the fake Ben Lerner was actually the real Ben Lerner all along and the Ben Lerner short story was written by the fake Ben Lerner

writing a whole novel in 3rd person is EXHAUSTING, like when the fuck do *I* get to talk????

Well this is exciting.

London Review of Books@lrb.co.uk · 2y ago

‘They discussed replacing her but saw at once that it was impossible: her upper lip, for one, and the light in her eyes. So then the show becomes about something else: what if a woman were irreplaceable?’ @tricialockwood.bsky.social on The X-Files: www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v4...