Brandon Haffner
@thebrandonhaff.bsky.social
Writer, prof, etc. | Stories: Cincinnati Review, Sewanee Review, Harvard Review, New Orleans Review | VCCA '23, '24; KHN '24; Hambidge '25 | #RVA | @Richmonder.bsky.social | Prose editor @Variantlit.bsky.social https://thebrandonhaff.com/
✨ SARABANDE'S 2026 ANNUAL PRIZE WINNERS! 🏆️ ✨ Sa Whitley for I'M NOT SUPPOSED TO IMAGINE YOU IN THE FUTURE (Morton Prize), Joel Worford, THE TROUBLE WITH KNOWING BETTER (McCarthy Prize), and Liesel Hamilton for DOVETAILING (Sarabande Prize in the Essay. Discover our winners at the link 🔗 in bio!
I got to interview writer David Ryan about his wacky new story collection, Alligator. Trying to write weirder myself these days, so this was an especially awesome conversation. Check it out: variantlit.com/dualities-mi...
Dualities, Micro-audacities, and Writing Around the Center: a Conversation with David Ryan on Alligator
Brandon Ahmad Haffner interviews David Ryan about his new short story collection Alligator, discussing memory, experimental writing, creative constraints, duality, and writing around the center.
variantlit.com
What a happy pleasure it was to interview @rachelbeanland.bsky.social about her newest novel, The Half Life! www.richmonder.org/local-author...
Local author Rachel Beanland’s newest book revisits a childhood home in Italy
“I don’t think I would be a novelist without being a Richmonder.”
richmonder.org
“Universities are incentivized by the promise of better credit scores to not only suppress labor wages but also labor power. From the vantage of credit rating agencies, tenure systems, strong labor protections, and legislative control of tuition are not democratic treasures but red-flag liabilities”
John Warner@biblioracle.bsky.social · 3mo agoI'm pretty well informed on the dynamics that threaten higher ed and academic freedom, but I did not wholly appreciate the role "debt" plays, and not just student loan debt. An eye opening convo with Jason Wozniak of @debtcollective.bsky.social. academicfreedomontheline.substack.com/p/debt-an-un...
Extremely happy to have my very weird story, "The Route," appear in this spring's issue of @cincinnatireview.bsky.social. Dream journal. An eager reader stole my contributors copies right from the envelope (!), so I'm still waiting to see it print, but soon! www.cincinnatireview.com/issues/issue...
Issue 23.1 - The Cincinnati Review
Featuring fiction by Pam Durban; nonfiction by Marcia Aldrich and Megan Harlan; poetry by Rosebud Ben-Oni, David Hernandez, Dong Li, and Adrienne Su; our Schiff contest winners, and more
cincinnatireview.com
Virginia Gov @abigailspanberger.com and Democratic legislature should pass immediate legislation to redistrict anyway. If the old confederate states can do it post Callais - so can Dems in Virginia if they care about saving our democracy.
virginia voters should call their delegates and senators and demand that they ignore this illegitimate ruling
I wrote for the The Richmonder about the Richmond Animation Festival happening this upcoming weekend. If you're in town, come on out and support independent animation. It's gonna be a weird & cool time. www.richmonder.org/fourth-annua...
Fourth Annual Richmond Animation Festival brings fringe animation to the general public
Dash Shaw wants you to watch weird animated movies.
richmonder.org
"Independent bookstores make quiet comeback as big chains dominate retail" "About 422 indie bookshops opened in 2025, up 31%, defying predictions of retail consolidation"
Independent bookstores make quiet comeback as big chains dominate retail
About 422 indie bookshops opened in 2025, up 31%, defying predictions of retail consolidation
theguardian.com
@rabihalameddine.bsky.social and John Freeman consider their new anthology and the appeal of the international short story.
The International Short Story is Booming
In 2002, a friend asked if I would join him for a San Francisco Symphony concert with David Robinson as guest conductor. They were to play Olivier Messiaen’s Turangalîla Symphonie. I was a bit ambi…
buff.ly
Hello all you last-minute Hugo voters. Nominations close TOMORROW. Here's our utterly shameless last-minute pitch ... thanks for considering! fabulistmagazine.com/the-fabulist...
I wrote about my local soccer team! Their mascot is a kangaroo named Kickeroo! www.richmonder.org/kickers-star...
Kickers start season hoping new business model will begin paying dividends
"We want to win and develop players. It’s an ‘and,’ not an ‘or.’"
richmonder.org
It was an awesome experience to edit this banger of a story from @joeyhedger.bsky.social, up now in the most recent issue of Variant Lit: variantlit.com/the-gunshine...
The Gunshine State
Visit the post for more.
variantlit.com
Hooray, @eugenelim.bsky.social! lithub.com/eugene-lim-h...
Eugene Lim has won the 2025 John Dos Passos Prize.
This week, Eugene Lim (Search History, Dear Cyborgs) was named the winner of the 44th John Dos Passos Prize, given every year by Longwood University “to a talented American writer who experim…
lithub.com
I wrote about puppetry in Richmond! www.richmonder.org/celebrating-...
Celebrating 10 years, local puppet group wants to make the art form mainstream
When Heidi Rugg co-founded Puppets Off Broad Street in 2015, she had in mind a simple mission: to spread her passion for puppetry around Richmond.
richmonder.org
Save the Date ✨ April 25, 2026 ✨Spring Soirée VCCA’s biggest annual fundraising event will take place Saturday, April 25, 2026! Save the date, and make a plan to join us at Mt. San Angelo for a festive evening in the VCCA Hay Barn this spring. vcca.com/gala
broken record on this but a similarly great beat for left wing media would be covering arts and culture and not just focusing primarily on politics and current events because there's a massive void there right now
Marisa Kabas@marisakabas.bsky.social · 11mo agoit does seem like there’s a major—though potentially fleeting—opportunity to invest in left-wing media. more than a million people in the most populous city in america just enthusiastically elected a democratic socialist and the world is watching. putting $$ towards left media rn is good business.
One of the best parts of my job is that I get to help run this awesome literary prize. Here are the finalists for the 2025 John Dos Passos Prize for Literature: lithub.com/heres-the-sh...
Here’s the shortlist for the 2025 John Dos Passos prize.
The annual John Dos Passos Prize for Literature honors the country’s most talented fiction writers for career-long contributions to the genre. First launched in 1980, the prize is the oldest …
lithub.com
Solidarity!! Last week, Indiana University fired the director of student media & halted print on the Indiana Daily Student newspaper. Yesterday, Purdue’s student paper printed the banned edition & drove two hours to deliver it. Incredible www.heraldtimesonline.com/story/news/l...
Purdue student journalists deliver special 'solidarity' newspaper to IU Bloomington campus
The special edition blasted across town features columns from IDS and Exponent editors, alongside QR codes to support both student papers.
heraldtimesonline.com
I read this slim potent book twice in one day this week. Next day I read it back to front. Some deep stuff in here. Tremendous thinking and writing. Gonna be one I keep close by on small shelf of inspiring mainstays.
National Book Award finalist. Amazing!! www.nytimes.com/2025/10/07/b...
Here Are the Finalists for the 2025 National Book Awards
nytimes.com
Wrote an article on Richmond's James River Writers, an organization trying to foster community around the arts despite increasing obstacles: www.richmonder.org/james-river-...
James River Writers conference brings together Richmond's literary scene
“We do have a national reputation. I think Richmond is getting known for being an artistic community.”
richmonder.org
Returned home from Hambidge last weekend and I've been dreaming about it ever since. Added 30 pages to my novel project, drafted a new short story, wrote some poems, revised a bunch of stuff, read 8 books, and met amazing people (we started a book club!). One of the most peaceful places I've been.
