Very honoured to be included with @genesis-pearl.bsky.social in @neonandsmoke.bsky.social's first writer spotlights on their brand new website. T&J pay writers, provide copies, nominate, give helpful feedback to submitters. Thanks to them both for all they are doing
Neon & Smoke@neonandsmoke.bsky.social · 3w agoNew Feature! Author Interviews! Check out our conversation with @stanjwild.bsky.social and @genesis-pearl.bsky.social past and current contributors. www.neonandsmoke.com/interviews/
New Feature! Author Interviews! Check out our conversation with @stanjwild.bsky.social and @genesis-pearl.bsky.social past and current contributors. www.neonandsmoke.com/interviews/
Poetry fans, thanks for supporting SHINE Quarterly for what is now its 2 year anniversary! Issue 8 launches in just two weeks with work by Jessica Edmond (@genesis-pearl.bsky.social) & many others, representing ~10 different countries. #poetry #shinepoetry #poetrycommunity #internationalcommunity
Even when it’s “over”, it’s not over. I’m tired of explaining why I’m still having health issues. I’m over the Google experts who know more about my health than I do. I’m tired of expectations from others. I’m tired from having cancer and surviving. I didn’t ask for any of this.
Written by Uju ✍🏽@writtenbyuju.bsky.social · last mo.I hate cancer.
Have you heard the BIG NEWS?! SHINE is branching out to become SIPS (SHINE International Poetry Series) Press! Our aim is to publish writers who are socially engaged in their communities by providing support, advocacy, outreach, etc. Launching in 2027! More to come...
Neon & Smoke's Tips for Getting Published. (Please note: these statements have not been evaluated by a professional.)
These are all so deliciously good!!!
Epistemic Literary- Read Issue 8: Righteous Rage now!@epistemiclit.bsky.social · 4mo agoANNOUNCEMENT #NationalPoetryMonth One-sentence Poetry Challenge Special Issue is out TODAY! Thank you to all the participants and winners, we had so much fun with this! Enjoy reading and sharing! epistemiclit.com/nationalpoet...
Some people ignore disrespect, others enact minor acts of revenge and petty villainy. "Coffee & Coke" published in @villaineralit.bsky.social
"Coffee & Coke"
Freshly brewed petty revenge.
mischiefandrigor.substack.com
Villain origin stories don’t always start with betrayal. “Just Being Honest” published in @villaineralit.bsky.social
"Just Being Honest" | Villain Era
Very few people are more attentive than someone preparing emotionally unnecessary revenge. Tiny grievance. Catastrophic response.
mischiefandrigor.substack.com
People assume you aren't sick unless they see the sickness on your skin like scars forming a map of all the ways you're hurting. — Emm Roy #MaskingEffect #LifeAfterCancer #MS
My GrandP got a birthday poem about chicken. I got another long conversation about “boundaries” and “minding my business.” #InMyPoetEra
The Chickenophagiac
A birthday poem for my GrandP, who loves chicken with his whole heart, plus fresh family complaints about me being in everybody’s business again.
open.substack.com
“Can You Hear Me Now?” begins like an intimate romance story and slowly reveals itself as a quiet psychological horror story about emotional overexposure. How much of yourself should remain yours alone? Published in @bloodhoneylit.bsky.social #MicroFiction #Relationships #Horror #BlurredLines
"Can You Hear Me Now?"
There’s a point where being deeply “seen” stops feeling loving and starts feeling consumptive. How much of yourself should remain yours alone?
mischiefandrigor.substack.com
Inside one questionably overheated home, a woman who “just needs air” has opened another window and a man wearing two hoodies indoors just looked at the thermostat like it called him ugly. @tapintopoetry Issue 20 #PoetSky #WriteSky
"Thermostat Lies and Other Betrayals"
Featuring one overheated woman, one deeply exhausted husband, and a thermostat nobody trusts anymore.
open.substack.com
I'm equally thrilled to have my piece "‘Bridge Over Troubled Water (Show Choir 6TH Grade)" included in the 2026 National Flash Fiction Day anthology! #Bridges
National Flash Fiction Day@natflashfictionday.bsky.social · 4mo agoWe’re thrilled to introduce the title & cover of our 2026 anthology which is now available to pre-order from our bookshop. The cover is by our artist-in-residence @joannacampbell.bsky.social & the title is taken from a flash from @rachaeldunlop.com www.nationalflashfictionday.co.uk/index.php/ne...
The photograph I wrote about was taken on my 40th birthday, during a period where I finally felt beautiful in a way that didn't depend on outside validation or shrinking myself into an "acceptable" version of womanhood. #Photography #Reflections #Memories #WriteSky
The First Time I Saw Myself in a Photograph
Black Is Magazine, founded by photographer Lia Latty, recently released its inaugural print issue, titled "Legacy and Continuity in Black Photographic Practice." Celebrating the platform's five-year a...
open.substack.com
New beginnings inspired by nature 🌻 #WriteSky #Poetry #Nature #Love #Blossom
Blossom
Nature offers a beautiful blueprint for starting fresh. Just as seasons shift, suns rise, and forests regrow after a storm, new beginnings remind us that life is always finding ways to bloom again.
mischiefandrigor.substack.com
👃🏾 I don’t pick my nose. 🍯 My sister, Honey June, does. I’m not judging… just saying. My friends at @littlethoughtspress.com 💭have my report. 📝 You should read it. 👓 It deserves an award 🏆, an A+, and a treat or two!!! 🍬 ✨ #KidsLit #Poetry
10% of the open tabs in my head you can find on my Substack. Organization in progress. Subscribe please, it will be worth it.
Notes From a City Girl With a Country Heart
A House With Several Different Rooms
open.substack.com
I was expected to perform happiness on cue when I had breast cancer. A bad day or feeling sad about my diagnosis was unacceptable to people who needed my pain to be packaged neatly for their own comfort. Thank you Thistle & Thread for letting my pain speak honestly.
Made Pain Articulate
Published in Thistle & Thread | Friday Feature (January 23, 2026)
mischiefandrigor.substack.com
I’m honored to have my poem, “One Without the Other (Nikki Giovanni Tribute),” included in Volume I alongside so many thoughtful contributors. It means a great deal to be part of a project honoring a writer whose voice gave so many people permission to write honestly and without apology.
Darling Nikki Anthology - Flip the Script Publishing
Darling Nikki ships June 2026, and if you love contemporary poetry, literary community, Black literature, or the enduring reach of Giovanni’s work, this is absolutely a project worth paying attention ...
open.substack.com
I recently started a Substack after realizing it’s one of the few places where all of my interests can actually exist together instead of feeling split apart across different platforms. A place to keep it all without word counts that give me a headache trying to navigate ✍🏽
Notes From a City Girl With a Country Heart
A House With Several Different Rooms
open.substack.com
No one could ever make me feel bad about having empathy & sympathy for someone I don’t know. That’s what’s wrong with this world right now. People don’t stop being people just because you don’t know them.
Thanks @kimwnolan.bsky.social for illustrating this very serious matter 👃🏾😂 #KidsLit #PoetryForKids @littlethoughtspress.com
Kim Wagner Nolan@kimwnolan.bsky.social · 5mo agoThank you, Genesis, for reporting on the boogers in your nose and for raising awareness about this very serious issue. @littlethoughtspress.com #Kidlitillustration #childrensillustration #kidsmagazine #poetryforkids #boogers
#NationalPoetryMonth Issue 2 Poetry Spotlight THE TRUST-O-METER by @genesis-pearl.bsky.social “I built a Trust-o-Meter from cardboard and tape. It measures how trustworthy I am in excellent shape. It rises when I tell the truth about who ate the pie.” epistemiclit.com/nimblewitlit...
THE TRUST-O-METER -
TRUSTFALL | Artwork by Hannah Houlihan (age 14)
epistemiclit.com
A Love Letter to (or from) Poets available at Neonandsmoke.com featuring two emerging artists: Canton Mackan and Marcela Maldonado. Cover by Camellia Paul.
Checkout my very unserious poem, "A Very Serious Report on the Boogers in My Nose" in @littlethoughtspress.com Issue 13: Head, Shoulders, Spleen & Nose. #KidsLit #Poetry #PoetryCommunity #WriteSky
Little Thoughts Press@littlethoughtspress.com · 6mo agoIssue 13: Head, Shoulders, Spleen & Nose is here! Our fabulous contributors take you on a deep dive through the human body, from the crown of the head to the tips of the toes and through all of the body's wondrous mysteries in between. Available now in print & pdf www.littlethoughtspress.com/issues
Runners Up: Manju Devi Christian Emecheta Jill Robinson Longlist: Bethany Bruno (www.bethanybrunowriter.com) Savannah Childress Creeann Jarman Nisha Kumari @genesis-pearl.bsky.social Heidi De Koker Pamela Vaccariello Jade Dove 2/2
