James Charlesworth
@jamcharlesworth.bsky.social
Author of The Patricide of George Benjamin Hill. Hiker of reasonable mountains.
We also would like to note that we'd welcome extracurricular pitches if you want to write about a song not in the tourney playlist. Maybe we should anonymously (or not) publish some essays about how much you hate a particular Christmas song or version?
So far the oldest song the writers picked for March Xmas is 1947 (Bing Crosby's White Christmas); the newest is RuPaul's Merry Christmas, Mary (2015).
We are still waiting on a handful of folks to make their song choices (and in a few cases, confirm they want to write) for March Xmas, but here is the tournament playlist so far: www.youtube.com/playlist?lis...
March Xmas 2026 - YouTube
youtube.com
We're still waiting on a half-dozen folks to get back to us to confirm that they wanna write for the tourney this year so if folks don't get back with us, we'll happily draw some more #s. More info coming in this space. But ready your extracurriculars if not!
Awesome to see & hear @marchxness.bsky.social essays that I've been thinking about for YEARS read tonight by their authors. Have you picked up your copy of the anthology yet? If not you can get it here & you'll be glad you did: www.splitlippress.com/product-page...
Split/Lip Press@splitlippress.com · 4mo agoTOMORROW: @marchxness.bsky.social Anthology launch event at 7pm CT! Featuring @danchaon.bsky.social, @stevenchurch.bsky.social, @mlfaliveno.bsky.social, @dellegeller.bsky.social, @toddkaneko.bsky.social, @elenavox.bsky.social, @mossyair.bsky.social + @martinseay.bsky.social! tinyurl.com/hitrepeat
Upcoming Lit events: 4/7 @marchxness.bsky.social anthology Launch & Zoom reading; 4/11 Morgan Day at Stacks Oro Valley; 4/12 Tucson Essay Movie Club at Casa Video; 4/19 Music, Essays, Karaoke. Get on the substack to keep up with what's coming up in Tucson! open.substack.com/pub/tucsones...
TOMORROW: @marchxness.bsky.social Anthology launch event at 7pm CT! Featuring @danchaon.bsky.social, @stevenchurch.bsky.social, @mlfaliveno.bsky.social, @dellegeller.bsky.social, @toddkaneko.bsky.social, @elenavox.bsky.social, @mossyair.bsky.social + @martinseay.bsky.social! tinyurl.com/hitrepeat
Tomorrow night on Zoom! Hear my lovely spouse @martinseay.bsky.social read from the astoundingly good @marchxness.bsky.social anthology with lots of other brilliant writers!
Tucson Xness frenz take note of our upcoming in person event 4/19 (and zoom launch reading 4/7 for everyone NOT in Tucson which is most of you!)
Tucson Essay Club@tucsonessayclub.bsky.social · 4mo agoUpcoming Lit events: 4/7 @marchxness.bsky.social anthology Launch & Zoom reading; 4/11 Morgan Day at Stacks Oro Valley; 4/12 Tucson Essay Movie Club at Casa Video; 4/19 Music, Essays, Karaoke. Get on the substack to keep up with what's coming up in Tucson! open.substack.com/pub/tucsones...
TUCSON SHOW OUT; everyone else we are doing a Zoom launch TUESDAY at 5pm Pacific
Tucson Essay Club@tucsonessayclub.bsky.social · 5mo agoComing up: Hit Repeat Until I Hate Music Tucson book launch event w/ @marchxness.bsky.social. 4/19 6pm 600 S. Meyer feat karaoke, books, readings by @stephjayb.bsky.social, @raquefella.bsky.social, Drew Krewer, @suburbanprairie.bsky.social, John Melillo, @angermonsoon.bsky.social, & Laura CJ Owen
Hey, y'all should come to this! It's on the internet! It'll be fun!
March Xmas 2026@marchxness.bsky.social · 5mo agoSubstack tourney recap coming your way this weekend but we wanted to invite you to our HIT REPEAT UNTIL I HATE MUSIC ZOOM book launch TUES 5pm Pacific / 8pm Eastern. Register: tinyurl.com/hitrepeat
Substack tourney recap coming your way this weekend but we wanted to invite you to our HIT REPEAT UNTIL I HATE MUSIC ZOOM book launch TUES 5pm Pacific / 8pm Eastern. Register: tinyurl.com/hitrepeat
Incredibly proud to be a part of this wild ride of a book! #steinmania
March Xmas 2026@marchxness.bsky.social · 5mo agoAnd allow us to remind you that it's release week for Hit Repeat Until I Hate Music: the March Xness anthology. It's like this whole tournament got shrunk down into book form! Thanks to @splitlippress.com for bringing this beauty into the world: www.splitlippress.com/product-page...
The winning bracket (by @legaultd.bsky.social) got the Championship game and result correct, 2 of the final 4, and 4 of the Elite 8 correct. Well done sir. You will receive a special prize (we'll be in touch)!
It's here! Super stoked for this anthology and to have an essay in it—the first I ever wrote for @marchxness.bsky.social, on the Creatures’ Exterminating Angel, Virginia Woolf, misogyny, and learning to trust myself as a musician. I love this tournament and community, and so glad to be part of it!
Split/Lip Press@splitlippress.com · 5mo agoHappy Publication Day to the Official @marchxness.bsky.social Selection Committee, @angermonsoon.bsky.social and @meganc.bsky.social, and the long awaited, never duplicated HIT REPEAT UNTIL I HATE MUSIC: THE MARCH XNESS ANTHOLOGY!!! www.splitlippress.com/product-page...
The March Xness Anthology is here! Thank you SO MUCH to @splitlippress.com and to everyone who's contributed to the Xness anthology and the tournament as a whole ❤️🎸🥁
Split/Lip Press@splitlippress.com · 5mo agoHappy Publication Day to the Official @marchxness.bsky.social Selection Committee, @angermonsoon.bsky.social and @meganc.bsky.social, and the long awaited, never duplicated HIT REPEAT UNTIL I HATE MUSIC: THE MARCH XNESS ANTHOLOGY!!! www.splitlippress.com/product-page...
We salute you, Ben Folds Five and especially @cicilybennion.bsky.social, for your deep tournament run. No shame in a loss especially this deep. Dion is undeniable, but you played great. Excellent work. You deserve a rest!
March Xmas 2026@marchxness.bsky.social · 5mo agoTHAT'S THE BUZZER! MARCH SADNESS 90S EDITION HAS CROWNED A NEW CHAMPION! FINAL SCORE: CELINE DION, "My Heart Will Go On" and @mfitejohnson.bsky.social 784, Ben Folds Five, "Brick" and @cicilybennion.bsky.social 474. Congratulations to both our finalists for an outstanding game.
THAT'S THE BUZZER! MARCH SADNESS 90S EDITION HAS CROWNED A NEW CHAMPION! FINAL SCORE: CELINE DION, "My Heart Will Go On" and @mfitejohnson.bsky.social 784, Ben Folds Five, "Brick" and @cicilybennion.bsky.social 474. Congratulations to both our finalists for an outstanding game.
The @marchxness.bsky.social anthology we've all been waiting for is finally here! So thrilled to have my essay on "(I've Had) The Time of My Life" of Dirty Dancing fame included in this much-anticipated mixtape of phenomenal writing. Get yourself a copy today!!
Split/Lip Press@splitlippress.com · 5mo agoHappy Publication Day to the Official @marchxness.bsky.social Selection Committee, @angermonsoon.bsky.social and @meganc.bsky.social, and the long awaited, never duplicated HIT REPEAT UNTIL I HATE MUSIC: THE MARCH XNESS ANTHOLOGY!!! www.splitlippress.com/product-page...
It’s time! I am beyond honored my extracurricular essay on how grunge did NOT kill glam metal is included among such stellar work!
Split/Lip Press@splitlippress.com · 5mo agoHappy Publication Day to the Official @marchxness.bsky.social Selection Committee, @angermonsoon.bsky.social and @meganc.bsky.social, and the long awaited, never duplicated HIT REPEAT UNTIL I HATE MUSIC: THE MARCH XNESS ANTHOLOGY!!! www.splitlippress.com/product-page...
MARCH SADNESS 90S EDITION CHAMPIONSHIP GAME SCORES, 145’ TO PLAY: My Heart Will Go On 750, Brick 436 Folds gonna need some magic to pull a comeback for the ages. Could it still happen? Listen, read, vote by 9am AZ / Noon Eastern at marchxness.com#/sadnesscham...
If you love music writing, you need this anthology. I'm beyond honored to have my (favorite) March Xness essay included: "There Are Many Atlantic Cities, and One Belongs to Levon Helm," on The Band's Springsteen cover and my (felon, dreamer, liar, dead) dad, a fellow son of New Jersey.
Split/Lip Press@splitlippress.com · 5mo agoHappy Publication Day to the Official @marchxness.bsky.social Selection Committee, @angermonsoon.bsky.social and @meganc.bsky.social, and the long awaited, never duplicated HIT REPEAT UNTIL I HATE MUSIC: THE MARCH XNESS ANTHOLOGY!!! www.splitlippress.com/product-page...
OH SHIT LET'S GOOOOOO
Split/Lip Press@splitlippress.com · 5mo agoHappy Publication Day to the Official @marchxness.bsky.social Selection Committee, @angermonsoon.bsky.social and @meganc.bsky.social, and the long awaited, never duplicated HIT REPEAT UNTIL I HATE MUSIC: THE MARCH XNESS ANTHOLOGY!!! www.splitlippress.com/product-page...
The @marchxness.bsky.social anthology is out today! I love this tournament, and I’m so glad to have one of my essays from years past got included: “The Best Christian in the World,” about Creed’s “My Own Prison” and my own fallout with Christianity, among other things. So much good writing in here!
Split/Lip Press@splitlippress.com · 5mo agoHappy Publication Day to the Official @marchxness.bsky.social Selection Committee, @angermonsoon.bsky.social and @meganc.bsky.social, and the long awaited, never duplicated HIT REPEAT UNTIL I HATE MUSIC: THE MARCH XNESS ANTHOLOGY!!! www.splitlippress.com/product-page...
MARCH SADNESS 90S EDITION CHAMPIONSHIP HALFTIME SCORE My Heart Will Go On 679, Brick 360 Big lead for Celine but we've seen Brick do numbers in the second half. We'll be watching. Vote by 9am AZ time / NOON Eastern 3/31 at marchxness.com
Two songs and essays remain. They've bested all opponents. They've survived close games. (1) Celine Dion's "My Heart Will Go On" and @mfitejohnson.bsky.social took out (16) Silver Jews, (8) REM, (13) Kristin Hersh, (3) Counting Crows, (1) Guns n' Roses, and now take on (6) Ben Folds Five…
Two songs and essays remain. They've bested all opponents. They've survived close games. (6) Ben Folds Five's "Brick" and @cicilybennion.bsky.social took out (11) Skid Row, (14) Mazzy Star, (7) Sade, (5) Bush, and (13) Ani DiFranco to get here. Now they're up against their toughest opponent.
The road has been winding, full of surprise and (appropriately, I guess) heartbreak, but the March Sadness: 90s Edition Championship game is HERE
March Xmas 2026@marchxness.bsky.social · 5mo agoTHE March Sadness National Championship: (6) Ben Folds Five's "Brick" & @cicilybennion.bsky.social against (1) Celine Dion's "My Heart Will Go On" & @mfitejohnson.bsky.social! Listen to the songs! Read the essays! Which is the saddest? YOU DECIDE (by 9am AZ time 3/31): marchxness.com#/sadnesscham...
