People all over Portland, Oregon were impacted by the chemical warfare deployed by the feds tonight. Here’s a thread of some Portlanders experiences who weren’t even at the protest:

Alissa Azar@alissaazar.bsky.social · 6mo ago

Lots and lots of teargas and various other munitions. People yelling for medics. Ambulance came for one person already and there was a brutal arrest amidst all of this

If you are pissed off at how the Feds tear gassed families - tell it to the DA - Nathan Vasquez. He has more options than city council. And get it on public legal record with the Attorney General @agdanrayfield.bsky.social

Like many have said, the gassing outside ICE today was really bad, and it impacted a huge group of people. I heard multiple people say they felt like they were going to throw up as they tried to leave the area. (I experienced similar effects.) It followed a peaceful protest led by labor groups.

So much gas shot into a shoulder-to-shoulder march on a tight street with no easy exits. So many kids and old folks. Absolutely fucking vile.

Alex Baumhardt@alexbaumhardt.bsky.social · 6mo ago

Just experienced the most intense tear gassing of my life by federal officers outside the ICE facility in Portland where marchers gathered. There was no fast exit as they indiscriminately threw loads of gas and flash bangs. Children were in the crowd screaming. @oregoncapitalchronicle.com

Thrilled to get a Best of the Net nom from @pitheadchapel.bsky.social for my essay about men’s inability to communicate, and more specifically about that time Dad and I accidentally ate an ego death dose of weed and got lost in the woods pitheadchapel.com/are-you-okay...

Are You Okay

Brian Benson   One decade ago, two years after he’d retired, and two years before either of us had begun therapy, my dad and I went cross-country skiing in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. It was l…

pitheadchapel.com

Pithead Chapel@pitheadchapel.bsky.social · 11mo ago

Please join us in congratulating our Best of the Net 2026 Nominees! Good luck everyone!

This week, we're reading: Chloé Caldwell's tell-all about selling her book WOMEN on dating apps; @mrbrianbenson.bsky.social's flash piece on the bane of existence that is 3:27pm; & Megan Marshall's essay on the left-handed women in her family, drawn from her book AFTER LIVES. Read: buff.ly/6J14g1M

I have a new piece in Permafrost, the perfect home for a story set in subzero Northwoods winter. This one’s about teenage naïveté, my failure to be the kind of man I was raised to believe I should be, and a small kindness from a stranger. www.uaf.edu/permafrostma...

Alternate title: what I talk about when I talk about the white male victim complex. This one means a lot to me, so happy it ended up with Cleaver! www.cleavermagazine.com/dont-find-me...

Brian Benson: DON’T FIND ME • Cleaver Magazine

Brian Benson, originally from the hinterlands of Wisconsin, is the author of GOING SOMEWHERE and co-author of THIS IS NOT FOR YOU.

cleavermagazine.com

I’ve got a tiny story about a big boy, a little boy, & a doomed teddy bear in Six Sentences, a rad journal I somehow only learned of last week, after reading @miriamgershow.bsky.social’s stellar six-line micro. (Fellow writers of tiny stories, submit here!) sixsentences.blogspot.com/2025/03/toy-...

Um, everything is awful but I submitted a flash to Six Sentences & a little over an hour later, they published it! sixsentences.blogspot.com/2025/03/maw....

Having trouble adjusting to Daylight Savings? How do you feel about 3:27 pm specifically? Read this deliciously-unhinged sentence by @mrbrianbenson.bsky.social about how it feels to live in this more-than-slightly-unhinged society tahomaliteraryreview.com/selections/a...

Against Afternoon - Tahoma Literary Review

You hear a lot of chatter about canceling daylight saving time, but not nearly enough about abolishing the afternoon, more specifically mid-afternoon, and

tahomaliteraryreview.com

This Wednesday at 6, I'll be at Broadway Books, talking with @gfaulknerwriter.bsky.social about his fantastic new book, THE ART OF BREVITY. Come hang out with us!

Grant Faulkner@gfaulknerwriter.bsky.social · last yr.

If you're in Portland, Oregon, this Wednesday, I'm talking with @mrbrianbenson.bsky.social about THE ART OF BREVITY—and writing in general! Come on by Broadway Books! www.broadwaybooks.net/event/2025-0...

I wrote a slightly-unhinged sentence about how it feels to live in this more-than-slightly-unhinged society and I’m so happy it landed in @tahomareview.bsky.social tahomaliteraryreview.com/selections/a...

Against Afternoon - Tahoma Literary Review

You hear a lot of chatter about canceling daylight saving time, but not nearly enough about abolishing the afternoon, more specifically mid-afternoon, and

tahomaliteraryreview.com

My neighborhood is getting such a cool bookstore! Can’t wait for this place to open its doors.

Second Shapes Bookstore@secondshapes.bsky.social · last yr.

We’re thrilled to announce that a bookstore is coming to the Kenton neighborhood of North Portland! Second Shapes will have new & used books, art work & zines, and host events & workshops. Learn more: secondshapesbookstore.com

I’ve got two new essays up at Harpur Palate: the first is about an ill-fated “guys trip,” the second about my younger self’s (mis)understanding of strength. Thanks, @oozannesay.bsky.social, for giving these such a good home! harpurpalate.binghamton.edu/benson-brian...

Congratulations to all of these amazing writers, and especially to @ericajberry.bsky.social, whose work I look forward to reading for years and years and years.

Literary Arts@literary-arts.org · 2y ago

We are pleased to announce the recipients of the 2025 Oregon Literary Fellowships. We received 479 applications from writers and 24 applications from publishers. Judges spent several months evaluating these applications. Read more here: lit-arts.org/olf-25

Randy Foster has worked at New Seasons for 19 years. At 1:30pm today mgmt fired him for “violating Oregon break laws.” His infraction, helping a blind coworker close out his till while on lunch break. By 3:15 his coworkers walked out the Arbor Lodge store demanding reinstatement.

Huge congrats to @rclarren.bsky.social, @miriamgershow.bsky.social, Laura Moulton & all the other OR Book Award finalists & award recipients! literary-arts.org/2025/01/anno...

ANNOUNCING THE 2025 OREGON BOOK AWARDS FINALISTS AND SPECIAL AWARDS RECIPIENTS

Literary Arts is thrilled to announce the finalists for the 2025 Oregon Book Awards. The winners of each category will be announced live at the 2025 Oregon Book Awards Ceremony,

literary-arts.org

Love a dog love story

Brian Benson@mrbrianbenson.bsky.social · 2y ago

I wrote this love letter to my deranged muppet of a dog way back in 2020, but it sure does read like I wrote it yesterday. So happy it landed in @xraylitmag.bsky.social, a journal I’ve adored for years.

“I was almost five years old, it was Christmas day, and I knew something was wrong because I’d gotten everything I’d asked for.” This essay by @femmeintheory.bsky.social ground me to a pulp. So good.

ryanashleyanderson@femmeintheory.bsky.social · 2y ago

I am honored that @xraylitmag.bsky.social chose to help bring this piece into the world 😭 — it’s my first solo CNF piece ever published and it feels good to start with something so precious. (Can’t say enough ab the editors here. Working w/ them has been such a good experience. Y’all set the bar!!

I wrote this love letter to my deranged muppet of a dog way back in 2020, but it sure does read like I wrote it yesterday. So happy it landed in @xraylitmag.bsky.social, a journal I’ve adored for years.

X-R-A-Y Literary Press@xraylitmag.bsky.social · 2y ago

today we have a micro by Brian Benson @mrbrianbenson.bsky.social !! it's one for the dog lovers, one for the lovers of beautiful sentences -- click & read !! xraylitmag.com/wanted-dance...

“I always thought I was a science project. Maybe all girls are.” Loved this trippy micro by @oozannesay.bsky.social.

X-R-A-Y Literary Press@xraylitmag.bsky.social · 2y ago

read this amazing micro by Suzanne Richardson @oozannesay.bsky.social !! it’s titled ‘Teenaged Girl Grows Antenna in School Bathroom Stall #3’ “One day soon I will be on the girl radio and they’ll send my name up like a rescue flare asking me how I got out. xraylitmag.com/teenaged-gir...

A good time to look at the work Authors Against Book Bans has been doing. www.authorsagainstbookbans.com

Florida Freedom to Read Project@flfreedomread.bsky.social · 2y ago

For immediate release: The OCR will no longer investigate cases of discriminatory censorship.

The next sesh of my memoir workshop for male-identified writers begins soon! There are a couple of open seats and I’d love to fill them w/ men who are interested in writing and reading in community while exploring what masculinity is and could be. www.brianbensonwrites.com/rewriting-ma...

A big thank-you to the good folks at Reckon Review for publishing this one, about how James Bond helped me face my dad's mortality.

Reckon Review@reckonreview.bsky.social · 2y ago

We have new creative nonfiction for you today. Head over to Reckon Review to read NO TIME TO DIE by Brian Benson.

First post, first Pushcart nom! This essay means a lot to me, and I’m honored that Sweet Lit chose it. Wowed by the other nominees, too—@karenkao.bsky.social’s essay in particular is a stunner. sweetlit.org/pushcart-nom...