Rita Banerjee
@ritabanerjee.bsky.social
Rita Banerjee is a writer and an Associate Professor of Creative Writing and Director of the MFA Program for Writers at Warren Wilson College. She is author of #DisobedientFutures, CREDO, Echo in Four Beats, A Night with Kali, and Cracklers at Night.
A huge thanks to Lockie Hunter for interviewing me for her co-hosted #radio show Wordplay on 103.3 FM Asheville, NC. I got a chance to talk about #DisobedientFutures & my new manuscript! The October 25, 2026 Episode of WordPlay Radio Show is now available online here: ashevillefm.org/show/wordplay/
So delighted to be interviewed by Lockie Hunter for her co-hosted radio show Wordplay on 103.3 FM Asheville, NC at 5 pm EDT today! I'll be speaking about my forthcoming co-edited book Disobedient Futures and my new work. Tune into the show live or online here: ashevillefm.org/show/wordplay/
Announcing our Fall 2026 Instagram Live Series! Join us on Sept, 30th, Oct. 14th, and Nov. 4th, 6-6:45 PM, for interviews, readings, and Q&As with Wally alumni. Featuring interviews with Reed Turchi (Poetry, 2023), Devon Halliday (Fiction, 2024), and Lauren Francis-Sharma (Fiction, 2023).
DISOBEDIENT FUTURES, edited by @ritabanerjee.bsky.social, @diananorma.bsky.social, and Corrine Previte, explores utopian, dystopian, and alternative realities through a diverse and multi-genre lens, inviting readers to imagine a more inclusive future. Cover Art: Shanta Lee Honeycutt & Jamie McKee
Delighted to present the #coverreveal for Disobedient Futures! #DisobedientFutures is a speculative lit anthology that imagines what the future cultures of America & the world might look like through a diverse, inclusive & multi-genre lens. Pre-order here: www.kentuckypress.com/978198590524...
Calling all Wallies to our new Coworking Wallies program! Reach your writing goals, see some familiar faces, and know you aren’t alone as you navigate the wild world of the MFA. No event registration required! September 6 and September 20 (4PM EST, 1PM PST), Zoom: us02web.zoom.us/j/8987907211...
Welcome back to Submission Sunday! Check out these great opportunities from our literary friends at: @reedmagazine @craftliterary @nelle_journal Follow us, and the tagged folks, to stay up to date, and check out our full Submission Sunday list at our Insta, @warrenwilsonmfa!
The middle of the Wally term is upon us, so what've we been reading, Wallies? Check out the titles on some of our reading lists--and let us know in the comments what you're currently reading!
Twenty-five years ago, we were in the middle of a generation coming of age and witnessing 9/11. My #personalessay “Birth of Cool” captures how a generation of young people watched #9/11 and learned how to keep their cool. hungermtn.org/birth-of-coo... #September11 #memoir #millennials #BirthofCool
Dear friends, the incredibly #essayist & #memoirist Alysia Li Ying Sawchyn is reading in #Brooklyn, NY @booksaremagic13.bsky.social tomorrow night (Sept 1) at 7 pm EDT in a conversation moderated by artist & writer Vic Liu! Come check our her new #memoir "I have This Thing for Flowers."
It was such an honor to watch Stephen Colbert @colbertlateshow.bsky.social on the Late Show in New York recently. Stephen, thank you for all you do & all the joy you bring to the world. Can't wait to see what good trouble you cause next. Thank you. So long (for now), and thanks for all the fish.🐬✨
E is for ECHO IN FOUR BEATS by @ritabanerjee.bsky.social ( @finishinglinepress.bsky.social 2018) “What does it mean to be so still? to glide along the ocean floor like some black-tongued electric eel” From “Sleep,” also in The Academy of American Poets Poem-A-Day poets.org/poem/sleep-2
Sleep
What does it mean to be so still?
poets.org
I got to talk to one of my north stars last night, and he posted the conversation this morning. So many thanks, @anandwrites.bsky.social .
Stop despairing. Start building
My conversation with Rebecca Solnit
the.ink
According to documents filed this morning by the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of NY, ICE has been lying for a year — not only to the public, but to the courts and to prosecutors — about being authorized to make arrests at 26 Federal Plaza and other immigration courts. (1/2)
I am honored & delighted to have my #essay "American Caste" debut in Isele Magazine! My essay explores the kinds of caste systems, or social hierarchies, which invisibly structure, stratify, and thus, harm American society. iselemagazine.com/2026/03/16/a... #AmericanCaste #AbolishICE #anticaste
The MFA Program for Writers just celebrated its annual winter residency & our #MFA Faculty lectures are online. If you'd like to learn about #weaving, #braiding, & #spinning nonlinear #narrative design, check out my craft talk: www.warrenwilsonmfa.org/product/rita... @warrenwilsonmfa.bsky.social
If you're at #AWP2026 Conference in Baltimore, MD from March 4-7, 2026, stop by these events featuring me & the MFA Program for Writers at Warren Wilson College! More info: ritabanerjee.com/2026/02/28/m... @warrenwilsonmfa.bsky.social
During the "Innovation & Empowerment: A Workshop for Writers" (July 10-28, 2026), I'll be teaching a workshop on “Classical Greek and Indian Approaches to Poetry, Dramaturgy, and Storytelling” on July 18-29, 2026. Join us at: ionionartscenter.gr/2026/01/14/i... ritabanerjee.com/2026/02/21/c...
I'm delighted to be teaching at the "Innovation & Empowerment: A #Workshop for #Writers" in #Kefalonia, #Greece this summer. If you're looking for an inspiring writing retreat, please join us at the Ionion Center for the Arts from July 10-28, 2026. More info here: ionionartscenter.gr/2026/01/14/i...
BREAKING: After we sued, DHS withdrew a subpoena seeking personal information about our client who criticized DHS' treatment of a man seeking asylum. This is a win not just for our client, but for everyone’s First Amendment right to speak out without fear of government retaliation.
And let’s not forget about impeaching this absolute awful excuse of a DHS Secretary, Kristi Noem!
Tell Congress: Impeach DHS Secretary Kristi Noem
Contact Congress today!
actionnetwork.org
Take away Spanish and there's no San Francisco or Los Angeles or Sacramento, no San Diego or Santa Rosa or Sierra nevada and actually there's no California, because that's a Spanish word...
This is literally what CURRENT LAW requires. It’s in the Constitution! www.politico.com/news/2026/02...
Here is my conclusion after sitting through Maxwell's deposition with her refusing to answer a single question about the men who raped underage girls, saying she would only do so for clemency. She must immediately be sent back to the maximum security prison where she belongs.
“You meet saints everywhere. They can be anywhere. They are people behaving decently in an indecent society.” — Kurt Vonnegut
The EPA has reapproved the herbicide dicamba for use on genetically modified cotton and soybeans, adding “new limits on when and how it can be sprayed”. Dicamba is used to control tough weeds that can hurt crop yields, and the updated rules are intended to
