"The writing of this book has been long, mutative, and palimpsestic as I began again and again anew from a blank page over many years." @stephenpatrickbell.bsky.social's interview with Sarah Wang on "New Skin" (@littlebrown.bsky.social) is out now. chireviewofbooks.com/2026/05/13/p...

Plastic surgery and immigration are inextricable: An Interview with Sarah Wang about “New Skin” - Chicago Review of Books

I first met Sarah Wang at the Kenyon Review Writers Workshop. She was fresh from Convent Arts—a residency at a one-time seaside retreat for nuns—and I couldn’t help but try to reconcile her grown up c...

chireviewofbooks.com

I want to spend one day being so blissfully stupid that the NYT would include me in a focus group.

literacy is more than reading comprehension; it is also understanding how another person (the author) is inviting you (perhaps challenging you) to imagine another experience, perspective, life.

"It was my goal to capture Rockford as it really is: flawed, yes, but full of strengths, too." @recycledgiraffe.bsky.social's interview with @rachellayown.bsky.social on editing the "The Rockford Anthology” (@beltpublishing.bsky.social) is out now. chireviewofbooks.com/2025/11/06/t...

The Rockford Files: An Interview with Rachel León on "The Rockford Anthology" - Chicago Review of Books

A conversation with Rachel León, editor of "The Rockford Anthology"

chireviewofbooks.com

Happy pub day to Susan Cheever who in our conversation for @bombmag.bsky.social approaches her father’s work as a loving daughter, a thorough educator, and a forensic investigator. When All the Men Wore Hats is out today from @fsgbooks.bsky.social

BOMB Magazine | Susan Cheever by Stephen Patrick Bell

A daughter uncovers her father’s inner life through his fiction.

bombmagazine.org

"What is left of our identity, our humanity, when we can no longer even have ownership over our memories?" @michaelzapata.bsky.social's interview with Yiming Ma on his new book "These Memories Do Not Belong to Us" (Mariner Books) is out now. chireviewofbooks.com/2025/08/29/m...

Mirrors, Memories, Rebellions: An Interview with Yiming Ma - Chicago Review of Books

A conversation with Yiming Ma on his debut novel, "These Memories Do Not Belong to Us"

chireviewofbooks.com

Why do we go to the movies? For @foglifterpress.bsky.social, I sat down with author Christopher Tradowsky to chat about his novel, Midnight at the Cinema Palace, a bold, queer, coming-of-age tale about finding ourselves on and off the screen. Read here: www.foglifterjournal.com/christopher-...

So beautiful, when art can move.

Jennifer Savran Kelly@jsavrankelly.bsky.social · last yr.

First review of my new story is already up and it’s 🔥

Book news from me. Been a long haul to here. xo

ZEAL author @mjerkins.bsky.social will discuss her “cinematic” (Boston Globe) new novel in conversation with @stephenpatrickbell.bsky.social as part of the Brooklyn Rail’s New Social Environment series of online talks spotlighting influential voices in art & culture: brooklynrail.org/event/2025/0...

Morgan Jerkins: Zeal | The Brooklyn Rail

Writer Morgan Jerkins joins writer Stephen Bell for a conversation.

brooklynrail.org

Chicago, it’s true! noam and I will be at Seminary Coop Books on 4/24 to discuss their tremendous essay collection. Come hang out and stick around for the Q&A. Info and registration link below

✨✨noam✨✨@noamkeim.bsky.social · last yr.

I feel like I have not figured out how to use Bluesky just yet, but just in case, CHICAGO, I am having an event on 4/24 at Seminary Co-op Bookstore to talk about THE LAND IS HOLY with @stephenpatrickbell.bsky.social. #booksky #chicagoevent #chicago #books

Ok hold up I am so late to reading this but from the very first sentences / first question, this interview grabs you by the neck and IT DOES NOT LET YOU GO

Stephen Patrick Bell@stephenpatrickbell.bsky.social · 2y ago

For @electriclit.bsky.social I had a famous cinnamon bun with Dr. Amina Gautier while discussing her taut and musical story collection The Best That You Can Do

If I ever write a successful book please don’t cancel me for having a $25 dollar bottle of poppers in my purse

Adam Morgan@adamm0rgan.bsky.social · last yr.

if you want to understand the state of book criticism in 2025 this person on substack is coming after Katie Kitamura (!) for wearing $24 lip gloss

Okay but put this on a mug

Just looking back on some of my favorite book conversations of 2024, starting with Jamaica Kincaid and Kara Walker on their clever and occasionally devastating children’s book from @fsgbooks.bsky.social An Encyclopedia of Gardening for Colored Children

Two of Our Greatest Living Artists Made an Irreverent, Charming Kids’ Book

Jamaica Kincaid knew only one artist could capture the mischievous spirit of her new children’s book. So she cold-emailed Kara Walker, with delicious results.

harpersbazaar.com

Poor character written by an author who has experienced poverty: My problem is that I'm $300 short on the rent and now my car is making a noise Poor character written by a rich author: My problem is that I feel so inferior beside these beautiful, sophisticated rich people

Brought a ton of extra concerned dad energy to the last haircut of the year.

Gabrielle Korn makes every conversation, even ones about doom, feel cozy. Her well-researched novel fills the end of the world with the warmth and joy of queer family and community. Read our talk on the power of prettiness, identity and climate change, and reading aloud @chicagorevbooks.bsky.social

“If we don't help each other through this, we won't get through it at all”: an Interview with Gabrielle Korn - Chicago Review of Books

Doom is so thoroughly the vibe right now that a climate novel hardly seems an appropriate place to seek hope, but Gabrielle Korn’s The Shutouts peers down the dark tunnel of our unsettling present and...

chireviewofbooks.com

Loved being able to watch Lindsay Hunter accept the 2024 CHIRBY for fiction. It’s not too late to order her propulsive and horny true crime novel, Hot Springs Drive for the holidays. Thanks to @chicagorevbooks.bsky.social @storystudiochicago.bsky.social @rebeccamakkai.bsky.social for a great night

such a fun night! congrats to all the CHIRBY winners and nominees!

StoryStudio Chicago@storystudiochicago.bsky.social · 2y ago

About last night… Huge congrats again to our 2024 CHIRBY winners (from l-r) -Daniel Borzutsky -Jami Nakamura Lin -Laura Rodríguez Presa -Lindsay Hunter -Parneshia Jones

can confirm: the people love a little guy

✨️naomithinksit✨️@naomithinksit.bsky.social · 2y ago

Every museum should have a Little Guys Tour, and at the end of the tour you can buy reproductions of all the little guys

being an editor is one of the greatest joys of my life. got a manuscript you’re on your way to finishing? work with me. i promise you i’m the sweetest. www.michal-jones.com/editorial-se...

sailor moon transforming except it’s me turning into the person i think i’ll turn into after hanging my first plant from the ceiling

US Dems would send a fundraising text blast

Adam Schwarz@adamjschwarz.bsky.social · 2y ago

Lee Jae-myung, Leader of South Korea's Democratic Party, live-streamed himself scaling the walls of the National Assembly to bypass military barricades so that he could vote to overturn the President's martial law.

Benjamin Fredrickson’s cheeky Wedgies project is on display at Culture Edit w/ @tomsfoundation.bsky.social in Los Angeles for a few more weeks.

Fascinating and moving essay that uses a local question- the art historical provenance of a single painting - to open up an entire life world and press hard questions about science, race, philosophy and what we see when we look at the world

Caleb Crain@calebcrain.bsky.social · 2y ago

A tour-de-force of scholarship and detective work: Fara Dabhoiwala reveals that a portrait of an 18th-century Black scientist, long dismissed as a caricature, is in fact a record of the man's mastery of Newtonian physics—and the only painting made in 1759 of the return of Halley's comet.

squeezed in a holiday pump with a legend

sven@svenbark.bsky.social · 2y ago

Pre-Thanksgiving pump with the studly @stephenpatrickbell.bsky.social 💪💪 lookin like stuffed turkeys after that! Thank for having me buddy 😘

Adrienne’s work at Esquire has been incredible. this is such a loss, but looking forward to congratulating whoever manages to nab her next.

Adrienne Westenfeld@awestenfeld.bsky.social · 2y ago

After nearly nine years at Esquire, I’ve been laid off from my role as Books and Fiction Editor. I’m looking for a new full-time role where I can use my storytelling skills, in the book world or beyond it. If you know of anything, I’m at adriennewestenfeld@gmail.com. (🧵1/10)