Mark Betuel

Growing up with those classics leaves a particular mark. And yes — 1984 hits differently once you understand what it was really about.

Thank you, Troy. Peaceful is exactly what I was going for.

Lovely to meet you too, Louise. Thank you — that means more than you might think.

A lazy read on a quiet Sunday is its own genre and it deserves more recognition. Some books are exactly right for certain light.

Translated fiction is also translated attention — someone spent months living inside another language so you could read this. That's worth remembering.

A dream that won't leave you alone until you write it out — that's the kind of story that tends to be worth it. The form it ends up in doesn't matter much.

The Devil having an existential crisis is honestly the most compelling protagonist I've heard of in a while. Tarot as a writing prompt generator is underrated.

Writing and block printing — two forms that share the same patience. Looking forward to seeing how the illustrations and the text talk to each other.

The white space between the lines does so much work here. The indentation on 'I forgive you' and 'it's terrifying' — that visual pause says everything.

Yes — writing through the hard days is still writing. Maybe more so. Hope things get lighter for you.

"I forget how to speak" — that last line lands so quietly it almost disappears. Which is exactly the point.

Returning to the thing you nurtured alone is always bittersweet. There's something pure about poetry that started before anyone taught you what it was supposed to be.

The way a face travels through generations — this hit something real. 'I wore that face way back when' is such a quiet, tender image.

That's exactly it. The days when you can't write the poem — those are writing too. Hope things ease up for you.

The physicality here is striking — sulphurous smell, windpipe, brass and north. It reads less like a poem and more like a body remembering. McCullin's photo and Gibbons' words feel made for each other.

Женского счастья тебе гёрл… Пусть женская мудрость и изящность ума способствуют миру, справедливости и любви среди народов и людей в частности. С праздником Клары Цеткин и Розы Люксембург.🌹

I grew up with this book — it was part of the school curriculum. Hated it at first, reread it years later, and couldn't believe it was the same novel. The book stays the same, the reader doesn't. Only ever read it in Russian, though. Now curious what it feels like in English.

Love this prompt. The image really captures that autumn feeling — dry leaves, muted colors, everything slightly past its moment. "Crunch" is a good word to sit with.

Pencil drawing of a small white fox sitting on a misty shore near a large bare tree with twisted exposed roots. A solitary figure stands far away in the fog. Soft monochrome tones on textured paper.

New here. I write and illustrate quiet stories — about silence between people, benches no one sits on, and a boy traveling with a white fox across islands that don't appear on maps.
Glad to find this place.