Rebecca Makkai

This is a free event, AND there will be a cash bar, AND the bookstore will stay open during the game… I hope to see you there!

It’s both a party and a game show, but you will not be hauled onstage; I’m saving that torture for Rachel Louise Snyder, @emmaceisenberg.bsky.social, @dionneford.bsky.social, @taylorbyas.bsky.social, and @jiminhanwriter.bsky.social.

And, your fun and silly Saturday night escape: I'll be hosting the always competitive, always fierce Battle of the Genres with @storystudiochicago.bsky.social on Saturday, March 7 from 7 to 9 pm at Bird In Hand Coffee & Books!

Panel 2: I’m in conversation with Gina Chung (Kundiman), Maya Marshall (Haymarket Books), Taylor Lena McTootle (Periplus), and @rachellayown.bsky.social & @mbwwelch.bsky.social (Chicago Review of Books) about “Sustaining & Building Robust Literary Partnerships”—3/6 at 1:45 p.m. in Room 302.

Panel 1: I was thrilled to write the foreword for Chaos, Creativity, Completion, an incredible anthology featuring writers with ADHD embracing our shared neurospiciness. The anthology editors and I are on the panel Come as You Are: Writers with ADHD; 3/6 at 12:10pm in Room 307.

If you’re headed to AWP and want to avoid me, here are the two panels and one party to stay away from 🧵

Holy shit. These people shouldn’t be near sharp cutlery, let alone seats of power.

Mullin: “This is war.”

Raju: “You concede this is war?”

Mullin: “We haven’t declared war.”

Reporter: “You just said it’s a war.”

Mullin: *stammer

Oh that is very much what they believe.

Also, you know, bad humanism and just plain evil. But if humanity is beneath you and you only believe in money, perhaps it will matter to you that this is a terrible financial decision.

States Move to Limit Access to H.I.V. Treatment

This is infuriating. Even if you're someone who believes we need capitalism in our medicine (why?), modern HIV drugs prevent transmission. Taking access away from 16,000 in Florida (and many more to come elsewhere) means we're making a lot more people sick. Which is very bad capitalism, actually.

We're so desperate for it to happen we're like "the neck! Look at the neck! The neck is dying!!"

This is going to be so fun!! Please join us if you're at AWP or happen to be in Baltimore for less chaotic reasons!

How creepy would it be if it were ACTUALLY personal, tho?? "Hey George, nice pants!"

Do you have questions about applying for StoryBoard? Our amazing Artistic Director @rebeccamakkai.bsky.social wrote you a personal letter answering all your FAQs! 🤩

Read here: buff.ly/sROWff5

#writingcommunity

On this cold and blustery Chicago day, let's all dream of warm summer days ahead...and your writing plans for this summer, which hopefully including our StoryBoard Conference. Applications are open for just over another month. Apply now!

buff.ly/3nQnSfF

#writingcommunity

I agree... If the universal standard were for men also to be referred to regularly as "dad" and "grandfather," that would be a lot better (although perhaps irksome to many without kids).

ICYMI it over the weekend, we're extending the Novel In A Year application deadline to this Friday, 2/27. So if you're just seeing this now, you still have FIVE days!

www.storystudiochicago.org/advanced-wri...

#writingcommunity

I should add: The absolute worst is (not in headlines, just in real life) when someone sees an older woman and refers to her as "a granny" or "this little old grandmother" with zero info about her life. Which also never seems to happen to men.

Either you'll get to be "woman" or you won't be mentioned at all...

You might expect the same, but that is really not a headline you see. "Six Dads Die in Avalanche"? Really??

Somehow "grandmother" is infinitely worse, too. Like, if a 60-year-old man was hit by lightning, it would read "Local lawyer..." or "Milwaukee man..." and if it were a woman it would absolutely read "Grandmother hit by lightning."

My kids are the most important thing to me, but if I die and you see a headline that calls me "Mom of two" please light everything on fire.

Your daily infuriating reminder that if you are a woman who has had kids and make the news for anything outside your career (but possibly for your career, too) you will forever be "mom" or "grandmother." From what I can tell, all these women were impressive professionals.

"Cool!"
"I figured polluting the planet and stealing the work of other artists would be a great way to honor her."

"What's that on your arm?"
"Yeah, it's a traditional wood carving based on my grandmother's grave marker. She died when I was a baby, so this means a lot to me, connects me to my cultural heritage. A robot drew it."

Like - first of all NO ONE wants that, but when it's something deeply personal/meaningful/spiritual/whatever?? Anyway, if anyone knows a great HUMAN tattoo artist who'd be into working with traditional Transylvanian/Székely woodcut symbols, please let me know.

Decided I was finally going to get a tattoo because I finally know exactly what I want. Found an amazing, successful tattoo artist, was in communication with him. But his emails were obviously AI written. I wrote to ask if he uses AI for his art, and... he does. JFC. Who wants that on their body??

Strongly reminiscent of this infamous diagram of a slaver ship. We are repeating our evils.

Finally… What’s a lyric essay? It’s more approachable than it sounds. If you’re a fiction writer or a poet, non-fiction-curious, and want to dip your toe in, let Ploi Pirapokin be your guide in creating genre-bending work. Online & starts March 17!
www.storystudiochicago.org/classes/clas...

Or, if you’re angry about the state of the world (perchance?), learn to take it out on the page w/ Connor Shioshita Pickett’s class on Writing Rage. Connor is Artistic Director of the Neofuturists (!) and runs an amazing class. In person & starts March 16.
www.storystudiochicago.org/classes/clas...