⚡FREE Ass in Chair: Mon, April 20th ⚡ This one's open to anyone—get on the list!

Our Ass in Chair Collective is open to anyone this Monday, April 20th! Join us for a burst of collective energy and virtual gold stars & time to work on what you want to do. 💥
emilymohnslate.substack.com/p/free-ass-i...

"WE NEED TO LEARN FROM THE FUNGI" writer, community organizer, and teacher Ching-In Chen on the power of writing within community, continually changing up our process, and what we need to learn from fungi 🍄

This interview w/ @chingin.bsky.social is a GIFT right now. Ching-In talks about how they need to be accountable to others to write at all, how they push themself to write outside of their wheelhouse, and what we need to learn from fungi 🍄

emilymohnslate.substack.com/p/we-need-to...

something strange and horrible and somehow fitting that we should have a very real threat of madman civilizational destruction at the very moment when we also have humans on the dark side of the moon taking pictures that show how small, precious, and beautiful our world and existence is

Acre Books is looking for creative nonfiction broadly, including #memoir, graphic nonfiction, #essay collections, and narrative #nonfiction. For this call, we’re reading full manuscripts (no query required). Submit through our website at acre-books.com/submissions/ by April 15. #booksky 📚🖊️

Ass in Chair Collective: April 2026 Time to sign up for your weekly dose of creative community!

Come join us at Ass in Chair Collective for your weekly dose of creative community! We’d love to cheer you on in your creative life & make some art with you. FREE meet-up is April 20th—register here to get the link. Message me with any questions! 🎉 emilymohnslate.substack.com/p/ass-in-cha...

Thank you! At an event last night I said "If the word hope doesn't work for you try, 'Never fucking surrender.'" The word hope seems too sunny to a lot of people, but the heart of it as I'm interested in it is: we make the future in the present, if we show up, and that never surrender part.

Still 90 mins out and Boston crowd is massive…millions taking to the street today saying “no kings!”

❤️❤️❤️

This is going to be an incredible reading with @donikakelly.bsky.social! 🔥 In person for Pittsburghers or virtual for anyone to join! @madwomencarlow.bsky.social

I feel the same. Poetry and writing and art give me such hope ❤️ I’m so happy to know these poems did that for you ✨

"Just do something" poet, essayist & teacher Catherine Pierce on "woods medicine," the power of specificity, and starting again & again ✨✨

@catherinepierce.bsky.social just casually shares SO MANY GEMS HERE. If you’re feeling overwhelmed, if you need a good prompt to get your ass outside, check this out. She’s one of our living greats💥

❤️❤️

Thank you for your kind words & for sharing these!

The Internet sucks but also contains the beauty found here:

ooooh YES. Thank you for this. I never forget.

Thank you so much, Haley! <3

As someone who has only recently regained the ability to write about not-my-daughter, this is. Yes. This is the thing, right here. I love these pieces.

Thank you so much!

🔥🔥

White flowers above a book page with the poem by Robert Bly: Such Different Wants The board floats on the river. The board wants nothing but is pulled from beneath on into deeper waters. And the elephant dwelling on the mountain wants a trumpet so its dying cry can be heard by the stars. The wakeful heron striding through reeds at dawn wants the god of sun and moon to see his long skinny neck. 36

You must say what you want. I want to be the man and I am who will love you when your hair is white.

You must say what you want.

Robert Bly

my expectation of democratic senators is that they find 1/10th of the bravery of your average 70 year old lutheran lady following ICE around mpls in her subaru crosstrek

These poems.

Thank you so much. I’m a huge fan of YOUR poems!

This poem is for any writer-parent who’s ever had someone belittle their work. Some dude asked me the question in the title of the first poem after a reading 😤🤬 Thank you to Nelle for giving these poems a home ✨

Federal Courts Are Putting Trans People In Danger The Supreme Court’s decision in Skrmetti is already leading to devastating consequences in the lower courts.

more folks should know about this BS:

A federal appeals court said West Virginia’s policy denying Medicaid coverage to people seeking surgical treatment for gender dysphoria is *not discriminatory* bc it bans trans-specific healthcare for cis & trans people alike
ballsandstrikes.org/law-politics...

"Staying with the journey" writer, editor & professor Namrata Poddar on the power of setting small goals, seeing life as a practice, and decolonizing mental health ✨

✨beginner’s mind interview w/ Namrata Poddar(@namratapoddar.bsky.social)⚡If you’ve been feeling intimidated by a larger project, she shares wisdom you might need + reading recs for helping us to decolonize mental health, and to explore what stillness and mindfulness means in this historic moment. ✨

Of course, other thing this chart shows is that growth of Independent + small party registrants is far outpacing either Dem or Rep. Research suggests those are likely folks who do tend to vote for one major party, but also have heterodox views & low trust in political institutions.
Go persuade them!

New numbers: In the month of October, net voter registration trends turned positive for Dems in Pennsylvania. Unprecedently [in recent memory], Dem gains have outpaced Republicans every single month since then

Patricia Dobler Poetry Award 2025 Honorable Mentions “On the Corner of Tremont Street and My Fourth Decade” by Kristin Gallagher from Pembroke Pines, FL “Ninth Grade” and “Touch-Me-Nots” by Tori Sharpe from Little Rock, AR

Patricia Dobler Poetry Award 2025 Finalists “In the Begging Season” by Marion Brown from Bronxville, NY “A Homeland Denied” by Christa Bruhn from Fitchburg, WI “from Lives of the Saints (St. Lucy)” by Susan Cronin from Ann Arbor, MI “Thirty-Nine-&-a-Half-Foot Pole” by Corey Ginsberg from Avalon, PA “The Note I Leave” by A. Dearborn Goldsmith from Hingham, MA

Patricia Dobler Poetry Award 2025 Finalists (cont'd) “IMAGINE” by Joyce Hernandez from Yakima, WA “Matrescence” by Laura Joyce-Hubbard from Highland Park, IL “October” by Amanda P. Smith-Hatch from Ontario, NY “Redemption, Eighth Grade” by Mercer Warriner from Valatie, NY

Congratulations also to our honorable mentions and our remaining finalists! And thanks to all who submitted to this award.

As winner of the 2025 Patricia Dobler Poetry Award, Tokaji will receive $1,000; a public reading in Pittsburgh, PA, with judge Jenny Johnson in Spring 2026; round-trip travel and lodging for her public reading; and publication of her winning poem in Voices from the Attic.