The cited quote and information written in black against a white background, bisected by two black intersecting lines. In the lower lefthand corner is the book cover for Uncanny Valley Girls.
“There is love to be found within the horrors...”
Horror as a Crucible for Connection in @zefrrr.bsky.social’s Uncanny Valley Girls, a new book review by @anahein.bsky.social.
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The cited quote and information written in black against a white background. The full Rumpus logo is at the top within a blue circle, rimmed with circles of various sizes on the left. To the right of this is the national poetry month logo.
"I paid my friends to step on their hands / with stilettos / The gift of stigmata"
From "A Day in the Life," a new poem by Christine Shan Shan Hou for National Poetry Month.
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The cited information but not the quote written in black against a white background. The full Rumpus logo is at the top.
"Sometimes I think a blink might make it vanish, but when my eyes open again, it is still there, big and bright and heavy on the other hill, watching me back through the heat of July..."
From "Always Watching from the Roof," a new essay by L.F. Khouri.
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The cited information but not the quote written in black against a white background. The full Rumpus logo is at the top.
"Once we were individuals, with faces and names; now we are one."
From "Invasive Species," a new short story by @lgeccles.bsky.social.
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The cited quote and information written in black against a white background. At the top is the full Rumpus logo within a large blue circle with circles of varying size ringing it to the left. To the right of this is the national poetry month logo.
"A wound is a place you go / —are taken to."
From "WHEN PRAYER DIDN’T AWAY THE GAY, MY DAD TAUGHT ME HOW TO PLAY DOOM ON THE FAMILY COMPUTER [Golden Shovel]," a new poem by @spaghettiutopia.bsky.social for National Poetry Month.
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The cited information but not the quote written in white at the bottom of Jonah Mixon-Webster's author photo. To the left of these words is the book cover for Promise/Threat with the full Rumpus logo on top.
"Reality and fantasy are refraction mirrors which shape endless images and experiences between both."
@dustinkpearson.bsky.social interviews Jonah Mixon-Webster about Promise/Threat (@aaknopf.bsky.social).
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The cited information but not the quote written in white at the bottom of Emma Straub's author photo. To the right of these words is the book cover for American Fantasy.
"Thinking about fame so much while writing this book made me very happy to be a writer. There are very few writers who can’t go to the grocery store."
Alia Spartz interviews @emmastraub.bsky.social about American Fantasy (@riverheadbooks.bsky.social).
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"War in the dust, in the glass pitcher / of water with the sun flooding through. / Today my people are grieving / and I am in a city far away"
From "Poem in the City with Maryam, ya Maryam," one of two new poems by Philipe AbiYouness for National Poetry Month.
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The cited information but not the quote written in black against a white background. The full Rumpus logo is at the top.
"The school grounds are suddenly too small. I want to keep running. If I could, I would never stop. I would run forever."
From "Notes from the Playground," a new essay by Laura June Topolsky and Elana Kupor.
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"I think of it more like clay: shaping and reshaping, or waves washing up on shore, bringing little bits of detritus and glass and seashell to the surface."
Janan Alexandra discusses the path to publication for her debut collection Come From (@boa-editions.bsky.social).
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"Reading a book all day, that was my thirties / Immortal in the atrium / Plenty of war"
From "Footnote," one of two new poems by Hannah Brooks-Motl for National Poetry Month.
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The cited information but not the quote written in black against a white background. The full Rumpus logo is at the top.
"How can she be so unlucky, to have been exiled from one dying planet only to land on another?"
From "Born on a Dying Planet," a new short story by Anjali Sachdeva.
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The cited information but not the quote written in white at the bottom of Jane Park's author photo. Ro the right of the words is the book cover for Inheritance. The full Rumpus logo is on top.
"If you sacrifice, you’re virtuous—you’re noble; you’re thinking about the better good. But are you really? You could live your life sacrificing, but where does that get you?"
@tiffyo.bsky.social interviews Jane Park about Inheritance (@pegasus-books.bsky.social).
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The cited quote and information written in black against a white background. At the top is The Rumpus logo in a blue circle surrounded by smaller blue circles of different sizes. To the right is the national poetry month logo.
"So much has come with us / but the hairs of their animals / fly up, still, through the vent and we eat / the vegetables they planted"
From "August," one of two new poems by Aracelis Girmay for National Poetry Month.
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Kim Samek's author photo. At the bottom to the right is written "Kim Samek" in white lettering. To the left is the book cover for I Am The Ghost Here with a Letters in the Mail stamp overtop.
"I write you in praise of the small idea, the tiny effort, the Costco shopping trip that taps into existential dread."
Our next Letter in the Mail comes from @kimsamek.bsky.social, author of I Am The Ghost Here (@thedialpress.bsky.social).
Subscribe to Letters in the Mail now: buff.ly/5nOiSeA
The cited information but not the quote written in black against a white background. The full Rumpus logo is at the top.
"I question my own family, if they would give up on me. I think about what else they’ve given up on."
From "Pita," a new essay by Christina Hartzell.
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The cover for Splashed Things with Lucas's author photo in a white-rimmed circle in the bottom righthand corner. To the left of the book cover in a strip of vertical white is an orange pen nib at the bottom and the Rumpus logo at the top. Inbetween are the words "The First Book: Leigh Lucas."
"Writing can be lonely so you’ve got to have friends who are pursuing it too."
The First Book: Leigh Lucas discusses the path to publication for her first collection, Splashed Things (@boa-editions.bsky.social).
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The cited information but not the quote written in black against a white background. the full Rumpus logo is at the top.
"His left hung uselessly from his side, over his wheelchair’s armrest. A long time ago, it was his favorite hand to grab my ass with."
From "Hell is the Absence of God's Love," a new short story by @barrettbowlin.bsky.social.
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The cited quote and information written in black against a white background. At the top is the full Rumpus logo within a blue circle with smaller circles ringing it to the left. To the right of this is the national poetry month logo.
"For years, weeds grew in my stomach, a slow, calculating crawl. / When it was born, its umbilical cord was coated in fear and blood."
From “Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma,” a new poem by Rocio Franco for National Poetry Month.
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The cited quote and information written in black against a white background bisected by two black lines. In the bottom lefthand corner is the book cover for Mermaid Theory.
“Let the lyric, however drenched, flow.”
A Poetics of Water: Ashia S. Ajani reviews Maya Salameh’s Mermaid Theory (@haymarketbooks.org).
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¡Dios mio!—the sensation in my hips could set the world ablaze if it overtook my hands
From “Super Bowl LX: BENITO,” a new poem by @bardsbesidebars.bsky.social for National Poetry Month.
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“...the pages capture the terrifying reality of living in an increasingly totalitarian state.”
@apartan.bsky.social reviews Svetlana Satchkova’s The Undead (@melvillehouse.bsky.social).
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"The first woman ever made, / walked into the hippodrome, / counterclockwise, her jet arms / paying homage to the great / sunflower field of mothers"
From "The Longshot," a new poem by Nikky Finney for National Poetry Month.
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In other news, I am really excited to share some new initiatives we're launching at The Rumpus including increased pay, writing and editorial fellowships, and microgrants. therumpus.net/2026/03/31/e...
The cited information but not the quote written in white at the bottom of MaKshya Tolbert's author photo. To the right of these words is the book cover for Shade is a place with the full Rumpus logo overtop.
"Will I use the words to hide or to live? To see problems or see practice?"
Ecopoetry as a Method of Inquiry: Tryphena Yeboah interviews MaKshya Tolbert about Shade is a place (@penguinbooksusa.bsky.social).
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"I close my eyes and take a deep breath. Maybe I will faint, maybe I will fly."
From "The One Who Pierces Snow," a new short story by Hasret Eleby.
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a black and white drawn image of a young girl sinking to the bottom of a body of water. The cited information but not the quote is written at the top with the full Rumpus logo at the bottom.
"I had to keep moving or else I'd sink, I'd drown."
From "Sabrina," a new comic by @kateelore.bsky.social.
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The cited information but not the quote written in white on top of Joukovsky's author photo. To the left of these words is the book cover for Medium Rare with the full Rumpus logo overtop.
"...we are mimetic creatures, ever enamored of our own reflections."
Writing A Series of Trojan Horses into a Novel: @egjames.bsky.social interviews @joukovsky.bsky.social about Medium Rare (@melvillehouse.bsky.social).
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Aimee Nezhukumatathil's author photo. The cited information but not the quote written in white at the bottom. To the right of these words is the book cover for Night Owl with the full Rumpus logo overtop.
"I don’t feel interrogated at night; I feel my most honest, my most vulnerable."
Noticing is the Ultimate Act of Love: @nxo.bsky.social interviews @nezhukumatathil.bsky.social about Night Owl (@eccobooks.bsky.social).
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The cited quote and information written in black against a white background. At the top is the full Rumpus logo in black.
"My body is now an asylum / for your memory. / Manifest yourself."
From "GHOST SEED," one of three new poems by @obbyiloakasia.bsky.social.
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