Even I know that’s not how faith works

Thank you! And kind of although it I have to keep reminding myself that I did a whole bunch of work to get here lol

Thank you Nancy!! I’m super excited and nervous about everything!!

YES thank youuu

A tale of two book contracts After years of work, not one, but two offers arrived in my inbox in a matter of weeks

And then something so amazing happened, I needed to write a whole substack to explain.

Amen!

The top of a contract that reads Book*hug Press *Adventures in literary publishing since 2004. 401 Richmond Street West Suite 251 Toronto ON Canada M5V 3A8 +1 416 994 5804 BOOK*HUG PRESS CONTRACT AGREEMENT made this 19th day of February 2026, between: Erika Thorkelson hereinafter referred to as the AUTHOR, and Book*hug Press 401 Richmond Street West, Suite 251, Toronto Ontario Canada MSV 3A8 hereinafter referred to as the PUBLISHER, with respect to the work entitled How to Look at a Volcano hereinafter referred to as the WORK.

A signpost covered in stickers from many visitors sits in a field of rocks. In the background, black cooled lava emits steam

I’ve been meaning to tell you, my essay collection How to Look at a Volcano will be released by Book*hug in 2027.
The book explores instability through personal, cultural and geological lenses. The title essay comes from a trip I took in 2024 to visit an eruption near Grindavik in southern Iceland

The best introduction!!

A classic for a reason!

Letter from an Occupant by the New Pornographers! I heard it on my university radio station and it set my brain on fire. Tried to ask my friends about it but they’d never heard of it. So I tracked it down on Limewire and played it on repeat until everyone understood its greatness. Still love it!

Clearly there are a lot of people who feel this way!

This is the perfect conversation piece for guests. I will not be taking questions. Except maybe I will

Hahahhhahahah

Announcing the winners of our 2025 Non-Fiction Contest, judged by Vinh Nguyen!

🥇 “Metaphors We Die By,” Jennifer Manuel
🥈 “Waiting for the Bus: a memoir of dementia,” Meredith Quartermain
🥉 “The Shrine,” Hannah Roh

Find the winning essays + judge’s essay in EVENT 55/1 (Spring/Summer 2026).

It’s finally happened to me: a student handed in an essay with three imaginary sources. Shocked it took this long tbh

Oh my goodness, that’s amazing

A woman’s head perched above a cake shaped like a woman’s body in a blue uniform. They are laid out on a table

I just got a press release claiming “peptides are having a moment” which I can only assume refers to the growing popularity of cellular peptide cake with mint frosting

There is a lot of score settling

I have so much to say about this book. Mostly that it’s just so self indulgent, which wouldn’t be a big deal if she could keep her fingers out of ongoing drama that has absolutely nothing to do with her actually

So I’m reading all of that Margaret Atwood memoir for *reasons* and my main thought is, dear god this book needed a proper editor

Some decorative gourds dumped on the grass surrounded by fallen leaves

Decorative gourds dumped by a sidewalk

It’s Dump Decorative Gourds on the Street Season, Motherfuckers

Thanks bud!!

It was a hard one!

The wayyyyy we werrrrrre

A man (Ben) and a woman (me) lean together over a heaping paper plate of Ukranian food

A woman (me) with long earrings and a sort of drunk expression touches a man (Ben) on the arm as if she’s telling him something important

Happy birthday my dearest @betarayben.bsky.social! It’s gross that we don’t live in the same city so we can share Ukrainian food and I can tell you drunken stories

Too soon!!!!!

A restaurant with a light mint colours bar with dark chairs. In the foreground, a fake Christmas tree

It’s Oct 23 and I was just in a restaurant with full Christmas decorations and a load of garland waiting to be added. What is happening???!

Got mine!

Explaining the complexities of 90s anime fandom is both frustrating and kind of my kink

In a leaf covered entry way, behind a dusty black gate, sits a small pumpkin with the words “I’m sorry” written across it in black letters

I don’t know what this little guy did, but I forgive him anything