Boston! Heads up: we will be celebrating the release of Boston in 50 Maps by cartographer @awoodruff.bsky.social on May 20th at the Boston Public Library (@bpl.boston.gov)! Registration is free and the first 50 people receive a free drink ticket, but I’m told those spots are going quite fast!
Thanks to Patrick T. Reardon for reviewing Fidelity in @thirdcoastrvw.bsky.social! A great breakdown of what gives the novel its grit and complexity, and what makes it worth rediscovering 100+ years after its release.
A friendly reminder that rhubarb season is upon us yet again! The Pocket Rhubarb Cookbook can help you take full advantage of this tasty plant this year. There’s so many more applications than just the desserts that immediately come to mind (though of course, those are in there too.)
The newest entry to our Revivals series publishes today! The definition of an underrated classic with midwestern roots. Our new edition features an excellent introduction by @sblackwood.bsky.social!
“reintroduces a writer whose ideas on individualism and conformity remain provocative.” -Kirkus
Fidelity, publishing 4/14!
Set in rural Iowa in 1913, it chronicles the response of a small town after the protagonist elopes with a married man. It conveys a complex balance of independence and social isolation, informed by Glaspell’s similar experience.
Heres a bit of both from chapter 18!
Thanks to Newcity for this great recent interview/review of our Great Lakes anthology, On an Inland Sea! Editor @mbwwelch.bsky.social reminds us all of the vital environmental element that runs through most of the collection!
Check it out here: lit.newcity.com/2026/04/02/w...
Tonight in Columbus! @greatfartsoflit.bsky.social and @apitiniidavis.bsky.social will be discussing their latest works (including the recently published Trouble with Loving Poets)!
More info: prologuebookshop.com/event/2026-0...
Our next entry in the 50 Maps series: Boston! @awoodruff.bsky.social uncovers the many things that give the city its unique personality.
Pictures 2/3 give a preview of just one page, showing the varying opinions on neighborhood boundaries according to residents!
Get your preorders in at our site!
Intimacy is another theme that shapes the anthology. The Lakes as a living metaphor, or a guidepost as people struggle through their lives. In “The Bound Body,” Martha Lundin uses the terrible winter of 2014, when Lake Superior froze over, to think about her relationship with her body and identity. While it is a struggle, there is grace. She writes, “After all, I haven’t figured out yet how people become themselves. It is because I am still becoming myself. Lake Superior and her basin had one and a half billion years to get to where she is, and she is still becoming.” My father died in January of 2014, the morning the same record cold freeze Lundin describes hit Chicago. I remember walking with my oldest friend in a brutal blinding snowstorm to get another bottle of whiskey, and thinking not in metaphorical terms, but with the awareness that the lake and the weather and the cold had no concern for my little drama. It is with this awareness that I am grateful none of the pieces in On an Inland Sea stretch metaphors too far. No, the pieces Welch chose are more interesting than that. The personal stories position the Lakes as a part of life, a childhood memory, an unchanging and ceaselessly beating force that anchors even as everything in our lives changes and becomes more confusing or harder. The uncaringness of the water can become a comfort.
The cover of "On an Inland Sea: Writing the Great Lakes" an anthology edited by Michael Welch
I wrote about "On an Inland Sea," a collection of Great Lakes writing by @beltpublishing.bsky.social, edited by @mbwwelch.bsky.social. It's really a wonderful anthology, and deserves a place in the growing body of writing about the Lakes.
greatlakesreview.org/shaped-by-th...
“We can feel so disconnected as a region because we all have this personal connection with lakes that seem to have no end, but when we stare out across the horizon it’s more likely than not that someone is standing on the other side doing the same thing.”
New interview with @mbwwelch.bsky.social!
Thanks to @matternews.bsky.social for this great writeup on Bring Cash! If you’re curious about how the book came about or Kate’s writing process, check it out:
We’re adding three more Midwest classics to our Revivals series this year, with beautiful covers by @downpourdw.bsky.social!
FIDELITY (publishing 4/14)
THE PIT (8/25)
GOODBYE, WISCONSIN (10/20)
More info/preorder at the link below:
beltpublishing.com/collections/...
David Gutowksi has been asking writers about music and musicians about writing for a long time over at Largehearted Boy. I was very happy to contribute. You can listen to my playlist for Trouble and read about my choices here: largeheartedboy.com/2026/03/29/e...
Last week, @clereviewbooks.bsky.social posted a great in-depth review of Patrick Wensink’s The Great Black Swamp! Here’s a quick preview, check out the full article at the link below!
clereviewofbooks.com/shrugs-that-...
Thanks to @bookcougars.bsky.social for featuring author @scatterall.bsky.social on their most recent episode! Check it out at the link below!
Happy publication day to Bring Cash, a wonderful guide to all things estate sailing! Additional shout out to Kate's friends for already taking the book far and wide and snapping these photos!!
If you pre-order using this link, it will benefit @roscoebooks.bsky.social in Chicago (b/c there's lots of CHI interviews, and they just held a great event for a @beltpublishing.bsky.social title)
One short excerpt from a great recent interview with Marguerite Harrold, author of Chicago House Music!
Find the whole thing here: allium.colum.edu/new-work-1/h...
Personal standout favorites include the “I have a very stalwart digestive system” and “the car needs washed…” options. There’s likely a way to use those particular stamps just in day-to-day life, as well
A highlight from The Trouble with Loving Poets book launch event! Elizabeth came prepared with a set of stamps, each featuring a particularly memorable quote from the book. It’s a cool way to switch up the typical book signing ritual.
(Additional thanks to Rowan the cat for the literary curiosity)
A purple flyer advertising the March 18 Plum City reading series at 7 p.m. at Loganberry books in Cleveland, featuring Kortney Morrow, Loung Ung, and Elizabeth Zaleski. The three authors are pictured below their book covers.
If you're in the Cleveland area and looking for something to do this Wednesday evening, I'll be one of three readers at an event at Loganberry Books hosted by Literary Cleveland. Starts at 7 with a social hour after. More info here (registration is requested): www.litcleveland.org/events-progr...
Today’s to do list includes creating a plan to get the word out about @awoodruff.bsky.social’s forthcoming GORGEOUS books of maps. This post is part of this work!
Some cool press highlights for On an Inland Sea, our Great Lakes anthology! Thanks to @chicagoreader.com
@iprnews.bsky.social
@emilymcclanathan.bsky.social
A few blurbs from our favorite recent reviews of The Trouble with Loving poets!
Author Elizabeth Zaleski (@greatfartsoflit.bsky.social) will be part of a reading at Loganberry Books in Cleveland next week, March 18th! Check the flyer for more details!
We were BUBBLING with excitement (get it, like water? Or a Great Lake?) to celebrate the release of @mbwwelch.bsky.social's anthology ON AN INLAND SEA at RoscoeBooks last night (thank you RoscoeBooks!!) with contributors Kristin Idaszak, Lina Tran, @rsdeeren.bsky.social and @dawnburns.bsky.social!
"There’s something about being in nature and being alongside something that feels so much bigger than you that makes you turn inward."
Out now: @celldeathvic.bsky.social's interview with @mbwwelch.bsky.social on "On an Inland Sea” (@beltpublishing.bsky.social).
chireviewofbooks.com/2026/03/10/g...
On an Inland Sea publishes today! Huge thank you to all the contributors! Several took great pictures with the book by the water in their respective locales! Photos by @mbwwelch.bsky.social, @saramaurerwrites.bsky.social, RS Deeren, and Antonio Díaz Oliva.
Keep tagging us in your lakeside photos!
The Rockford Anthology was recently officially commended by the Illinois House of Representatives for its “outstanding contribution to Illinois literature and for capturing the enduring spirit of the Rockford community”! So cool to see. Thanks to @rachellayown.bsky.social and the contributors!
Getting my name in the @chicagoreader.com is a pretty major Chicago bucket list item for me: review of On an Inland Sea: Writing the Great Lakes
chicagoreader.com/books/book-r...
@beltpublishing.bsky.social
@mbwwelch.bsky.social
ANOTHER cover reveal!!! (we all need cheering up!) We're so excited for this one, by @awestfell.bsky.social, coming next fall. From @beltpublishing.bsky.social with cover design by @downpourdw.bsky.social.