Article Illustrations by Carolyn Jao for Mid Theory Collective

In case you missed it, here is a juicy essay for your weekend read.

The Sexual Politics of Pastry In Mary Gordon’s novel Final Payments, the narrator Isabel Moore marks a new phase of her life by having drunk sex with her married boss in a car. Her father dead, her Catholicism withering, Isabel…

"When bodies jiggle, shake, leak, or squirt they supply the evidence of a pleasure received. By transposing these expressions from humans to food, our chefs coax bodies to confess without claiming to have triumphed over a real woman’s self-command." Elizabeth Greeniaus on "horny chef videos."

Not My Byronic Hero! Or, Whither the Monster? Adaptation is everywhere! In the spring of 2026, MTC is running a new series called Adaptation Anxiety, where new and returning writers consider literary adaptations from the last few years. W…

we agree!!! do weirder things to eggs, or move over:
mid-theory.com/2026/02/26/n...

This essay over the new Wuthering Heights

Article Illustrations by Carolyn Jao for Mid Theory Collective

The Sexual Politics of Pastry In Mary Gordon’s novel Final Payments, the narrator Isabel Moore marks a new phase of her life by having drunk sex with her married boss in a car. Her father dead, her Catholicism withering, Isabel…

"When bodies jiggle, shake, leak, or squirt they supply the evidence of a pleasure received. By transposing these expressions from humans to food, our chefs coax bodies to confess without claiming to have triumphed over a real woman’s self-command." Elizabeth Greeniaus on "horny chef videos."

Sunday Sounds Like Reading (and rain)

If you're an ORB subscriber, you get this linkdump in your inbox, and you know that is what you want: www.oaklandreviewofbooks.org/email/f8bfdb...

This week, we published an excerpt on the Oakland sideshow, from Alex Werth's "On Loop: Black Sonic Politics in Oakland," and it's essentially the one thing you need to read to understand the sideshow outside of the envelope of white moral panic: www.oaklandreviewofbooks.org/sideshow-his...

Mixtape #8: Spring Cleaning Spring is here! For Mixtape #8, we asked our editors and contributing writers what in culture they’re cleaning out for spring. Here are some of what we’re leaving behind and what we’re making space…

We are back from our spring hiatus with a mixtape about spring cleaning! For Mixtape #8, we asked our editors and contributing writers what in culture they’re cleaning out for spring. Here are some of what we’re leaving behind and what we’re making space for this spring.

Mixtape #8: Spring Cleaning Spring is here! For Mixtape #8, we asked our editors and contributing writers what in culture they’re cleaning out for spring. Here are some of what we’re leaving behind and what we’re making space…

We are back from our spring hiatus with a mixtape about spring cleaning! For Mixtape #8, we asked our editors and contributing writers what in culture they’re cleaning out for spring. Here are some of what we’re leaving behind and what we’re making space for this spring.

Who’s Afraid of AO3? Adaptation is everywhere! In the spring of 2026, MTC is running a new series called Adaptation Anxiety, where new and returning writers consider literary adaptations from the last few years. W…

In our latest installment of our 'Adaptation Anxiety' series, Emily Coccia scrutinizes the oft-cited charge that a work of adaptation reads like 'fanfiction' as a short-hand for a host of complaints about recent works written and/or directed by women.

"Treated as a blight on the landscape of modern media, fanfic has become an easy scapegoat when the relationship between aesthetics, profit, and prestige falls out of alignment."

You can read other pieces in the series here: mid-theory.com/category/cha...

Who’s Afraid of AO3? Adaptation is everywhere! In the spring of 2026, MTC is running a new series called Adaptation Anxiety, where new and returning writers consider literary adaptations from the last few years. W…

In our latest installment of our 'Adaptation Anxiety' series, Emily Coccia scrutinizes the oft-cited charge that a work of adaptation reads like 'fanfiction' as a short-hand for a host of complaints about recent works written and/or directed by women.

Coming this fall! Started as a Twitter (RIP) conversation and now it’s got a most pleasing cover!

​​Hamnet’s Handholding Adaptation is everywhere! In the spring of 2026, MTC is running a new series called Adaptation Anxiety, where new and returning writers consider literary adaptations from the last few years. W…

In our latest installment of our "Adaptation Anxiety" series, MTC contributing writer Omid Bagherli writes about 'Hamnet' and the Oscar-winning film's unsteady and anxious relationship with O'Farrell's novel, with hands held and misread, and with "capital L Literature."

​​Hamnet’s Handholding Adaptation is everywhere! In the spring of 2026, MTC is running a new series called Adaptation Anxiety, where new and returning writers consider literary adaptations from the last few years. W…

In our latest installment of our "Adaptation Anxiety" series, MTC contributing writer Omid Bagherli writes about 'Hamnet' and the Oscar-winning film's unsteady and anxious relationship with O'Farrell's novel, with hands held and misread, and with "capital L Literature."

Our Mary Shelley, Ourselves Adaptation is everywhere! In the spring of 2026, MTC is running a new series called Adaptation Anxiety, where new and returning writers consider literary adaptations from the last few years. W…

Happy Oscar Sunday to all those who celebrate. For your consideration, we offer this brilliant analysis of Frankenstein and the abiding anxiety over adapting Shelley's monstrous masterpiece.

Our Mary Shelley, Ourselves Adaptation is everywhere! In the spring of 2026, MTC is running a new series called Adaptation Anxiety, where new and returning writers consider literary adaptations from the last few years. W…

Happy Oscar Sunday to all those who celebrate. For your consideration, we offer this brilliant analysis of Frankenstein and the abiding anxiety over adapting Shelley's monstrous masterpiece.

#ScholarSunday Thread 267 (3/15/26) – Black and White and Read All Over Before tonight’s Oscars, I’d like to nominate myself for Best Supporting Scholar with my 267th #ScholarSunday thread of great public scholarly writing, podcasts, new & forthcoming books from the past ...

Before the Oscars, I’m nominating myself for Best Supporting Scholar with my 267th #ScholarSunday thread of great public scholarly writing, podcasts, new & forthcoming books from the past week. Add more below, share widely, & the winner will be … all of us! 🗃️

blackwhiteandread.com/scholarsunda...

Our Mary Shelley, Ourselves Adaptation is everywhere! In the spring of 2026, MTC is running a new series called Adaptation Anxiety, where new and returning writers consider literary adaptations from the last few years. We ask…

Our "Adaptation Anxiety" series continues with MTC contributing writer Charline Jao discussing the recent adaptation of Frankenstein and our protective, possessive attachments to Mary Shelley.

"What is this need to tear Shelley away from her intellectual influences, desires, and complexity?"

Our Mary Shelley, Ourselves Adaptation is everywhere! In the spring of 2026, MTC is running a new series called Adaptation Anxiety, where new and returning writers consider literary adaptations from the last few years. We ask…

Our "Adaptation Anxiety" series continues with MTC contributing writer Charline Jao discussing the recent adaptation of Frankenstein and our protective, possessive attachments to Mary Shelley.

"What is this need to tear Shelley away from her intellectual influences, desires, and complexity?"

Commune or Council Quantum Facility and Environmental Justice Campaign led by Southside Together in Chicago, IL. Photography by Matthew Kaplan. When you think about communism in the US, if you think about it at all, …

"Rather than being mediated by parties or trade unions, self-organized movements are led by those on the ground, with an absence of hierarchical leadership structures: the doer decides. In addition, the commune and workers’ councils both necessarily entail the occupation of physical space."

Commune or Council Quantum Facility and Environmental Justice Campaign led by Southside Together in Chicago, IL. Photography by Matthew Kaplan. When you think about communism in the US, if you think about it at all, …

MTC contributing writer Matthew Beeber reviews recent books that return Paris Commune of 1871 as way of thinking about contemporary leftist uprisings and the future of revolution.

Commune or Council Quantum Facility and Environmental Justice Campaign led by Southside Together in Chicago, IL. Photography by Matthew Kaplan. When you think about communism in the US, if you think about it at all, …

“If we’ve learned anything from revolutionary history, it’s that we won’t know how it will look until it happens.” Brilliant review by Matt on recent works on history of the left.

Books under review: 'The Commune Form: The Transformation of Everyday Life' by Kristen Ross and 'The Future of Revolutions: Communist Prospects from the Paris Commune to the George Floyd Uprising' by Jasper Bernes. Both published by Verso in 2024 and 2024 respectively. @versobooks.bsky.social

Commune or Council Quantum Facility and Environmental Justice Campaign led by Southside Together in Chicago, IL. Photography by Matthew Kaplan. When you think about communism in the US, if you think about it at all, …

MTC contributing writer Matthew Beeber reviews recent books that return Paris Commune of 1871 as way of thinking about contemporary leftist uprisings and the future of revolution.

Foiled Forms: A Review of Nina McConigley’s ‘How to Commit a Postcolonial Murder’ The novel resists resolution at every turn, repeatedly identifying a satisfying story arc and then refusing to take the exit. How to Commit a Postcolonial Murder, the debut novel by Indian-Irish-Am…

Maggie Boyd reviews Nina McConigley's debut novel HOW TO COMMIT A POSTCOLONIAL MURDER and the author's self-conscious attempt to foil certain novelistic expectations.

"The novel resists resolution at every turn, repeatedly identifying a satisfying story arc and then refusing to take the exit."

MTC is running a series of reading & writing groups this spring & summer. Our first reading group on the recent English translation of Punjabi novella Keeru by Fauzia Rafique hosted by Nico Millman & the translator Haider Shabaz will meet on April 15 @ 6pm ET.
Sign up here: tinyurl.com/yfvycxut

Congratulations to Jess! You can read her piece for MTC on precarity and platform hygiene MTC:
mid-theory.com/2025/04/03/o...