@rubyprosenthal.bsky.social
arts & culture journalist/writer, second funniest person you know, was once called "garbage propaganda" on twitter and stands by it | All opinions are my own https://52badessays.substack.com/ https://rubyprosenthal.com/
Was really happy to interview @mbwwelch.bsky.social for @michiganquarterly.bsky.social about ON AN INLAND SEA (@beltpublishing.bsky.social), the amazing Great Lakes anthology he edited which everyone should check out!!
sites.lsa.umich.edu/mqr/2026/03/...
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!
She's a reporter trained in the art of the preface
Really, really enjoyed @kathleenmrooney.bsky.social's piece in CHIRB today—it's just the thing to read if you feel like any writing you're doing doesn't matter (hint: it DOES!). Loved this beyond words!
chireviewofbooks.com/2026/03/11/w...
🤩🤩🤩
This is an awesome anthology full of incredible writers talking about the Great Lakes!! Congrats to @mbwwelch.bsky.social and everyone else involved!!
I have a new article out in Newcity Lit today about the inimitable Camille Bordas!
lit.newcity.com/2026/02/23/c...
Truly incredible (and important) words by @mbwwelch.bsky.social for @literaryhub.bsky.social!!!
We're officially 10 years old today!
It's been quite a decade. Nearly 3,000 published reviews, interviews, essays, book lists, cover reveals, and more. Millions and millions of views. Ten years of CHIRBy awards, readings, and events bringing our literary community together...
"An absolutely necessary read," writes The Chicago Review of Books, in its roundup of “12 Must-Read Books of January 2026", which features Yale author Jonathan Gleason's stunning 'A Field Guide to Falling Ill'.
This was such a beautiful essay by @eshanisurya.bsky.social 😍
"..I didn’t know yet that in my twenties, I would become dry everywhere—dry knuckles in the winter: peeling, bleeding, cutting, blood dripping onto my laptop..."
@rubyprosenthal.bsky.social on the skin we shed, scratch free from & the new bodies we reveal
www.completesentencelit.com/post/dry-mai...
I'm in Complete Sentence Lit today! Have been a fan of this journal since I was in college and am quite grateful to be in it.
www.completesentencelit.com/post/dry-mai...
In my first for @chicagotribune.com, I interviewed Chicago-based artists Edra Soto, Ben LaMar Gay, and Sharon Udoh who are all recipients of $50,000 @unitedstatesartists.org fellowships!
www.chicagotribune.com/2026/01/14/u...
January is full of book releases you won’t want to miss, @mbwwelch.bsky.social writes. From the return of American literary icon George Saunders to a number of can’t-miss works in translation, you’ll find plenty of books to get 2026 started on the right foot.
chireviewofbooks.com/2026/01/05/1...
We're double-digits! To our readers, @mbwwelch.bsky.social writes, thank you for your continued trust and support. It’s been a beautiful ten years of talking books with you, and the best has yet to come. Here’s to decade two of the Chicago Review of Books!
chireviewofbooks.com/2026/01/05/t...
Make yourself a New Year's Resolution that you can keep! I'm back on Subst*ck :)
open.substack.com/pub/52badess...
And just like that, I finished editing one of our last @chicagorevbooks.bsky.social reviews of the year!
...which also reminded me: it's been a year since I joined the masthead as a daily editor. What a joy to edit writers you adore and be part of the @storystudiochicago.bsky.social community!
"Reiner understood how people would act in real life, how two people could love each other even if they weren’t quite done hating each other just yet."
@carriecourogen.bsky.social on the genius of Rob Reiner: https://lareviewofbooks.org/article/he-understood-us
LOVED Crawl by @maxdelsohn.bsky.social (from @graywolfpress.bsky.social) so much this year!!!
i'm so competitive, i'm listening to the new Ken Burns @pbs.org documentary and thinking "damn, Jefferson was only 33 when he worked on the Declaration of Independence? i better get moving if i want to be anything at ALL!"
that Chicagoans, when hazing you with Malört, will also consume it themselves is not at all mitigating, but rather speaks to the depravity inherent in the existence of this foul liquid, which defies physics by having an *escalating* aftertaste
"I have been delighted to see how many people are excited about literature from their hometown and region."
The Q&A for LINGERING INLAND is live!
www.press.uillinois.edu/wordpress/?p...
cc: @andyoler.bsky.social
"More than anything, I craved community. I wanted to be a Chicagoan and a writer, but mostly a Chicago writer."
@mbwwelch.bsky.social's "A City Where Words Breathe," a lovely reflection on 10 years of the CHIRBys, is out now.
chireviewofbooks.com/2025/12/08/a...
It was a delight to speak--with @bethrooney.bsky.social--to @rubyprosenthal.bsky.social of Newcity about LEAF TOWN FOREVER from @uminnpress.bsky.social (& about how capitalism is corrosive & inner children are crucial): lit.newcity.com/2025/12/04/h...
Oh yes 😁 We long to relieve a (suburban) past where things felt... Normal? Whatever that means?
Wrote two that I was really proud of!
www.jewishbookcouncil.org/book/dybbuk-...
chireviewofbooks.com/2025/07/22/l...
These are the best compliments I've ever received! 😁 Thank you very, very much
It's publication day for LEAF TOWN FOREVER, the picture book I co-wrote with my sister @bethrooney.bsky.social, illustrated by Betsy Bowen & published by @uminnpress.bsky.social! See you at one of our upcoming events, & in the meantime, add to cart! www.leaftownforever.com/news-and-event
Was super lovely to chat with @kathleenmrooney.bsky.social and @bethrooney.bsky.social about their absolutely warm and wonderful children's book LEAF TOWN FOREVER (@uminnpress.bsky.social).
lit.newcity.com/2025/12/04/h...