University of Virginia Won’t Join White House’s Compact for Colleges

Go Wahoos!

www.nytimes.com/2025/10/17/u...

I'm THRILLED to reveal the cover to my forthcoming anthology. What do you think?
For more information about the 28 contributors to this evocative collection, go here: www.descooper.com/black-summer... #booksky #blacksky

See you in Northern Michigan on August 27! #booksky

HELP! I'm speaking to the Children's Defense Fund's Freedom School in Hampton (VA) and want to give the 50 little scholars free copies of "Nothing Special." Will you help me raise $1000 for the books? Tag your tax-deductible gift "Nothing Special." Books are $20 ea. THANK YOU!
tinyurl.com/2kpjxkar

This Juneteenth, I hope that people of color and their allies join in passing on the beautiful breadth of our history and culture. Nothing Special in on sale now at the link below. Use the coupon code: RYAY40
#BookSky #BlackSky #Juneteenth
wsupress.wayne.edu/9780814349731/

Opinion | Like Michelle Obama, I lost my mother last year. Here’s what the year has taught me. The former first lady's openness about being in a therapy is a reminder that losing your mother in your 60s brings a particular kind of grief and worry.

#MothersDay, #Blacksky

Get the mother in your life what she really wants for Mother's Day... wsupress.wayne.edu/9780814341490/ #BookSky #BlackSky #MothersDay

substack.com/profile/8916...

During this podcast, I got to read three of my flash fictions from Know the Mother, and then we did a group “story autopsy.” It was so fun. I hope you enjoy this and every episode of Let's Deconstruct a Story! Thanks Kelly! #booksky #blacksky

This story started in my head the first time I visited a plantation while pregnant --37 years ago. We revisited the site last summer with my grandchildren, and finally, the story came together for me. Thx @fracturedlit.bsky.social! #booksky

fracturedlit.com/marked/

Canadian author Louise Penny announces U.S. boycott amid 'unprovoked trade war' In a Facebook post, the murder mystery author said she does not feel she can enter the U.S. "until that economic sword, that could throw hundreds of thousands of Canadians (as well as Americans) into ...

Resist, writers. Resist. #booksky

How Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie Wrote Her Way Through Loss (Gift Article) When her father died, the author of “Americanah” produced a slim work of nonfiction. When her mother died, she poured her grief into a sprawling 416-page novel.

Write right now...especially now.
"Marilyn Nelson wrote in an email, 'current events seem to cry out to be written about in poetry and fiction as well as journalism, because people have to understand them in order to stop them.'”
#booksky

Hundreds of Artists Call on N.E.A. to Roll Back Trump’s Restrictions (Gift Article) A letter signed by 463 playwrights, poets, dancers, visual artists and others pushes back against new grant requirements that bar the promotion of diversity or “gender ideology.”

Hundreds of Artists Call on N.E.A. to Roll Back Trump’s Restrictions
#Booksky

Julianne Moore says her book about embracing differences was removed from Pentagon-run schools | CNN Oscar winner Julianne Moore claims her children’s book “Freckleface Strawberry” was banned by the Department of Defense’s Education Activity, a global network of 160 schools serving military families.

When in the Dr. Seuss have children's books NOT been about uniqueness and being "different?" Listen, my friends. If they came come after white women and freckles, they can come for you.

‘Demon Copperhead’ Explored Addiction. Its Profits Built a Recovery House. (Gift Article) Barbara Kingsolver has put royalties from her Pulitzer Prize-winning novel to work in the region it portrayed, starting a home for women in recovery.

This is wonderful.

Reading guide: The Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro | The Booker Prizes Whether you’re new to The Remains of the Day or have read it and would like to explore it more deeply, here is our comprehensive guide

I just read Remains of the Day almost in one sitting. I was left in tears. It hit different in this moment when I am searching so hard for the answer to the question about how so many good people can be caught up and complicit with today's horrors.

thebookerprizes.com/the-booker-l...

Black history is American history. www.descooper.com/nothing-spec...

The worst thing that happened to me yesterday (MLK Day, Inauguration Day) was finding out that my friend who is a Mexican immigrant with mixed race Black children and grandchildren was unaware of both. Jesus, Joseph, and Mary how in the world????????

I met her many times and admired her strength and leadership during the years I was at Planned Parenthood. What a day for her to pass the torch.

Cecile Richards, former Planned Parenthood president, has died | CNN Cecile Richards, the former president of Planned Parenthood, has died, her family said Monday in a statement. She was 67.

We have lost a great warrior. What a day for her to leave us.
www.cnn.com/2025/01/20/u...

He’s moving the inauguration indoors bc it’s too cold and he wants to invade Greenland? It’s a damn ice sheet!

Trump's inauguration will be held indoors due to frigid weather forecast The last time a swearing-in was held indoors was Ronald Reagan's second inauguration.

I guess it's good they didn't burn it down a year ago.

Supreme Court Backs Law Requiring TikTok to Be Sold or Banned: Live Updates (Gift Article) The decision came a week after the justices heard a First Amendment challenge to a law aimed at the wildly popular short-form video platform used by 170 million Americans that the government fears cou...

Here's my question: how many times can we build intricate, meaningful communities on volatile, privately-owned platforms?

It's like you build a world and then it disappears (or you're forced to flee).

I guess hell is freezing over.

www.msn.com/en-us/weathe...

Tonight's waxing gibbous. How small our planetary chaos must look from there.

Me, too! One more change to get used to!

What Would A Woman Do To An Unconscious Man If She Thought No-One Would Find Out? I’ve been thinking about this a lot over the course of the trial of Dominique Pelicot and his fellow accused: what would a woman do to an unconscious man if she thought no-one would find out?

The truth of her words makes this all the more traumatizing.
annawharton.substack.com/p/what-would...

Opinion | The Disappearance of Literary Men Should Worry Everyone (Gift Article) What happens if half the population is no longer involved in reading and writing?

This is much to ponder. www.nytimes.com/2024/12/07/o...