ELP_Storyteller

Congratulations to Amita Basu, Metaworker author, Pushcart Prize nominee, & former slush reader, on the publication of her new book of short stories, At Play! We're excited to share this with you--go buy a copy!

US - www.amazon.com/Play-other-s...
India - www.amazon.in/At-Play-stor...

Hello! We're The Metaworker. We publish unconventional, diverse, intentionally crafted writing, art, and more! Every Monday at noon PT.

Send us work that surprises, makes us ponder, upends stereotypes. If it fits on a website and is unlike anything we've published, we want to see it!

When I was little, the U.S. military came to our home at gunpoint and took me and my family away. We were imprisoned for years in barbed wire camps simply because we were Japanese American. I have spent my life telling that story, hoping it would never be repeated.

"Your neighbors hose down windows and doors. They spray you by accident. Not that you care." - excerpt from You Forget How Wet A Fire Is, non-fiction by Mitch Kampf

themetaworker.com/2025/07/21/y...

Listing of the Day Today's listing of the day is: The Metaworker Literary Magazine @themetaworker.bsky.social #WritingCommunity

Today's listing of the day is: The Metaworker Literary Magazine @themetaworker.bsky.social #WritingCommunity

Get more from Beneath Ceaseless Skies on Patreon creating an online fantasy magazine & podcast

The BCS Patreon has fallen below the monthly amount we need to keeping paying our authors a pro rate and our First Readers a worthy honorarium. Sometimes folks need to lower or pause their support; we understand. But <1% of our readership donates or supports. www.patreon.com/beneath_ceas... 1/2

An unexpected green roof benefit: purging urban rainfall of practically all microplastics In a laboratory-scale study, green roof mockups kept 97.5 percent of microplastic particles out of runoff

In a laboratory-scale study, green roofs captured 97.5% of microplastic particles in soil keeping them out of runoff, in addition to substantial heating and cooling benefits.

www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2025/07/an-u...

ICYMI: listen to our recent podcast series featuring our 2024 #Pushcart nominees!

Here's an excerpt from Part 2, featuring @reyzlgrace, Carol E. Anderson, and Allister Nelson
themetaworker.com/2025/05/23/p...

#TheMetaworker

This is a fascinating thread (and the back and forth is fantastic.)

My general feeling is that I’m a 95% positive reinforcement person in dog training and I don’t know why I’d treat actual human beings worse than a dog.

“Is there any sign of life?”
“Have we heard a heartbeat?”
“Does she feel any kicking?”
“We don’t have the equipment to do that.”

That’s the full 911 audio from a nurse inside an ICE detention center near Denver, calling for help as a four-months-pregnant woman bled and cried out in pain.

2025 Ignyte Awards Shortlist Announcement: Public Voting Now Open June 9-Aug 15

Public voting for the #IgnyteAwards is now open thru August 15. Voting is free and open, no membership required. The voting page includes links to where you can find the published works and hopefully engage with them to inform your vote.

ignyteawards.fiyahlitmag.com/vote/

Incredible turnout for the #NoKings protest in Los Angeles!

A reminder that if the government can send migrants to a prison camp without any due process, it can send U.S. citizens there, too. I know because this happened to me and my family in 1942.

Japanese American National Museum takes a stand against DOGE cuts to NEH The National Endowment for the Humanities warned museums across the country that it was slashing funding, including money previously pledged to places such as LACMA and the Japanese American National ...

Can we get more of this? “The Japanese American National Museum will ‘scrub nothing,’ Fujioka said, and instead will highlight the importance of DEI.

“Our community is based on diversity, equity is guaranteed to us in the Constitution, and inclusion is what we believe in,” Fujioka said.

Drawn to the Library, National Library Week. April 6-12, 2025. Colorful cartoon illustration of young people at the library drawing, sewing, reading together, and asking the librarian a question.

#NationalLibraryWeek kicks off today! It’s a time to celebrate the places that welcome everyone, spark curiosity, and strengthen our communities.

This week, take a moment to discover—or rediscover—what makes your library special.

What draws you to the library?
ilovelibraries.org/national-lib...

Shapeshifting by Leda Muscatello - The Metaworker Literary Magazine "I gave you this, she says / hands too full of tension to getsure" - excerpt from Shapeshifting, poetry by Leda Muscatello. #TheMetaworker #MetaworkerMonday

"I gave you this, she says / hands too full of tension to getsure" - excerpt from Shapeshifting, #poetry by Leda Muscatello @aledaratti.bsky.social
#TheMetaworker #MetaworkerMonday #writingcommunity

themetaworker.com/2025/03/31/s...

Published Doesn’t Mean Paid. I want to talk about money. (Ugh, I know. How crass.) Specifically, how much money authors make, or more accurately, don’t. I signed my publishing deal in 2023. My advance was £2,500. That’s it. I w...

Publishing looks glossy from the outside. Inside? It’s built on unpaid labour.

My first book is out this year.
Here’s what I actually got paid, what my contract says, & why most authors can’t afford to do this twice.

kristie-de-garis.ghost.io/published-do...

#Publishing #Books #Author #Writer

being an indie bookseller in the helltimes has felt both very stable and very stabilizing, and part of me wishes everyone could be on my side of the counter for a little while, because I think it would help some of you be a little less cynical and doomy right now. so here is my VERY anecdotal data:

Desiccation Daze by Marla Dial Moore - The Metaworker Literary Magazine "I used to believe / in water-- / even when the world / told me blood / is thicker..." - excerpt from Dessication Daze, a #poem by Marla Dial Moore #MetaworkerMonday #TheMetaworker

"I used to believe / in water-- / even when the world / told me blood / is thicker..." - excerpt from Dessication Daze, a #poem by Marla Dial Moore #MetaworkerMonday #TheMetaworker
themetaworker.com/2025/03/10/d...

Just finished watching Flow, which won this year's Best Animated Feature Academy Award. Goodness, it was beautiful! Both the storytelling and the animation were wonderful! Go see it :)

10 unique community-led conservation solutions in the face of environmental despair Numerous events and policy decisions across the world in the last several months are causing despair among many environmentalists. The abrupt freeze, and potential termination, of international funds for conservation have hit global conservation and environmental projects, resulting in the halt of activities that have so far aided forest and wildlife conservation and supported Indigenous […]

While recent events concern conservationists and climate researchers alike, community-led solutions continue with proven successes for #biodiversity #conservation & people

Here, @mongabay.bsky.social lists 10 unique community- & #Indigenous -led initiatives with positive & proven impacts:

This article is going around.

I know most of y'all who follow me already know this stuff. But for anyone unfamiliar, I'm happy to chat about it - what this is, whether and how it matters, and what you can do. 🌱🦋

Before the internet, how the LA Public Library helped readers pick their next novel The Los Angeles Public Library stores thousands of index cards with staff reviews of books dating back to the 1920s. A librarian explains how they were used and what we can learn from them today.

The Los Angeles Public Library stores thousands of index cards with staff reviews of books dating back to the 1920s. A librarian explains how they were used and what we can learn from them today.

Indie bookstores have been growing and mostly thriving for the past decade. But it's a rough time for a lot of booksellers right now --- if you have any disposable income please spend $$ at your local bookstore or bookshop.org. You'll be investing in your own community.

And pls join us Saturday!

Most conservation funds go to large vertebrates at expense of ‘neglected’ species Study shows funding bias towards animals like rhino while other endangered species including amphibians and algae disregarded

A recent study found funding bias towards large vertebrates at the expense of less charismatic species. 🌍🧪

Read more @theguardian.com www.theguardian.com/environment/...

Listen to our podcast episode on this topic: www.podbean.com/ew/pb-j54ym-...

Field on Butternut by Max Newman - The Metaworker Literary Magazine "We could have climbed into the moon. Instead / we biked in the metalshadows beneath Ohioan / hills everything hung still in the air" - excerpt from Field on Butternut, a #poem by Max Newman

"We could have climbed into the moon. Instead / we biked in the metalshadows beneath Ohioan / hills everything hung still in the air" - excerpt from Field on Butternut, a #poem by Max Newman
#MetaworkerMonday #TheMetaworker #literarymagazines #writingcommunity
themetaworker.com/2025/03/03/f...

The Memory House by Maddison Scott - The Metaworker Literary Magazine "I sit beside [my mother], pull out a bag of chips and open a word puzzle on my phone. She reaches over and places her hand atop mine. I freeze. It’s been years since she’s initiated a touch." - excer...

"I sit beside [my mother], pull out a bag of chips and open a word puzzle on my phone. She reaches over and places her hand atop mine." - excerpt from The Memory House, #fiction by Maddison Scott

#TheMetaworker #MetaworkerMonday #writingcommunity #literarymagazines
themetaworker.com/2025/02/24/m...

Lol John Oliver set up a how-to guide for how to make Meta make less ad $$$ from you. johnoliverwantsyourraterotica.com