Variant Literature

Congratulations!! ✨️

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Day 4 of the #sealeychallenge

August 4th- Ragnarok at the Father Daughter Dance, Todd Dillard with @variantlit.bsky.social

@toddedillard.bsky.social always knows how to bring the gut punch ending

Lemon Grove Writers has collected all of our Writing Sprint prompts into a PDF and all sales made in August will be sent to the Palestinian Children’s Relief Fund.

lemongrovewriters.com/products/pro...

I begin the day thinking the day could do without / me. The ice outside glitters around

Love a @taylorbyas.bsky.social poem!!!! poets.org/poem/i-begin... I begin the day thinking by Taylor Byas - Poems | Academy of American Poets

Sealey starts Friday! grab great poetry collections at our website! poetry chapbooks are only $10 for a limited time: buff.ly/9GbHZii

Ragnarök at the Father-Daughter Dance The titular father of Todd Dillard’s marvelous chapbook Ragnarök at the Father-Daughter Dance quickly tells us “It’s my job to find the dead.” And so he does, navigating surfaced graveyards, …

if you're looking for a quick and strange read for the Sealey Challenge, please consider my chapbook "Ragnarök at the Father-Daughter Dance" !!!!!

variantlit.com/product/td/

CurioVox offers education and consulting services from writer David Ryan, author of the forthcoming collection, Alligator (C4G Books). His earlier, Animals in Motion: Stories (Roundabout Press), Kirkus reviewed as “A debut collection of stories—one of the best in recent memory…. Ryan has plainly been honing his craft, because the 13 tales here are the work of a writer who knows exactly what he’s doing—and challenges the reader to figure out how he’s doing it…”

New remote classes starting this week with David Ryan: Studies in Shadow Form (starts tomorrow, Thursday, 7/24) and Irrealism: Surrealism and the Lyric Essay (starts Sunday, 7/27). His classes are so inspiring and generative! More info and signup here:

curiovox.com/185-2/

Summer At The Movies! A Writing Practice Inspired by Classic Summer Films Every Saturdays in August, we’ll revisit an iconic summer movie and send you writing prompts throughout the week inspired by its characters, mood, and unforgettable scenes.

This August! A month of summer-movie inspired writing prompts. It's free and fun and begins August 2nd!
Considering signing up!
lemongrovewriters.com/summer-movies

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"Who can blame him for assuming
he was you?"

I love this poem by @erinmurphy.bsky.social so much! In @variantlit.bsky.social 💙💙💙

Second Person Visit the post for more.

"Second Person" by @erinmurphy.bsky.social

"I once read a poem about desire
to a man who desired me.

Who can blame him for assuming
he was you?"

Read the full poem from issue 21 on our site!

variantlit.com/second-person/

"my love, and the easel, sticky smell of oil, your lips pursed
as you whistle between strokes. I’m just gonna add some shine."

Daily reads" Laurel Benjamin in @variantlit.bsky.social ❤️

@variantlit.bsky.social’s own @barbaralockmd.bsky.social Her story’s sunlit-subtle menace will have you looking over your shoulder in a literary way!

What's in the box?

Celebrate Halloween early with Ploughshares! Join us at 6pm on July 16th at Trident Booksellers in Boston, MA, for the launch of our sinister Summer 2025 issue, guest-edited by Victor LaValle and filled with werewolves, monsters, and more. Register here: https://pshr.us/sinistersummerlaunch

Sho no 7 fresh off the press

It’s been two years since we released our revival issue, and we’re excited to share our summer issue, which features 67 poems by 48 poets!

Now shipping: shopoetryjournal.com/product/sho-...

Poem: "Woman Posing as Bell Pepper" After Edward Weston’s photograph “Pepper No. 30” By Laurel Benjamin This is the part where I remove my skirt, shirt, and everything else. Curl hands over shoulders, squinch my knees until my shoulders

Read the poem "Woman Posing as Bell Pepper" by Laurel Benjamin from issue 21

variantlit.com/woman-posing...

My first book will be out May 2026 🖤

Have you read our newest issue yet?!?

A delightful and tender piece that I could read over and over and over again.

What an honor! Thanks @variantlit.bsky.social for seeing something in this story!

"I’m not depressed though; I’m lovesick, she tells the girl putting on orange lipstick in the mirror. She presses her glossy lips together over a folded white napkin...there’s a perfect print of two coral lips—a Rorschach test: a butterfly. a boy."
Daily reads: Laci Mosier in @variantlit.bsky.social

Congratulations to the Variant writers on the Wigleaf Top 50 2025 Longlist!

@danbillyc.bsky.social "Kilter" (Spring 2024)

@courtludwick.bsky.social "Quarter" (Spring 2024)

@emilyrinkema.bsky.social "The Interview" (Fall 2024)

@sarahroth.bsky.social "Postnatural" (Winter 2024)

Very grateful to appear on the long list! Big 💙 to @variantlit.bsky.social @trossiwriter.bsky.social for first publishing this flash and to all the @wigleaf.bsky.social editors! Congrats to you all making the Top 50 and long list!💙

On editing are we done yet?

I've written a bit about the Editing process and how it's like a Sunday sail on a lake FULL OF CROCODILES
Have a read and please do share if you dig it

open.substack.com/pub/barbarab...

I touch your hand and feel
absurd

Congratulations Elijah! In case you missed it, read this @wigleaf.bsky.social Top 50 here:

We're so excited to see "The Proposed" by Elijah Sparkman in The @wigleaf.bsky.social Top 50! Read it here: variantlit.com/the-proposed/

From the poem "Ginsberg in Purgatory" by Oliver Brooks "While we’re here in hell’s waiting room, surrounded by tabloids and hairdo mags,                I touch your hand and feel absurd. I want                to worship at the church of your dirt, smell"

Read the rest of the poem "Ginsberg in Purgatory" by @oliverbrooks.bsky.social from Variant issue 21:

variantlit.com/ginsberg-in-...