Aaron Colton

It was a treat to talk with @andeamarzocchi.bsky.social about writer's block in literary fiction on @smallgoodpodcast.bsky.social

Listen here: www.spreaker.com/episode/writ...

New episode out today (you really don’t want to miss this one)!
What can fictional representations of blocked short story writers teach us about writer’s block and what causes it? Listen to this episode with @acolton.bsky.social to find out!

Listen here: www.spreaker.com/episode/writ...

Ah the freedom to experience life as nothing but consumption!

Seasons are such a scam. Hoodie weather for 345 days a year is what I want

Was lucky to have @manshel.bsky.social's article on high-school English on hand in today's seminar on Percival Everett. The mock novel in Erasure is described as "the kind of book they will be reading in high schools thirty years from now"—the students spent a whole class unpacking that line!

a recommendation: if you’re an english or history professor and you’ve not recently read sample ap essays earning top marks, you might want to check out what hundreds of thousands of high school students think counts as excellent college level work

@modernlanguage.bsky.social CFP: session sponsored by Association of Departments of English on academic novels and administration call-for-papers.sas.upenn.edu/cfp/2026/02/... #MLA2027 #CFP #AcademicNovel #CampusNovel #Administration #DepartmentChair #Leadership #CriticalUniversityStudies

Wait, this isn't the Leland Palmer wake scene?

Three weeks left to apply!

Much as GoFundMe is no replacement for national health care, ten thousand individual newsletters by really excellent writers is no replacement for their institutional employment.

I LOVE @thesundaylongread.bsky.social and frequently peruse for new stories to teach. Such a fun surprise to see my Doomsday Clock piece in this week’s edition!

Ed tech is profitable. It is also mostly useless Independent research identifies few learning gains

Blistering piece on ed tech in @economist.com.

‘Although ed-tech companies tout huge learning gains, independent research has made clear that technology rarely boosts learning in schools—and often impairs it.’
economist.com/united-state...

Here's an example I'm experimenting with in a first-year humanities course, feel free to adapt/borrow/etc!

With many thanks to @annakornbluh.bsky.social's against-a-i.com for both the memes and the wisdom

Coming soon to a faculty workshop near you!

Writing Through Writer’s Block with author, educator Aaron Colton Podcast Episode · Talk of the Bay from KSQD · 01/10/2026 · 53m

How rad it was to be on KSQD (K-Squid!) talking with @pkreports.bsky.social about writer's block in fiction and practice. Podcast below!

The Emory Writing Program Postdoctoral Teaching Fellowship application is now open! 3/3 teaching in first-year writing with opportunities to design/instruct upper-level classes in rhet/comp. Renewable up to three years. All PhDs with experience/interest in writing are welcome to apply—share widely!

I don’t know, books do this pretty well without having to fine tune them for outputs.

Writing Through Writer’s Block

inspired by @acolton.bsky.social's Writing Through Writer's Block today: "...for writers struggling with perfectionism, procrastination, fear of failure, evaluation anxiety, or... predetermination that one is, inherently, a 'bad writer,' the fiction of writer’s block offers an invaluable resource."

ChatGPT and "Inventing the University" What we can learn from the em dash debate

This piece gets at one of the underlying reasons students turn to LLMs - because they think it makes them sound like they belong in a university setting. It's the same motive that had students overusing the thesaurus pre-ChatGPT. theimportantwork.substack.com/p/chatgpt-an...

Why Review? (opinion) We review because it’s what we do, and it’s who we are.

"The book review is central to what we do—and who we are. It is a relish worthy of savor, a form of communion that is as learned as it is precious."

www.insidehighered.com/opinion/care...

I think it would be fun if writers who love language started intentionally writing more strangely as AI flattens written "content" into a mono-voice. it would cool I think if writers responded by focusing their individual efforts on cultivating a really unique voice that's hard to copy

Brings to mind the Orwell classic: "if thought corrupts language, language can also corrupt thought"

Writing Through Writer’s Block

A book on representations of writer's block in US fiction!

Love (x1,000) this promo photo of the book from U of Iowa Press!

And to the many others whose writing or mentorship found its way into this project: @vl1959.bsky.social, @poetphd.bsky.social, @dan-sinnamon.bsky.social, @bradleyfest.bsky.social, @biblioracle.bsky.social, @manshel.bsky.social, @epikt.bsky.social, @mai-linhhong.bsky.social, @hiphination.bsky.social

A million thanks to @samcohen.bsky.social and @profdgd.bsky.social for their kind work as editors and readers.