Molly McCully Brown

"success" in a creative field for me means understanding more deeply what i want to do creatively—and getting to do it

“If we're not supposed to dance, / Why all this music?”

— Gregory Orr

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This poem appeared in Concerning the Book That Is the Body Of the Beloved by Gregory Orr, published by Copper Canyon Press, 2005. Shared here with deep gratitude.

It was “NO” yesterday.
It’s “NO” today.
And it’ll be “NO” when it gets to the House.

I’m not voting for something that forces millions of Americans to choose between seeing a doctor and putting food on their table.

Remembering Ellen Bryant Voigt Catherine Barnett, Victoria Chang, Meghan O’Rourke, and Carl Phillips remember the poet Ellen Bryant Voigt.

Ellen Bryant Voigt—poet and founder of the first low-residency MFA program—transformed American poetry and the way it’s taught. Catherine Barnett, @victoriachang.bsky.social, @cphillipspoet.bsky.social, and @meghanor.bsky.social pay tribute to a singular mentor. yalereview.org/article/trib...

Yesterday we received word that the Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services (OSERS) within Dept of Ed (DoEd) was gutted--right now we believe there is no one or nearly no one left. But what does it mean? 1/11

I don't know how else to tell you this: generative AI, the dismantling of Dept of Ed, defunding science, MAHA, banned books. They're of a piece. They're trying to disenfranchise you of your brain. Keep thinking.

Crucial writing from @bethmacy.bsky.social :

Sweet old hound in the very last of the summer light. Working very hard to attend to beauty, not in denial of the horror of this moment, but as a reminder to stay resolute in fighting for everything good in the world.

Are we just an RFK hate site now?
www.disability-rights-watch.com/2025/09/07/w...

@zibrak.bsky.social @feltman.bsky.social oh man, you two would love each other!

Loved writing this little piece about how to conceptualize the value of a creative writing degree for @pw.org :

YES! We’re all so lucky we’re about to get this brilliant, urgent, expansive book from @zibrak.bsky.social :

The devastating flu epidemic of 1918 was particularly dangerous for young adults, for people in their prime, who died by the millions. But RFK Jr. is too stupid to know that. Link below.

Honestly I’ve spent a lot of my adult life watching Stephen in all his brilliant iterations. My heart breaks. But @stephencolbert.bsky.social go back to @thedailyshow.com!!

Opinion | I’m a Genocide Scholar. I Know It When I See It.

“When an ethnic group has nowhere to go and is constantly displaced from one so-called safe zone to another, relentlessly bombed and starved, ethnic cleansing can morph into genocide.”

www.nytimes.com/2025/07/15/o...

Image journal issue 125 Loss & Solace: During Molly McCully Brown’s tenure as editor in chief, we’re developing loosely themed issues that highlight connections across pieces and genres. In her editorial, she writes: “Togeth...

There's so much beauty to discover here:

Taxonomies of Grief - Image Journal The world warms up, the prairifire crabapple trees begin to drop their blossoms in almost technicolor puddles on the sidewalks in my neighborhood and, as if in concert, the base of my neck gets heavy ...

The summer issue of Image Journal is live today & full of so many gems, including a last poem from the late, extraordinary @marthasilano.bsky.social. My editorial essay, on taxonomies of grief is shot through with gratitude for the solace this work provides. I'm honored to share it all:

What to the Slave Is the Fourth of July? The speech shows the moral outrage that powered the abolition movement and made it so threatening to Southern slave holders, but also to anyone willing to tolerate or ignore slavery.

"We need the storm, the whirlwind, & the earthquake. The feeling of the nation must be quickened; the conscience of the nation must be roused; the propriety of the nation must be startled; the hypocrisy of the nation must be exposed; & its crimes against God & man must be proclaimed & denounced."

This incredible, generous, accessible resource from @zibrak.bsky.social is officially live today! A primer on exactly the kind of artistic and cultural history those in power are most intent on silencing and erasing right now, this series is smart, approachable, and full of wonder. Check it out!

You guys should support our statewide LGBTQ advocacy org and get this sick ass hat

www.wyomingequality.org/store/p/new-...

“Anyone who writes is a seeker. You look at a blank page and you’re seeking. The role is assigned to us and never removed. I think this is an unbelievable blessing. I mean, to be seventy-eight years old and still looking—this amazes me.” —Louise Glück buff.ly/lgqE3GU

“I am part of a support group made up of people who’ve gone through periods of wanting to die and who, like me, are constantly working through how to actively engage with a world that can feel relentlessly untenable.” Hanif Abdurraqib on the uses of despair. nyer.cm/RWqO9fW

I think there's a kind of desperate hope built into poetry that one really wants, hopelessly, to save the world. One is trying to say everything that can be said for the things that one loves while there's still time.—W. S. Merwin

How to call Congress—when the phone isn't an option Proxy calling gives some disabled people a better way to flood Capitol Hill phone lines.

www.motherjones.com/politics/202...

Whatever else is true, this place was wildly beautiful. Always at home back south.

Hi, @motherjones.com disabled disability reporter here, I really want to hear about how tariffs are impacting disabled, chronically ill, and aging folks. Reposts appreciated and my email is jmetraux@motherjones.com.

Building a Nest | Los Angeles Review of Books Lauren Markham and Jenny Odell discuss people, books, and places as inspiration; grief and the creative process; and the conscious attention required by climate crisis.

"A trick of climate change, or the trick of the effects of climate change, is that some of the biggest devastation is unseen by most of us." @laurenmarkham.bsky.social in conversation with @jennitaur.bsky.social for @lareviewofbooks.bsky.social

lareviewofbooks.org/article/buil...

Meghan O’Rourke: The Work of a Little Magazine as Higher Education… Amid Trump’s attacks on higher education, making a space for literature and the arts is more important than ever.

Amid mounting attacks on higher education, @meghanor.bsky.social argues for a magazine—and a university—that keep the pilot flame of independent thought alive. New today on TYR.

yalereview.org/article/megh...