Abby Manzella

Ohhh, are we in this collection together? How fun!

Thanks, Melissa!💜

I will look forward to checking it out. Thanks.

Interesting! Thanks for sharing!

Thanks for sharing your work, Lisa, as well as that other suggestions. I will look forward to the reading!

I am looking for short creative essays that are about place and/or writing about place. Any suggestions?

Thanks, and I, too, am really looking forward to seeing it!

I'm delighted to report that my micro "Welcome to Death Valley and Other Eco-Crisis Tours" will be in the forthcoming Ghost Parachute Anthology. Thanks @brettpribble.bsky.social and the rest of the team! It looks like it's going to be a great collection!

Announcing the 2025 National Book Critics Circle Finalists for the John Leonard Prize!

Thanks, Erin!

Thanks, Christina! It's is a near-future piece about what happens when people are afraid to read books.

the spring cover for Raleigh Review

I'm happy to be a finalist for the Raleigh Review Flash Fiction Prize! My piece will be published in their spring issue.

national book critics circle 2025 LONGLIST NONFICTION America, América: A New History of the New World, by Greg Grandin (Penguin Press) Daughters of the Bamboo Grove: From China to America, a True Story of Abduction, Adoption, and Separated Twins, by Barbara Demick (Random House) Empire of Al: Dreams and Nightmares in Sam Altman's OpenAl, by Karen Hao (Penguin Press) The Intermediaries: A Weimar Story, by Brandy Schillace (W.W. Norton) King of Kings: The Iranian Revolution, a Story of Hubris, Delusion and Catastrophic Miscalculation, by Scott Anderson (Doubleday) Misbehaving at the Crossroads: Essays & Writings, by Honorée Fanonne Jeffers (Harper) No More Tears: The Dark Secrets of Johnson & Johnson, by Gardiner Harris (Random House) A Return to Self: Excursions in Exile, by Aatish Taser (Catapult) Sick and Dirty: Hollywood's Gay Golden Age and the Making of Modern Queerness, by Michael Koresky (Bloomsbury) Strangers in the Land: Exclusion, Belonging, and the Epic Story of the Chinese in America, by Michael Luo (Doubleday)

national book critics circle 2025 LONGLIST NONFICTION America, América: A New History of the New World, by Greg Grandin (Penguin Press) Daughters of the Bamboo Grove: From China to America, a True Story of Abduction, Adoption, and Separated Twins, by Barbara Demick (Random House) Empire of Al: Dreams and Nightmares in Sam Altman's OpenAl, by Karen Hao (Penguin Press) The Intermediaries: A Weimar Story, by Brandy Schillace (W.W. Norton) King of Kings: The Iranian Revolution, a Story of Hubris, Delusion and Catastrophic Miscalculation, by Scott Anderson (Doubleday) Misbehaving at the Crossroads: Essays & Writings, by Honorée Fanonne Jeffers (Harper) No More Tears: The Dark Secrets of Johnson & Johnson, by Gardiner Harris (Random House) A Return to Self: Excursions in Exile, by Aatish Taser (Catapult) Sick and Dirty: Hollywood's Gay Golden Age and the Making of Modern Queerness, by Michael Koresky (Bloomsbury) Strangers in the Land: Exclusion, Belonging, and the Epic Story of the Chinese in America, by Michael Luo (Doubleday)

Announcing the National Book Critics Circle 2025 Longlist for Nonfiction

Announcing the National Book Critics Circle 2025 Longlist for Fiction

Hybrid Interview: Karen Babine - CRAFT Essay by Abby Manzella • In Karen Babine’s latest memoir, The Allure of Elsewhere: A Memoir of Going Solo (Milkweed 2025), the author preps her Scamp camper and drives from her home in Minnesota to th...

Thanks, Adam. I wrote on Karen Babine's latest. (It includes an interview but begins with my complete take.) www.craftliterary.com/2025/07/30/h...

During some commutes, I’d stop the car to catch the beauty of the fall fields with my camera. I then wrote some lighthearted poems to go with the images. tinyurl.com/4msudt5n

Hey Flash writers (fiction and nonfiction)! I have some pieces coming out in this micro-a-day calendar for 2027, and I'd love to have you join me! Consider submitting to this fun project! #flash #flashfiction #flashlit #submissioncall

Nonfiction writers, what journals are you reading and where are you sending your most lyric essays? I'm looking for those places that are interested in experimentation and the poetic.

I really like this podcast for just these reasons!

We’re proud to share that essays by Christina Sharpe and Namwali Serpell from The Yale Review are included in The Best American Essays 2025, edited by Jia Tolentino.

Thanks so much, Claudia! I am glad you enjoyed it.

Welcome to Death Valley and Other Eco-Crisis Tours — Ghost Parachute Do you want to get away from the wildly fluctuating weather in your area (and who doesn’t)? Do you lack the funds to hop into a phallic spaceship heading up to the stratosphere? Do you want to see all...

A good topic. Here's one I wrote. ghostparachute.com/issue/februa...

Thank you!!!

Thanks, Kathleen!

Thanks, Dan! I plan to be writing some flash!

Thank you!!!

That is great to hear!

I’m happy to announce that I have been awarded a fellowship to stay at Porches Writing Retreat to work on my nonfiction! I’m looking forward to getting back to Virginia for a little bit in 2026!

I'm always glad to read more about the Dust Bowl! Thanks for sharing!

Oh! And the book is brand new!