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Joseph Schreiber

@roughghosts.bsky.social

Reader, writer, editor, lonely wanderer. Based in Calgary, Canada. Write about books at www.roughghosts.com Essays Editor at Minor Literature[s].

2,194 Followers  |  1,023 Following  |  839 Posts  |  Joined: 05.08.2023
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Posts by Joseph Schreiber (@roughghosts.bsky.social)

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πŸ§ͺπŸŒŠπŸ¦‘πŸ³ #WhaleWednesday #AlaskaSky

05.03.2026 00:45 β€” πŸ‘ 1173    πŸ” 123    πŸ’¬ 17    πŸ“Œ 7

i’m sorry to learn the great Portuguese novelist AntΓ³nio Lobo Antunes has died. what an amazing body of work he has left

05.03.2026 11:48 β€” πŸ‘ 17    πŸ” 3    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

"something about the β€˜everything-and-nothing’ of fascism...carries itself over into the precise character of manic protest, which takes aim everywhere and nowhere all at once."

– Simon Wortham on fascism and the work of Irmgaard Keun, today at @minorliteratures.bsky.social

06.03.2026 00:03 β€” πŸ‘ 6    πŸ” 2    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 1
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Manic Joy: Irmgard Keun and the Politics of Life Under/Over Fascism β€” Simon Wortham What does anybody know about Irmgard Keun? Failed actress, encouraged by Alfred DΓΆblin to write. A darling of Weimar, her first novel Gilgi a sensation, turned into a film. Falsely accused of plagi…

"What does anybody know about Irmgard Keun? Failed actress, encouraged by Alfred DΓΆblin to write. A darling of Weimar, her first novel Gilgi a sensation, turned into a film. Falsely accused of plagiarism for her second. Banned by the Nazis ..."

minorliteratures.com/2026/03/05/m...

05.03.2026 12:44 β€” πŸ‘ 4    πŸ” 4    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
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Manic Joy: Irmgard Keun and the Politics of Life Under/Over Fascism β€” Simon Wortham What does anybody know about Irmgard Keun? Failed actress, encouraged by Alfred DΓΆblin to write. A darling of Weimar, her first novel Gilgi a sensation, turned into a film. Falsely accused of plagi…

Manic Joy: Irmgard Keun and the Politics of Life Under/Over Fascism β€” Simon Wortham minorliteratures.com/2026/03/05/m...

05.03.2026 09:19 β€” πŸ‘ 1    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
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Manic Joy: Irmgard Keun and the Politics of Life Under/Over Fascism β€” Simon Wortham What does anybody know about Irmgard Keun? Failed actress, encouraged by Alfred DΓΆblin to write. A darling of Weimar, her first novel Gilgi a sensation, turned into a film. Falsely accused of plagi…

"Keun is the great chronicler of the mania that transpires when grief is in want of an object. She is also, and in other words, the great chronicler of fascism."

Manic Joy: Irmgard Keun and the Politics of Life Under/Over Fascism β€” Simon Wortham minorliteratures.com/2026/03/05/m...

05.03.2026 09:17 β€” πŸ‘ 4    πŸ” 3    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
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She Who Remains Though the International Booker Prize longlist contains a number of well-known names, it also features writers appearing in English for the first time. She Who Remains (translated by Izidora Angel)…

Another #InternationalBookerPrize2026 review, Rene Karabash's She Who Remains, translated by Izidora Angel and published by Peirene Press:
1streading.wordpress.com/2026/03/04/s...

04.03.2026 19:36 β€” πŸ‘ 6    πŸ” 5    πŸ’¬ 2    πŸ“Œ 0
Screenshot of an X post by Senator Tom Cotton saying Iran has been an imminent threat to the United States for 47 years and that the president was right to act. Below is a Fox News segment with Cotton speaking while footage labeled β€œU.S. Central Command – Unclassified” shows a strike.

Screenshot of an X post by Senator Tom Cotton saying Iran has been an imminent threat to the United States for 47 years and that the president was right to act. Below is a Fox News segment with Cotton speaking while footage labeled β€œU.S. Central Command – Unclassified” shows a strike.

β€œImminent.” You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means.

04.03.2026 21:30 β€” πŸ‘ 12332    πŸ” 2109    πŸ’¬ 945    πŸ“Œ 191

Or you can save yourself billions and turn it all off.

04.03.2026 06:28 β€” πŸ‘ 0    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

So, I had cataract surgery yesterday and I removed the left lens from my glasses while I await surgery on the other eye and bought reading glasses which I'll need for a few months. OMG! Now I can actually read the print in the books I've been struggling with. It's like magic!

04.03.2026 00:42 β€” πŸ‘ 17    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 2    πŸ“Œ 0
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Two Poems β€” t.r. san test (the only one) did you exist in the pastβ€”yesβ€”[] have had having(had &) whenthe body has materialwants mother matter;having (had) lets me bewhen [] did notare youβ€”[] i ?β€”pitch information c…

"a nothing here, so absolute it’s like waves, automated
-collapsing-gone-backagain-repeat ..."

Two Poems β€” @thoushallkill.bsky.social

minorliteratures.com/2026/03/03/t...

03.03.2026 17:54 β€” πŸ‘ 4    πŸ” 6    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
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Two Poems β€” t.r. san test (the only one) did you exist in the pastβ€”yesβ€”[] have had having(had &) whenthe body has materialwants mother matter;having (had) lets me bewhen [] did notare youβ€”[] i ?β€”pitch information c…

Two Poems β€” t.r. san minorliteratures.com/2026/03/03/t...

03.03.2026 20:38 β€” πŸ‘ 2    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
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The Wax Child Olga Ravn’s first novel to be translated into English, The Employees, is set in the 22nd century and features such science fiction staples as androids and spaceships; her second, My Work, is a more…

My first #InternationalBookerPrize2026 review is Olga Ravn's The Wax Child, translated by Martin Aitken:
1streading.wordpress.com/2026/03/01/t...

01.03.2026 18:35 β€” πŸ‘ 7    πŸ” 4    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
Snow covered path descending through forest toward sunlit trees.

Snow covered path descending through forest toward sunlit trees.

Further along same path, more of the sunlit trees visible.

Further along same path, more of the sunlit trees visible.

At the bend in the trail, sun now hitting trees to the right.

At the bend in the trail, sun now hitting trees to the right.

Open, snow covered field with bare trees, fir tree covered slope in the distance, in bright sunlight.

Open, snow covered field with bare trees, fir tree covered slope in the distance, in bright sunlight.

Fresh snow and sunshine brightens a bleak world.

01.03.2026 06:32 β€” πŸ‘ 12    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
cream background with trace logo & quote from Otoniya J.Okot Bitek in River in an Ocean (trace, 2023)

cream background with trace logo & quote from Otoniya J.Okot Bitek in River in an Ocean (trace, 2023)

Cream background with trace logo & quote from Iryn Tushabe in River in an Ocean (trace, 2023)

Cream background with trace logo & quote from Iryn Tushabe in River in an Ocean (trace, 2023)

cream background with trace logo & quote from Lisa Ndejuru in River in an Ocean (trace, 2023).

cream background with trace logo & quote from Lisa Ndejuru in River in an Ocean (trace, 2023).

Over the next few months we will re-introduce you to thought-provoking excerpts from our groundbreaking essay collection #riverinanocean

Today, we begin with @jobitek.bsky.social, @wordsweaver.bsky.social & Lisa Ndejuru

#smallpress
#blackhistorymonth #decolonial #translation #feminist #essay

01.03.2026 00:25 β€” πŸ‘ 4    πŸ” 3    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

Sign up now! It's a great opportunity to explore an important topic.

28.02.2026 03:12 β€” πŸ‘ 4    πŸ” 1    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0
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Even in these half-dark times: The World Is Made Up Every Day by Alok Dhanwa The lights on the bridges have no end My nights are full of them I will remember the lights even in the face of death – from β€œTheatre”  (1996) In recent years, Seagull Books has been bringing the w…

ICYMI I wrote about this collection by cult Hindi poet, the first translation of his work into English by @saudaminideo.bsky.social
Even in these half-dark times: The World Is Made Up Every Day by Alok Dhanwa roughghosts.com/2026/02/26/e...

28.02.2026 03:08 β€” πŸ‘ 6    πŸ” 2    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
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A Short Post-Poetic Essay on Current Digital Methods of Culling β€” Michael Templeton The Word The entire process depends on the use and placement of specific key words. It is possible that the process can have begun many years prior to this moment in the present; that the concatena…

"Deep within the well of language is this monstrous drive which is present within the images, the phantasms which function as the supplement for the object."

A Short Post-Poetic Essay on Current Digital Methods of Culling β€” @mwtempleton.bsky.social

26.02.2026 19:04 β€” πŸ‘ 3    πŸ” 5    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
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A Short Post-Poetic Essay on Current Digital Methods of Culling β€” Michael Templeton The Word The entire process depends on the use and placement of specific key words. It is possible that the process can have begun many years prior to this moment in the present; that the concatena…

A Short Post-Poetic Essay on Current Digital Methods of Culling β€” Michael Templeton minorliteratures.com/2026/02/26/a...

27.02.2026 01:56 β€” πŸ‘ 2    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
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Even in these half-dark times: The World Is Made Up Every Day by Alok Dhanwa The lights on the bridges have no end My nights are full of them I will remember the lights even in the face of death – from β€œTheatre”  (1996) In recent years, Seagull Books has been bringing the w…

Even in these half-dark times: The World Is Made Up Every Day by Alok Dhanwa, translated by Saudamini Deo @saudaminideo.bsky.social
roughghosts.com/2026/02/26/e...

26.02.2026 09:24 β€” πŸ‘ 5    πŸ” 3    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
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Even in these half-dark times: The World Is Made Up Every Day by Alok Dhanwa The lights on the bridges have no end My nights are full of them I will remember the lights even in the face of death – from β€œTheatre”  (1996) In recent years, Seagull Books has been bringing the w…

Even in these half-dark times: The World Is Made Up Every Day by Alok Dhanwa, translated by Saudamini Deo @saudaminideo.bsky.social
roughghosts.com/2026/02/26/e...

26.02.2026 09:24 β€” πŸ‘ 5    πŸ” 3    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

"My skin sucked no emotion from what we saw, but as we escaped it, like tourists, I felt absolutely elated to know none of us would ever work downtown."

25.02.2026 06:45 β€” πŸ‘ 3    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0
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Holy, Undead Life: An Interview with David Leo Rice β€” Danny Elfanbaum David Leo Rice’s The Squimbop Condition is in many ways a culmination, a capstone on one phase of his career, and at the same time, a hint at which of the many forking paths he may travel going for…

"This is for sure a decadent time and thus a decadent book. The 2020s feel like a new kind of decadence."

Holy, Undead Life: An Interview with David Leo Rice β€” Danny Elfanbaum minorliteratures.com/2026/02/24/h...

25.02.2026 00:47 β€” πŸ‘ 3    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
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Holy, Undead Life: An Interview with David Leo Rice β€” Danny Elfanbaum David Leo Rice’s The Squimbop Condition is in many ways a culmination, a capstone on one phase of his career, and at the same time, a hint at which of the many forking paths he may travel going for…

Holy, Undead Life: An Interview with David Leo Rice β€” Danny Elfanbaum minorliteratures.com/2026/02/24/h...

24.02.2026 20:48 β€” πŸ‘ 1    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
yellow background with 3 books from trace press: Tamil Terrains, River in an Ocean & Arabic, between Love & War. 15% off Feb 23-28 for Language Advocacy Day & Freedom to Read Week.

yellow background with 3 books from trace press: Tamil Terrains, River in an Ocean & Arabic, between Love & War. 15% off Feb 23-28 for Language Advocacy Day & Freedom to Read Week.

Join us this week to read & resist all those who wish to enforce monolingualism & monoculturalism, eurocentric nationalisms, & heteronormative & regressive gendering.

Visit tracepress.org for 15% off all our books

To learn more: languageadvocacyday.org & freedomtoread.ca
#LAD26
#FTRW26

24.02.2026 04:52 β€” πŸ‘ 4    πŸ” 4    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 1

ICYMI i was in Minor Lits this week 😎

21.02.2026 20:30 β€” πŸ‘ 11    πŸ” 5    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
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Billy Sticks β€” Des Barry Hello my name is Billy Sticks Tar baby stuck in the mud, cloying shit, time to get out from under the English oak transplanted here, 14,000 miles from home soil. Or thereabouts. I was born in the g…

ICYMI β€” last week @ minor lits ...

β€” @kentkosack.bsky.social on reading and vision

minorliteratures.com/2026/02/17/r...

β€” an extract from KESHED by @stuhennigan.bsky.social

minorliteratures.com/2026/02/18/k...

β€” new fiction from @farsouthproject.bsky.social

minorliteratures.com/2026/02/19/b...

22.02.2026 08:19 β€” πŸ‘ 4    πŸ” 6    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
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minor literature[s] | Substack minor literatures ; stuttering cultures. Click to read minor literature[s], a Substack publication with thousands of subscribers.

ALSO! Monthly Dispatch #32 β€” ft. @yanisiqbal.bsky.social Michael Templeton, @niamhmaccabe.bsky.social @farsouthproject.bsky.social @djamelbouchenaki.bsky.social @kentkosack.bsky.social @stuhennigan.bsky.social @badaude.bsky.social @raviddice.bsky.social +

out Friday

sign up: minorlits.substack.com

22.02.2026 08:21 β€” πŸ‘ 5    πŸ” 5    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 1
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Billy Sticks β€” Des Barry Hello my name is Billy Sticks Tar baby stuck in the mud, cloying shit, time to get out from under the English oak transplanted here, 14,000 miles from home soil. Or thereabouts. I was born in the g…

"My mother grabbed me and tried to smother me for Da was caught short with his fingers in the till ... She forced the pressure on me face to catch and cut off the breath of me life ..."

Billy Sticks β€” @farsouthproject.bsky.social

minorliteratures.com/2026/02/19/b...

19.02.2026 17:52 β€” πŸ‘ 1    πŸ” 2    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 1
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β€œat nightfall, the night herons no longer called”: Chronicles of a Village by Nguyα»…n Thanh Hiện these are the chronicles of my village, the vessels of remembering and reminiscing, tale upon tale of yesterday, yesteryear, yestercentury or yestermillennia, now plainly precise, now hazily adrift…

ICYMI I wrote about this poetic stream of tales within a historical narrative, beautifully translated by QuyΓͺn Nguyα»…n-HoΓ ng @yalepress.bsky.social
β€œat nightfall, the night herons no longer called”: Chronicles of a Village by Nguyα»…n Thanh Hiện
roughghosts.com/2026/02/18/a...

20.02.2026 01:30 β€” πŸ‘ 4    πŸ” 2    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0