Nancy Lee (she/her)

The Lifelong Process of Knowing Our Minds Can Be Beautiful: An Interview with Amber Dawn The two authors talk about perverting pain, literary influences, and cultivating one's awareness of body and mind.

Interview #2 in my 2026 #BCPoetry interview series with @readlocalbc.bsky.social is here!

I spoke with @amberdawnwrites.bsky.social about her new @arsenalpulp.bsky.social collection, "Buzzkill Clamshell."

I hope you enjoy it:

pink peony bud in front of blurred pink peonies. TEXT: 1 scholarship available now! for poetry mentorship. tinyurl.com/poetrywithamanda

I have one scholarship available for my poetry mentorship, thanks to a generous patron! For more information about the mentorship: amandaearl.substack.com/p/poetry-men...

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2 TT jobs in theatre, UVic: universityaffairs.ca/search-jobs/...

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TT job in CanLit, PEI U: universityaffairs.ca/search-jobs/...

MFA alum Trina Moyles’ memoir, “Black Bear: A Story of Siblinghood and Survival” is now available from Penguin Random House Canada.

Learn more: www.penguinrandomhouse.ca/books/742032...

@trinamoyles.bsky.social

UBC Creative Writing brings creative writers and climate experts together for a fun, generative workshop at the intersection of climate research and creative expression on February 23 at 12:00 pm on Zoom. RSVP for the meeting link.

Learn more: creativewriting.ubc.ca/events/event...

Mars>
Moon>
Montauk>
Renovate breakfast nook

Sometimes you see people defend AI books with “people like them when they don’t know they’re AI“ which is basically like saying that vegans like beef burgers when you pretend they’re made of soy

I have yet to see any evidence that there is a market for AI-generated books outside of people being tricked into thinking they are not AI-generated books. AKA, it is a project of scamming and deceiving people, and really should be treated as fraud

Why do people who publish AI slop books think readers should actually pay them for slop instead of just generating slop with the slop engine themselves?

To be very clear, that lady in the NYT article is not making any money with her hundreds of AI slop books.

She makes money by *convincing people* she makes money that way and getting them to pay her to teach them how to do it.

It's an evolved MLM, and the NYT is helping market it.

IF THIS WORKED, SHE WOULDN'T NEED TO SELL THE TECHNIQUES TO YOU

I cannot say this enough: there is NO middle ground when it comes to writing and AI. Anyone who uses AI to write and admits it should be loudly shamed, hideously embarrassed, paraded through the streets of shun until they flee writing forever

If there’s one thing I’ve learned from narrating romance books in the past couple years, it’s that romance fans are loyal, particular, and far smarter than anyone thinks. This is going to feel like they’re being condescended to, because it is. I don’t think they’ll take it well! And they shouldn’t!

They should invent a kind of week that doesn’t feel like being pummelled

Been fascinated by the rage spilling out into the craft subreddits lately. Crochet, knit, embroidery, quilting, jewelry making, felting, beading, printmaking, needlepoint, macrame—I had no idea there were so many beautiful ways to say “Fuck ICE.”

Lecturer and MFA alum Mallory Tater’s second book of poetry, “Lockers Are for Bearcats Only” releases on February 15, 2026. The book is published by @palimpsestpress.bsky.social.

Join Mallory at Iron Dog Books on February 26 at 7:00 pm to celebrate!

RSVP at irondogbooks.com/events/42373...

We're hiring a Marketing and Communications Specialist for a one-year term position to support initiatives, programs and events within UBC's School of Creative Writing.

Learn more: ubc.wd10.myworkdayjobs.com/en-US/ubcsta...

Of Factual Interest BY NANCY LEE Parisians prescribe ice baths for uncertainty. Barometric pressure is the leading cause of tears. Each time a doctor rubs her nose, a bundle of bad news is born. Amniotic fluid rises with the stock market. The butcher uses a sharper knife for sinew than for bone. Snails without their shells die of dread before exposure. Miscarriage on Friday means you still host Sunday brunch. Fish can live on land if they'd just put their minds to it. To morcellate your uterus the surgeon will use a hand blender. A seed germinates in a songbird's mouth only if the bird stops singing.

“Barometric pressure is the leading cause of tears.” A poem by Nancy Lee.

Four-Eyed Girls BY NANCY LEE I'm sitting at the bar with Mary Katherine Gallagher watching prospects grind hope into anything blond. I've peeled off wool tights so my pleated skirt flashes white cotton panties when I cross and uncross. No one notices. For fun, we switch eyeglasses. In hers, I drown. Fish wriggle and shimmer, groove beyond my reach. She says Through these glasses everyone looks thinner. She says, Why aren't there more girls like us in movies? I tell her there are plenty, floating in rivers, folded in dumpsters, naked, nameless. She says, It's time for another shooter. Something to clean the sink something the bartender will set on fire, something that hurts going down.

“Prospects grind hope into anything blond.” A poem by Nancy Lee.

Protest sign from MN that says, “DEARLY BELOVED. WE ARE GATHERED HERE TODAY TODISMANTLE THIS THING CALLED ICE.” with a picture of Prince in the left hand lower corner.

10/10 ICE protest sign

I don't like to talk about stories before they are fully reported, but I am writing on ICE in a Minnesota town that isn't Minneapolis. However bad you think it is, it is worse. It is a campaign of pure terror whose only strategic goal is more terror. There is no strategy other than to break people.

When they say Me Too "went too far," they mean "got too close."

BLOOD SPORTS by Eden Robinson

Man who wouldn't wear mask to protect people fine wearing mask to shoot them MINNEAPOLIS, MN – A man who refused to wear a mask to protect other people in 2020 has declared he has no problem wearing one while shooting them.

Man who wouldn’t wear mask to protect people fine wearing mask to shoot them

A brindle puppy looks directly into the camera.

Cora wants you to know she thinks you’re doing great, champ.

Train Dreams is as phenomenal as advertised and oddly not as sad as expected.

We're honoured to host poet and translator D.M. Bradford for a reading and conversation with poet and assistant professor Cecily Nicholson. Join us on February 4 at 12 pm in the Dodson Room, IKBLC.

Please RSVP: creativewriting.ubc.ca/events/event...

DreamHaven Books owner Greg Ketter emerging from a cloud of tear gas that ICE agents fired into the streets of Minneapolis.

Remember the other day when I was saluting my friend Greg Ketter, owner of Minneapolis’ DreamHaven Books? This is him the following day. Greg will never say this, so I will — now is a great time to buy books from DreamHaven. Support Americans who stand up vs. 🧊. dreamhavenbooks.com