Catherine Buck

The first deaths announced from the US-Israeli strikes on Iran: dozens of school girls. They hit an elementary school in Hormozgan.

With image of Kurt Vonnegut on the left: “(talking about when he tells his wife he’s going out to buy an envelope) Oh, she says well, you’re not a poor man. You know, why don’t you go online and buy a hundred envelopes and put them in the closet? And so I pretend not to hear her. And go out to get an envelope because I’m going to have a hell of a good time in the process of buying one envelope. I meet a lot of people. And, see some great looking babes. And a fire engine goes by. And I give them the thumbs up. And, and ask a woman what kind of dog that is. And, and I don’t know. The moral of the story is, is we’re here on Earth to fart around. And, of course, the computers will do us out of that. And, what the computer people don’t realize, or they don’t care, is we’re dancing animals.” ― Kurt Vonnegut

Thinking of this all the time these days

Thrilled to be nominated and grateful to the @lostballoon.bsky.social team for all their care and work in creating this wonderful magazine.

The minute it goes above 30 degrees I can feel my brain unfurl like a giant leaf

I haven't been able to get this book out of my head since I read it. A truly incredible work.

open again for another 45 newbies! anyone who's submitted to us before need not (better not!) apply

Really looking forward to this!

These are both incredible stories!

I’m a constituent and this is beautiful! Thank you.

Stunningly powerful new piece from @ayidashonibar.bsky.social! A true voice to watch.

OF THE EMPIRE We will be known as a culture that feared death and adored power, that tried to vanquish insecurity for the few and cared little for the penury of the many. We will be known as a culture that taught and rewarded the amassing of things, that spoke little if at all about the quality of life for people (other people), for dogs, for rivers. All the world, in our eyes, they will say, was a commodity. And they will say that this structure was held together politically, which it was, and they will say also that our politics was no more than an apparatus to accommodate the feelings of the heart, and that the heart, in those days, was small, and hard, and full of meanness.

Ever relevant, this poem by Mary Oliver, especially today.

Smokelong is the best group for building community and writing flash! So excited to rejoin for 2026.

With MFA app deadline coming up, I've been getting lots of emails from prospective students about the state the Rutgers-Camden program; please note that we are once again FULLY funded, with strong assurances of continued full funding moving forward. We're not going anywhere.

I have loved reading each issue. Thank you for all that you've built!

So glad to have my dialogue flash on this list! @mattkendrick.bsky.social is a deeply thoughtful reader of flash and I always love his recommendations: it's a joy to be included.

Thanks so much for including me, Matt! That's really kind. Excited to read all of the stories on your list!

spoke with the executive director of my local food bank today and got this really incredible line: "if you donate 1 can of green beans, we can give away 1 can of green beans. but if you donate a dollar, we can give away 6 cans of green beans"

Happy birthday Nisi!!

Invitation by Mary Oliver • Read A Little Poetry "it is a serious thing // just to be alive / on this fresh morning / in this broken world." — Mary Oliver

Well I'm reading Mary Oliver again

Lol I popped over to the bad place to see what you might be talking about and it was the third post down

Woah! Just signed up because of this, thank you!

Hauntingly lovely 🩶

Absolutely love the way this unfolds!

Got really lovely news about a former student. As a 7th grader, he was always drawing and making elaborate comic books. A friend who worked with me then just realized he's now in her first year writing class, and is an animation major. 🥰

I have a strong good memory of going to a presentation about 'Bury Me in My Jersey' in @kevingrauke.bsky.social's class at a time (probably 2013?) I was first learning that a writer was something a person could really be. Love this piece and can't wait to read the new book.

am I writing a novel or is it several short stories stacked on top of each other in a trench coat

Wonderful! Can’t wait to read.

"Who is your ideal audience," people sometimes ask me, and it's this kid and the people they grow up to become.

Haven't submitted to you yet but maybe this is a sign!

So beautiful- love this!