iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Andrew Porter @andrewporter01.bsky.social · 2h

Had such a blast at the Six Bridges Book Festival, and it was so surreal to have the actor Judge Reinhold show up out of the blue to surprise me with a Fast Times at Ridgemont High t-shirt! Still can’t believe that happened!

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Andrew Porter @andrewporter01.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

Looking forward to be in conversation about my novel The Imagined life with author Jeff Condran at the Six Bridges Book Festival in Little Rock, Arkansas on Sept 30. The event starts at 6 PM in the Ron Robinson Theater! I’d you’re in the Little Rock area, I’d love to see you! ❤️

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Andrew Porter @andrewporter01.bsky.social · 18/09/2026

Thrilled to be visiting the University of Arkansas on Sept 30 as part of their 2026 Visiting Writers Series! Details about the event above. If you’re in the Little Rock area, I’d love to see you!

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Andrew Porter @andrewporter01.bsky.social · 20/08/2026

Friends, independent filmmaker Kera Dacy is filming an adaptation of my short story “Vines” and is close to reaching her funding goal but still needs a few more donations. If you’re interested in supporting this film, please visit the Seed & Spark link below: Link: seedandspark.com/fund/vines-1

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Alfred A. Knopf @aaknopf.bsky.social · 07/07/2026

Out today: 🪱 HIDDEN CREATURES by Dino Martins 📑 AXE IN BLOSSOM by Franz Wright 🖊️ YOU WON’T GET FREE OF IT by Rachel Aviv And now available in paperback: 🌴 THE IMAGINED LIFE by Andrew Porter

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Matt Bell @mdbell79.bsky.social · 07/07/2026

I love this book. Happy paperback day, Andrew!

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Sabrina Hicks @sabrinahicks.bsky.social · 07/07/2026

Highly recommend!! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

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Andrew Porter @andrewporter01.bsky.social · 07/07/2026

Today is PAPERBACK PUB DAY for The Imagined Life!! ❤️😍🎉 Huge thanks to @aaknopf.bsky.social and Vintage Books for sending me these copies and for doing such an amazing job with the design of this beautiful paperback edition! 🌴

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Andrew Porter @andrewporter01.bsky.social · 30/06/2026

Had so much fun talking to Ashleigh (in London 🇬🇧) and Lucy (in New Zealand 🇳🇿) about The Imagined Life on their wonderful podcast Long Distance Book Friends, which is based on their lifelong friendship and their lifelong love of books! You can listen to it here: podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/l...

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The Cincinnati Review @cincinnatireview.bsky.social · 30/06/2026

Congratulations to contributor B. Do, whose miCRo, "Revision," was selected by contributor @andrewporter01.bsky.social for inclusion in this year's @wigleaf.bsky.social Top 50!

Magazine-style cover showing two winged cherubs kneeling beside a central ornate chalice, painted in pastel greens and purples, with the title "the wigleaf top 50 [very] short fictions" displayed across the bottom.

Heading reading "B. DO, 'Revision'" with the word Revision highlighted in red; below it, italicized credit reading "from The Cincinnati Review."

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Andrew Porter @andrewporter01.bsky.social · 30/06/2026

It was such an honor and a delight to serve as the Guest Selecting Editor for the 2026 Wigleaf Top 50! Congratulations to all of the authors whose stories were selected and also to all of those on the longlist! 🎉 And huge thanks to @sudhab.bsky.social and the rest of the Wigleaf staff! ❤️

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Richard Mirabella 🐝 @rpmirabella.bsky.social · 29/06/2026

Thank you @hexliterary.bsky.social for publishing "Volcano People" and thanks so much @wigleaf.bsky.social and @andrewporter01.bsky.social for selecting it for Wigleaf Top 50! 🥰🌋

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Julia Strayer @juliastrayer.bsky.social · 29/06/2026

Honored to have a story selected for The Wigleaf Top 50! 🥰 Thanks to @aaronburch.bsky.social and @havehashad.com for publishing the story, “Small, Ambiguous Moments,” and thanks to the entire @wigleaf.bsky.social team and Guest Selecting Editor @andrewporter01.bsky.social

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Anna Vangala Jones @anniejowrites.bsky.social · 29/06/2026

this is my first time ever being selected for the Wigleaf Top 50! so thrilled & delighted. thank you to @sudhab.bsky.social, Scott Garson + the @wigleaf.bsky.social team, @andrewporter01.bsky.social, @aaronburch.bsky.social, & @havehashad.com 💀 🪦 🤍

The Wigleaf Top 50 (Very) Short Fictions

Series Editor: Sudha Balagopal — "Writers produced an astonishing treasure trove of stories this year..."

Selecting Editor: Andrew Porter — "Occasions such as this always feel like a gift to me..."

Anna Vangala Jones story “Our second date was meant to be unconventional and unromantic” from HAD was selected

At the top of the page is a drawing of a pile of skulls. Underneath is the pub date: September 4, 2025. Then the title of the story and the name of the author: Our second date was meant to be unconventional and unromantic by Anna Vangala Jones.
Below that is the text of the story: “—we thought we were funny when we suggested meeting at the laundromat because we bonded on the first date about putting it off so long we'd almost reached the bathing suits as underwear stage. But when he called to cancel, I worried I should have held onto my mystique a bit longer and not revealed the lazy mess lurking beneath my put together surface yet. "It's not that," he said. "I have to go to a funeral." After I told him how sorry I was, he said, "Want to come?" I joked, "It's too soon but take me to the next one." I appreciated the earnest vulnerability of his response that he could use the company so I said yes. My friends teased me that we'd only been on one date so maybe he was a serial killer and we would be going to my funeral. Weird how we cope with the possibility of being murdered every time we meet someone new by laughing about how hilarious it'll be if it happens, but it's preferable to being paralyzed by it. "He loves Bruce Springsteen, so he can't be that bad," I told them. The funeral was for his lifelong friend—they had first met at only five years old—so it was of course sad. We held hands as they lowered the casket. After everyone else left, we wandered the cemetery chatting about everything and nothing like we were at a coffee shop and he kissed me in front of a tombstone that read, "Beloved and remembered. Until we meet again." He ghosted me after that. When I listen to Bruce at the laundromat, I wonder why our first and last kiss happened amidst graves and death and almost write him to ask. But maybe it's better not to know.”

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Kathy Fish @kathyfish.bsky.social · 29/06/2026

I'm honored to have made the list with my flash, "Wyoming," published in the debut issue of Hot Flash Literary. Thanks to @sudhab.bsky.social & the Top 50 team & huge thanks to Selecting Editor @andrewporter01.bsky.social Looks like a GREAT list & longlist. Congratulations to all! 💙

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Robert Nagle (aka idiotprogrammer) @nagletx.bsky.social · 06/06/2026

2/2 QUOTE: "I just enjoy stories that explore absences & mysteries & unanswered or unanswerable questions. I’m intrigued by the idea of things that were once there vanishing, & what one has to do to accept & move on in their absence." bombmagazine.org/articles/202... @andrewporter01.bsky.social

bombmagazine.org

BOMB Magazine | Andrew Porter by Keith Pilapil Lesmeister

The short story writer on past versions of ourselves, working with a small cast of characters, and the role music plays in his work.

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Andrew Porter @andrewporter01.bsky.social · 04/06/2026

It’s not too late to sign up! Happening in a few hours! Come join us and hear @ericscottryon.bsky.social talk about his beautiful debut novel!

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Lisa Thornton @thorntonforreal.bsky.social · 31/05/2026

Read an entire book yesterday. Giddy with summer free time. Up next:

The cover of The Imagined Life by Andrew Porter on my wooden coffee table

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@gavreads @gavreads.co.uk · 31/05/2026

I found some more books that can be read anytime during the year, but Pride Month seems like an excuse to show off what I’ve got to look forward to. Again, what would you choose, or what should I prioritise?

A horizontal stack of six books on patterned fabric. Spines read: Of Monsters and Mainframes by Barbara Truelove; Old Wounds by Logan‑Ashley Kisner; The Imagined Life by Andrew Porter; Spread Me by Sarah Gailey; Open Throat by Henry Hoke; Paul Takes the Form of a Mortal Girl by Andrea Lawlor.

A horizontal stack of six books on patterned fabric. Spines read: Cuckoo by Gretchen Felker‑Martin; A Light Most Hateful by Hailey Piper; Birds of Paradise by Oliver K. Langmead; Key Lime Sky by Al Hess; Gideon the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir; Piper with the Gates of Dusk by Patrick Ness.

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ProfKakie @profkakie.bsky.social · 29/05/2026

Explore this gift article from The New York Times. You can read it for free without a subscription. www.nytimes.com/2025/04/15/b... Sly Delmore Schwartz reference in this review of Andrew Porter's "The Imagined Life," on the list for the Twain Prize. Congrats to Andrew Porter.

nytimes.com

A Novel That Takes On Life’s Greatest Mystery: Our Parents (Published 2025)

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Andrew Porter @andrewporter01.bsky.social · 29/05/2026

Incredibly honored and thrilled to learn that my novel The Imagined Life has been longlisted for the 2026 Mark Twain American Voice in Literature Award!!✨ marktwainhouse.org/2026/05/28/t...

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Andrew Porter @andrewporter01.bsky.social · 28/05/2026

Grateful for the nice early press from Spain about the Spanish translation of The Imagined Life,, including a kind shoutout as a “title to watch” in Vogue España! 🇪🇸 www.vogue.es/articulos/no...

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Andrew Porter @andrewporter01.bsky.social · 20/05/2026

So excited to share that the Spanish translation of my novel The Imagined Life (La Vida Imaginada) is now available in this beautiful edition from Muñeca Infinita Editorial, translated by Ce Santiago! 🇪🇸 If you are interested in ordering a copy, you can here: munecainfinita.com/producto/la-...

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Cheryl Pappas @cherylpappas.bsky.social · 16/05/2026

Library haul I’ll be bringing to a writing retreat next week.

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bestofthenet.bsky.social @bestofthenet.bsky.social · 15/04/2026

Long-listed for the Joyce Carol Oates Prize and the Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Fiction, The Imagined Life by Andrew Porter, is "a probing, nostalgic novel about the impossibility of understanding one’s parents, … about the unbreakable bonds between a father and a son." Out now! #books

Atmospheric, kaleidoscopic, and cinematic, Andrew Porter's THE IMAGINED LIFE captures the ineffable quality of childhood memory with startling precision. Told in sparse yet dreamlike prose, and set against the alluring tapestry of 1980s academia — alive with intellect, ambition, and unspoken tensions — this soul-stirring novel reveals how childhood wounds linger beneath the surface of adulthood, shaping who we are long after we’ve forgotten why.” - Lidija Hilje, USA TODAY bestselling author of Slanting Toward the Sea
BY ANDREW PORTER, 2026 BEST OF THE NET FICTION JUDGE

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Andrew Porter @andrewporter01.bsky.social · 22/04/2026

Absolutely thrilled to share that my new short story collection, THE LETTERS, will be published by @aaknopf next spring!!! I’m so grateful to be working again with my brilliant editor, Diana Tejerina Miller, and the rest of the amazing team at Knopf!

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Keith Pilapil Lesmeister @keithlesmeister.bsky.social · 19/04/2026

If you enjoy reading and talking about short stories, this is the substack for you.

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Andrew Porter @andrewporter01.bsky.social · 19/04/2026

Just joined Substack. If you’re interested in following, I’ll be posting about short story collections at @andrewporterwriter!

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Andrew Porter @andrewporter01.bsky.social · 06/04/2026

Excited to be moderating the panel “MEMOIRS: FAMILY FUNCTION & DYSFUNCTION” with brilliant memoirists @amandauhle.bsky.social and Stefan Merrill Block at the San Antonio Book Festival this Saturday (4/11) at 3:00 PM at the Launch SA Center! #SABF sabookfestival.org/schedule-eve...

sabookfestival.org

MEMOIRS: FAMILY FUNCTION & DYSFUNCTION

MEMOIRS: FAMILY FUNCTION & DYSFUNCTION, a session at the 14th Annual San Antonio Book Festival on April 11, 2026

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bestofthenet.bsky.social @bestofthenet.bsky.social · 01/04/2026

Join us in congratulating our fiction selections for the 2026 Best of the Net issue. Special thanks to @andrewporter01.bsky.social for judging. #bestofthenet #fiction

Join us in congratulating our fiction selections for the 2026 Best of the Net issue.

The Great Renunciation by @laurenbarbato.bsky.social, The Sisters by @angieellis.bsky.social, The Harvest by Katie Field, Year of the Rat by @kirakh.bsky.social, and Baby Teeth by Sofia Sears are our fiction selections for 2026!

Special thanks to @andrew.porter.writer for judging.

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kira homsher @kirakh.bsky.social · 26/03/2026

Honored to be included in this year's Best of the Net anthology! Huge thanks to @andrewporter01.bsky.social, @keithlesmeister.bsky.social, and the editors! bestofthenetanthology.com/2026-2/2026-...

bestofthenetanthology.com

Year of the Rat – Best of the Net

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Brad Listi @bradlisti.bsky.social · 16/02/2026

Pour one out for the GOAT. You can’t be a literary interviewer without reckoning with the work and influence of Michael Silverblatt. Ours is not a large tribe—especially not over time. Very few people devote decades to this oddball, obsessive niche. I should know. 1/

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Andrew Porter @andrewporter01.bsky.social · 11/02/2026

Extremely honored to be lonlisted for the 2026 Joyce Carol Oates Prize!

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Andrew Porter @andrewporter01.bsky.social · 28/01/2026

I had a blast doing this Writer’s Desk interview with Gemini Ink. You can read the full interview on their website. Also, If you’re interested, I will be offering a two-part Zoom lecture with Gemini Ink in February. Details at this link: geminiink.org/the-writers-...

geminiink.org

The Writer’s Desk with Andrew Porter - Gemini Ink

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Andrew Porter @andrewporter01.bsky.social · 10/01/2026

Thank you to Ron Spatz and Alaska Quarterly Review for inviting me to read my short story “Mennonites” (originally published in AQR) as part of the Alaska Quarterly Review “ Pièces de Résistance” Reading Series. You can listen to the entire story at this link: m.youtube.com/watch?v=hkZJ...

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Andrew Porter @andrewporter01.bsky.social · 08/01/2026

Excited to be be giving a craft lecture on setting and atmosphere as part of @geminiink.bsky.social’s Literary Masters Series this spring. If you’re interested in registering, you can find more info on Gemini Ink’s website: Geminiink.org.

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Andrew Porter @andrewporter01.bsky.social · 06/01/2026

Excited and honored to be the 2026 Fiction judge for the Best of the Net Anthology! ✨

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bestofthenet.bsky.social @bestofthenet.bsky.social · 06/01/2026

Announcing our 2026 Fiction judge for the Best of the Net Anthology: @andrewporter01.bsky.social Check out all our judges at bestofthenetanthology.com/2026-judges/

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Aaron Burch @aaronburch.bsky.social · 06/01/2026

Spent my morning drinking coffee, reading the @andrewporter01.bsky.social story in this year's BASS, and writing the intro for then publishing this @livesinpages.bsky.social story. Pretty great start to the day! (Now I gotta spend the rest of it prepping for tomorrow's first day of the semester...)

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Keith Pilapil Lesmeister @keithlesmeister.bsky.social · 20/12/2025

a beautiful and haunting story about friendship, art, and the muddle of one's life in their 20s. This story, I think, serves as a kind of coda to @andrewporter01.bsky.social collection "The Disappeared." The story here is available to read online thru 12/21 www.cincinnatireview.com/articles/vig...

cincinnatireview.com

Vigil - The Cincinnati Review

I remember feeling a restlessness in my twenties and moving quite often, not always to different cities or parts of the country, sometimes just to

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