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Aaron Wolfson

@awolfson.bsky.social
435 followers 242 following 365 posts

Writing memoir, poetry, essays, performance stuff (etc.) in Chicago newsletter.aaronjacobwolfson.com

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Reposted by Aaron Wolfson
Peter @notalawyer.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
in high school my English teacher would put an inspirational quote on the board every day and once she wrote “‘every new beginning comes from some other beginning’s end.’ - unknown”
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McSweeney's @mcsweeneys.net · 25/09/2026
- Out where the river runs - High in the green hills on the outskirts of town - Over mountains draped in stars - Hiding on the backstreets - In the darkness on the edge of town buff.ly/58KuC1E
buff.ly
Places Bruce Springsteen Fooled Around with Your Daughter
“A pretty little place in Southern California, down San Diego way.” Sept 23 2021 9/23/22 9/23/24
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Ben Niespodziany 📚🎪 @neonpajamas.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
The first six (of 22) fake acknowledgments in @yoadrianididit.bsky.social new poem. This poem rules. neonpajamas.substack.com/p/090-poem-p...
“Acknowledgements”


“An Uncertain Valley” appeared in The Ticonderoga Railroader.

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“Which Went That Way” appeared in Cemetery Bracket.

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“Locking Picking in Somerset” was first issued in an undertaker’s brochure.

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“Untitled Sonnet (The Wet in a Speaker)” was sewn into your husband’s jacket, where it stayed, draped across the back of a bar stool.

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“Hat on a Hard-on” was published as an insert in the July issue of Erotica for the Sophisticates of Kenosha Wisconsin.

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“Weekender” appeared in a dream. It remained there, a red fog ominous atop a slow photogenic hill.
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Le Cagle @lecagle.bsky.social · 01/09/2026
I will forever admire Wendell Berry's insistence on living his values through to their natural conclusions and relentlessly ripping through layers of politeness and habit to hold up for judgment those who do not.
Questionnaire
by Wendell Berry

How much poison are you willing
to eat for the success of the free
market and global trade? Please
name your preferred poisons.

For the sake of goodness, how much
evil are you willing to do?
Fill in the following blanks
with the names of your favorite
evils and acts of hatred.

What sacrifices are you prepared
to make for culture and civilization?
Please list the monuments, shrines,
and works of art you would
most willingly destroy

In the name of patriotism and
the flag, how much of our beloved
land are you willing to desecrate?
List in the following spaces
the mountains, rivers, towns, farms
you could most readily do without.

State briefly the ideas, ideals, or hopes,
the energy sources, the kinds of security;
for which you would kill a child.
Name, please, the children whom
you would be willing to kill.
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Jessica Schulberg @jessicaschulberg.bsky.social · 24/08/2026
Today is my last day at HuffPost. After 11 years, I was laid off as part of the 33% cuts at BuzzFeed. My team, the National desk, was cut from 7 reporters to 3, after being cut from 14 to 7 just over a year ago
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Pete Fraser @petefrasermusic.bsky.social · 25/08/2026
This is one of the best observed jokes about the era we live in I’ve ever seen.
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Jason Nerad @ourintrepidhero.bsky.social · 05/08/2026
This is the way.
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the boy with the filthy laugh @goblinfootballs.bsky.social · 26/03/2026
this is fullerton transfer to brown line trains at fullerton doors open on the right at fullerton find your soulmate at fullerton get cursed by an appalachian witch at fullerton exit for the fourth circle of hell at fullerton
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Brendel @brendelbored.bsky.social · 03/08/2026
It’s hard to explain but tv was better when you couldn’t watch the show you wanted whenever you wanted to watch it and most of the shows were worse and the TVs were worse and the entire experience was worse, that’s when it was better
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Forget Cool @forgetcool.bsky.social · 01/08/2026
We were absolutely blown away by the incredible submissions we received during our first reading period. Consider this your backstage pass: the numbers, the pop culture, and the wonderfully unhinged range of obsessions you sent us. Issue 1 is just ONE MONTH away!
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Peter @notalawyer.bsky.social · 28/07/2026
The New York Times wouldn't let me write about the Age of Diarrhea so I had to do it myself.
stringinamaze.net
Welcome to the Age of Diarrhea
The future is not knowing what ails you
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Jonathan M. Katz @katz.theracket.news · 29/07/2026
Scientist falsifies hypothesis, film at 11
Fauci’s diary shows he thought Covid could be man-made. Now he’s telling Congress it was ‘molecularly impossible’
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Jason "Moominpappa era" Sullivan @jason0x21.bsky.social · 28/07/2026
*'In a world' voice* There ONCE was a MAN, from NANTUCKET.
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sara lippmann @saralippmann.bsky.social · 27/07/2026
for @pw.org a craft capsule on my life as a shameless cheater : www.pw.org/content/chea...
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The War on Cars @thewaroncars.bsky.social · 18/07/2026
Nobody disputes that having access to a car in a car-dominated society is good. It gives one access to jobs, healthcare, food, education, social opportunities and more. All we're asking is for people to go one step deeper and ask why access to such basic rights requires buying and operating a car.
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badtrick @badtrick.bsky.social · 27/07/2026
Good to know
Google AI Overview confirms "Many sensitive individuals and online communities report that the energetic boundary feels unusually permeable right now."
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Chill Subs @chillsubs.bsky.social · 27/07/2026
no better day than monday to start a new life, right?
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Taj Mahalo @tajmahalo.bsky.social · 27/07/2026
Sure, you’ve read takedowns of terrible Axios articles before, but this one has the distilled vintage snark of the Bush II-era blogs that helped form so many of my Gen-X comrades’ politics. It made me feel young again.
firejakesherman.substack.com
And now, a word from the center.
Brought to you by Axios!
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Aaron Wolfson @awolfson.bsky.social · 27/07/2026
"And might I also add, wow, Mike Johnson looks pretty good in this story! ... I wonder who the source could be for a story that makes Mike Johnson look so good, we will probably never know, this is probably just old-fashioned fly-on-the-wall journalism!"
firejakesherman.substack.com
It actually hurts me to start with NOTUS
But Reese Gorman has made it necessary
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Ignatius Valentine Aloysius @ignatius2u.bsky.social · 17/07/2026
SUNDAY SALON CHICAGO happens on July 26, 2026 at 7 pm @roscoebooks.bsky.social w/ Rachel Swearingen, @saralippmann.bsky.social, Sahar Mustafah, Richard Vargas, & Daniel Kraus, 2026 Pulitzer winner in fiction, WOW! Hope to see you! 🥰🎉🌺 Bios at: sundaysalon-chicago.com | @kayepublicity.bsky.social
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furby hancock @furbyhancock.bsky.social · 18/07/2026
Cannot CHECK PHONE in combat. Cannot CHECK PHONE in combat. Cannot CHECK PHONE in combat. Cannot CHECK PHONE in combat. Cannot CHECK PHONE in combat. You were killed by DARK WIZARD!
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Aaron Wolfson @awolfson.bsky.social · 18/07/2026
Encountered a truly crazy coincidence (synchronicity?) this morning... I was lying in bed, sleeping, and then suddenly woke up RIGHT WHEN my alarm clock started going off!
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Sean Marshall @seanyyz.bsky.social · 14/07/2026
Why I’m a fan of the Oxford comma.
TORONTO STAR
BOOK REVIEW
Sylvia Plath, a New York vigilante and Shah of Iran featured in latest historical fiction
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Kathleen Rooney @kathleenmrooney.bsky.social · 09/07/2026
"...Big Existential Questions and silly jokes..." Thanks to @awolfson.bsky.social for the chance to talk about both in Man Overboard! in this interview at the @chicagorevbooks.bsky.social! chireviewofbooks.com/2026/07/07/k...
chireviewofbooks.com
On Survival: A Conversation with Kathleen Rooney - Chicago Review of Books
The kinds of conversations I love having most are the ones that weave freely between Big Existential Questions and silly jokes, so it’s no surprise I love the same thing in fiction. Man Overboard!, Ka...
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Mitch @mitch-h-r.bsky.social · 10/07/2026
@kathleenmrooney.bsky.social ’s new novel MAN OVERBOARD! is a total splash! Over at Interlocutor, we chat about the novel, the sea, cruise ships, the male lonesomeness epidemic and philosophizin’ sea creatures.
interlocutorinterviews.com
KATHLEEN ROONEY INTERVIEW MAN OVERBOARD
Author Kathleen Rooney in conversation with Mitchell Harrison about her new novel MAN OVERBOARD!
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Chicago Review of Books @chicagorevbooks.bsky.social · 07/07/2026
"I think you have to have a sense of humor to achieve any form of forgiveness." @awolfson.bsky.social's interview with @kathleenmrooney.bsky.social on "Man Overboard!" (Gallery Books) is out now. chireviewofbooks.com/2026/07/07/k...
chireviewofbooks.com
On Survival: A Conversation with Kathleen Rooney - Chicago Review of Books
The kinds of conversations I love having most are the ones that weave freely between Big Existential Questions and silly jokes, so it’s no surprise I love the same thing in fiction. Man Overboard!, Ka...
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British Transport Films Stills @btfstills.bsky.social · 08/07/2026
ON TRACK FOR THE EIGHTIES (1980)
An image captured from ON TRACK FOR THE EIGHTIES (1980)
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A.R. Moxon @juliusgoat.bsky.social · 04/07/2026
I wrote about living in a country that is hard to celebrate, and of an alternate vision we are invited to join and inherit, in order to make a country that would be worth a sense of pride. www.the-reframe.com/patriots-of-...
the-reframe.com
Patriots of a Land Yet to Come
Our national brokedown palace and a story of a country worth celebrating.
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StoryStudio Chicago @storystudiochicago.bsky.social · 01/07/2026
Happy July, writers! Let's read books! The @chicagorevbooks.bsky.social has your 12 must-read books for July, including exciting new novels from Chicago writers Rowan Beaird and @kathleenmrooney.bsky.social! chireviewofbooks.com/2026/07/01/1...
chireviewofbooks.com
12 Must-Read Books of July 2026 - Chicago Review of Books
It’s a heat wave here in Chicago leading into the Fourth of July! Whether you’re looking for some great outdoor reading or want to beat the heat with a good book, the new releases in July are sure to ...
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Tits McGee @scientits.bsky.social · 28/06/2026
‘Say yes and never do it’ Mel Brooks knew how to deal with the studios
You have some wonderful stories of basically getting away with stuff at the studios.

I’d learned one very simple trick: say yes. Simply say yes. Like Joseph E. Levine, on “The Producers,” said, “The curly-haired guy—he’s funny looking. Fire him.” He wanted me to fire Gene Wilder. And I said, “Yes, he’s gone. I’m firing him.” I never did. But he forgot. After the screening of “Blazing Saddles,” the head of Warner Bros. threw me into the manager’s office, gave me a legal pad and a pencil, and gave me maybe twenty notes. He would have changed “Blazing Saddles” from a daring, funny, crazy picture to a stultified, dull, dusty old Western. He said, “No farting.” I said, “It’s out.”That’s probably the most famous scene in the movie, the campfire scene.

I know. He said, “You can’t punch a horse.” I said, “You’ll never see it again.” I kept saying, “You’re absolutely right. It’s out!” Then, when he left, I crumpled up all his notes, and I tossed it in the wastepaper basket. And John Calley, who was running [production at] Warner Bros. at the time, said, “Good filing.” That was the end of it. You say yes, and you never do it.

That’s great advice for life.

It is. Don’t fight them. Don’t waste your time struggling with them and trying to make sense to them. They’ll never understand.
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If Books Could Kill @ifbookspod.bsky.social · 18/06/2026
Episode 53: The Body Keeps The Score In 2014, a Dutch researcher revolutionized our understanding of trauma with insights like "don't talk about it" and "get a massage."
podcasts.apple.com
The Body Keeps The Score
Podcast Episode · If Books Could Kill · June 18 · 1h 50m
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Heather Anne Campbell @heathercampbell.bsky.social · 24/06/2026
can’t believe a narcissist is being so publicly humiliated by a reflecting pool
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Aaron Wolfson @awolfson.bsky.social · 24/06/2026
Excited to finally try a @nycmidnight.bsky.social competition. I'm doing their inaugural Two-Story Writing Challenge for flash, which starts July 30th. Early-entry D/L tomorrow. Pretty good deal IMO. Everyone's guaranteed feedback and there's a chance to win $10K. nycmidnight.com/two-story
nycmidnight.com
Two-Story Writing Challenge — nycmidnight
The Two-Story Writing Challenge is an international creative writing competition that challenges participants to create two original short stories in 72 hours.
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Ilana Masad @ilanaslightly.bsky.social · 02/06/2026
A week or so ago, I was looking for a couple books by an author from 10 and 15 years ago and my library didn't have them. I requested them via a library form. Today I got a notification in Libby that they purchased both titles. Asking your library for writers' books is an amazing way to support us.
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Aaron Wolfson @awolfson.bsky.social · 12/05/2026
Slightly increase a band Sprained Social Scene
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Aaron Wolfson @awolfson.bsky.social · 15/04/2026
"They were like a kid who hasn’t done any of the reading but keeps being called on in class — and who also can’t make friends, because all of his classmates think he’s a spy."
nytimes.com
I Feel So Sorry for My A.I. Sunglasses
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Aaron Wolfson @awolfson.bsky.social · 14/04/2026
My friend @jaybushman.bsky.social launched “SLEEPY HOLLOW, 1998,” a Story Delivered to Your Mailbox today!! If you like reimagined classic lit, or miss the 90s, or enjoy putting beautiful physical art in your hands, you'll WANT this. And if all 3? Oh boy. www.kickstarter.com/projects/jay...
kickstarter.com
“SLEEPY HOLLOW, 1998,” a Story Delivered to Your Mailbox
A cozy, nostalgic, 1990s reimagining of “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow,” through mailed letters and story artifacts
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Chicago Piping Plovers @chicagopiping.bsky.social · 14/04/2026
Welcome home, Sweet Prince 🤍 – Imani has also returned to Montrose! 🤍⭐️ The boys are back in town. Let's go!!! 📸: Chicago Piping Plovers (Imani and Pippin, Montrose Protected Beach, April 13, 2026)
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Jay Bushman @jaybushman.bsky.social · 14/04/2026
We just launched a Kickstarter for SLEEPY HOLLOW, 1998 - a reimagining of the classic set in the 1990s and delivered through a series of letters that come to your mailbox. For anyone who loves classic literature, the 90s, or pie (pie plays a big role in the story) www.kickstarter.com/projects/jay...
kickstarter.com
“SLEEPY HOLLOW, 1998,” a Story Delivered to Your Mailbox
A cozy, nostalgic, 1990s reimagining of “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow,” through mailed letters and story artifacts
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Aaron Wolfson @awolfson.bsky.social · 14/04/2026
My friend @jaybushman.bsky.social launched “SLEEPY HOLLOW, 1998,” a Story Delivered to Your Mailbox today!! If you like reimagined classic lit, or miss the 90s, or enjoy putting beautiful physical art in your hands, you'll WANT this. And if all 3? Oh boy. www.kickstarter.com/projects/jay...
kickstarter.com
“SLEEPY HOLLOW, 1998,” a Story Delivered to Your Mailbox
A cozy, nostalgic, 1990s reimagining of “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow,” through mailed letters and story artifacts
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Martin Seay @martinseay.bsky.social · 08/04/2026
Awesome to see & hear @marchxness.bsky.social essays that I've been thinking about for YEARS read tonight by their authors. Have you picked up your copy of the anthology yet? If not you can get it here & you'll be glad you did: www.splitlippress.com/product-page...
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Ander Monson @angermonsoon.bsky.social · 01/04/2026
It's almost April which means it's nearly time to do the Aurelie 30, a yearly start-something-new-every-day-in-April open-source writing project. If you'd like to join us, get on the substack (weekly emails in April with generative assignments etc) or the gdoc: docs.google.com/document/d/1...
docs.google.com
2026 Aurelie 30 Accountability / Hype Doc
Friends, here we are approaching April 2026, so it’s nearly time to dive into the 2026 Aurelie 30. The assignment is simple and straightforward but harder to accomplish than you think: start somethin...
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The New York Review of Books @nybooks.com · 31/03/2026
“For most of its history and prehistory, the human race has lived in various states of ignorance and wonder. Even today most of us will accept the disenchantments of knowledge only with great reluctance.” —Robert Pogue Harrison
nybooks.com
Interminable Ignorance | Robert Pogue Harrison
Why has the will to ignorance become so virulent in our time?
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Steph Brown @stephjayb.bsky.social · 31/03/2026
Hit Repeat until I Hate Music is out! If you've been reading essays about sadness for the @marchxness.bsky.social tournament, my Sugarhill Gang chapter here is doing...something entirely different. (No one has ever turned away sorrowing from Rapper's Delight. It's right there in the title.)
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Aaron Wolfson @awolfson.bsky.social · 01/04/2026
Very much worth noting that the LLM-plagiarized review is also significantly, dreadfully worse.
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Roxane Gay @roxanegay.bsky.social · 31/03/2026
In other news, I am really excited to share some new initiatives we're launching at The Rumpus including increased pay, writing and editorial fellowships, and microgrants. therumpus.net/2026/03/31/e...
therumpus.net
Exciting New Rumpus Initiatives - The Rumpus
Debbie Millman and I are thrilled to share some exciting new initiatives we are launching with The Rumpus. Beginning on April 1, 2026, we are increasing
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Erin Keane @erinkeane.bsky.social · 31/03/2026
If you love music writing, you need this anthology. I'm beyond honored to have my (favorite) March Xness essay included: "There Are Many Atlantic Cities, and One Belongs to Levon Helm," on The Band's Springsteen cover and my (felon, dreamer, liar, dead) dad, a fellow son of New Jersey.
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Melissa Fite Johnson @mfitejohnson.bsky.social · 31/03/2026
I’m really happy and overwhelmed to have won the @marchxness.bsky.social championship. So much respect to @cicilybennion.bsky.social and her incredible, vulnerable essay. I felt connected to so many you in this tournament, both through your essays and interacting with you here. I will miss this ❤️
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James Charlesworth @jamcharlesworth.bsky.social · 31/03/2026
The @marchxness.bsky.social anthology we've all been waiting for is finally here! So thrilled to have my essay on "(I've Had) The Time of My Life" of Dirty Dancing fame included in this much-anticipated mixtape of phenomenal writing. Get yourself a copy today!!
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Kate Carmody @katecarmody8.bsky.social · 31/03/2026
Aahhh!! The final! Got too busy & fell behind on March Sadness! but I’m back to say that both are great essays, so I’m going with the song for my final vote. Ben Folds holds a special place in my heart for being a good song storyteller & Brick has always gutted me.
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