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chris johnson

@ceeeejohnson.bsky.social
736 followers 606 following 202 posts

he/him : white settler : managing editor, @arcpoetry.bsky.social : editorial assistant, @nightwoodeditions.bsky.social : opinions are my own : say hi

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Reposted by chris johnson
Conyer Clayton @conyerclayton.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
My book is here and it is, in my humble opinion, extremely beautiful!!!! It officially comes out in 1 week! Thank you x a million to designer Natalie Olson and to @wolsakandwynn.bsky.social xoxoxo I hope you enjoy my big book of grief and regret and love.
The lake-shaped excuse being held up in front of water.
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Conyer Clayton @conyerclayton.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
Thanks @manahil.bsky.social for including me in this folio for @periodicities.bsky.social about "cut" poems! This poem does appear in the lake-shaped excuse (@wolsakandwynn.bsky.social), which comes out in just a few weeks! bookstore.wolsakandwynn.ca/products/the...
Monday, September 21, 2026

Conyer Clayton: Scrapbook: Failing to find a line by Robert Creeley in a book by Frank Stanford


He had a heart I wish I had.
          —Robert Creeley 

I guess I placed two white
orchid flowers between 

these pages but I forget
when. They didn’t exist 

until today when they
crumbled onto my lap.
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Carleton University Department of English @cuinenglish.bsky.social · 15/09/2026
The Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences (@carletonfass.bsky.social) and the Department of English invite you to the 2026-27 Munro Beattie Lecture, “How Have You Changed? A Reading, Talk, and Conversation with Ian Williams“. Oct. 21, 7pm, Carleton Dominion-Chalmers Centre. carleton.ca/english/even...
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Conyer Clayton @conyerclayton.bsky.social · 15/09/2026
In exactly 1 month, @sannawani.bsky.social and I are co-launching our books in Ottawa in conversation with bestie @manahil.bsky.social and we would love love love for you to be there! 🌼 Oct 15th, 8 pm, Club Saw, 67 Nicholas St, Ottawa 🌱 Presented by the Ottawa International Writers Festival
Dried salvia flowers and ginkgo on the edges of a poster that reads in handwritten calligraphy: "Oct 15 Book Launch Conyer Clayton + Sanna Wani, hosted by Manahil Bandukwala, Club Saw 67 Nicholas St 8 pm, presented by the Ottawa Writers Festival"
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Ellen Chang-Richardson @ehjchang.bsky.social · 14/09/2026
I’ll be hosting this chapbook launch and I am stoked about it. Come out Ottawa!
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chris johnson @ceeeejohnson.bsky.social · 13/09/2026
have I mentioned here that I will be launching my latest poetry chapbook IN ONE WEEK!? next Sunday, September 20, I'm gonna be in a little forested area near my apartment from 3-4pm reading from my chapbook (not the whole time), and if yer in Ottawa you can come too! www.facebook.com/events/23470...
a pile of the chapbook (small poetry pamphlets) "After" by Chris Johnson, published by Paper Bill Press.
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Arc Poetry Magazine @arcpoetry.bsky.social · 13/09/2026
Join the 2026 Lampman Award finalists THIS THURSDAY at Perfect Books! Starting at 7PM, Nina Berkhout, rob mclennan and Vera Hadzic will read from their shortlisted books before the Lampman Award will be announced. More details on the 2026 Lampman Award finalists can be found here: buff.ly/M7H0wgW
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Nightwood Editions @nightwoodeditions.bsky.social · 10/09/2026
From the spiny trees and wildflowers on farmland in Jalisco to the breezy Yucateca coast, rural Mexico is at the heart of HALLELUJAH ANYHOW. ✨ Available for order NOW! Order from your local indie bookstore, major retailers and our website.
Graphic including text, the cover image of "Hallelujah Anyhow” and Lisa López Smith's author photo. The cover is a graphic of arms holding an array of desert plants like cacti and flowers. In Lisa López Smith's author photo she is smiling at the camera and wearing a blue and green shirt, and she is standing in front of a large desert plant. Text at the bottom reads "Order Now, September 22".Graphic including text and the cover image of "Hallelujah Anyhow” as well as Nightwood Edition's logo. Text reads: "A debut collection of lovingly attentive poems about life in kinship with the land and cohabitants in little known corners of Mexico.

Rural Mexico is practically a co-author of Hallelujah Anyhow, a debut collection that is quietly observant and raw, in which gritty reality lives side by side with delights and transcendence. López Smith pulls on the threads that bind everyone and everything together, whether it be migrants on the borderlands, the majestic wilds or her own small farm. This poetic offering sees the sacred and relational in everything—with sleeves rolled up and dirt under the fingernails—and embraces a tender caregiving toward the land, the creatures, children and community. With gratitude in one hand and a broken heart in the other, these poems are suffused with daily miracles and loving attention to both the horror and the grace of being alive."Graphic including Lisa López Smith's author photo and their biographical statement, which reads: "Born in British Columbia on the traditional lands of the syilx people, Lisa López Smith has lived and worked in Italy, Uganda, China, the USA, Ireland and Brazil, but Mexico has her heart. Along with her Tapatío husband and kids, she raises livestock on their small biodynamic farm, which is an endless source of inspiration for her poetry and fiction and where she practices slow living, contemplation and everyday revolution. She has a BA from the University of Calgary and an MA from Royal Roads University in subjects unrelated to writing or farming. Originally from Kelowna, BC, she and her family now live in Jalisco, Mexico."
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Arc Poetry Magazine @arcpoetry.bsky.social · 10/09/2026
Get ready to come on out to Perfect Books in Ottawa on September 17th for an amazing evening of poetry, including a reading from Nina Berkhout. The Great Wake is her sixth poetry collection, which is up for the Archibald Lampman Award this year! More details here: buff.ly/M7H0wgW
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Nightwood Editions @nightwoodeditions.bsky.social · 03/09/2026
Already # 2 on the BC Bestseller list, HOW TO NOURISH A CANNIBAL is hitting bookstores now! "Jess Housty guides us through different eyes." —David Suzuki "How to Nourish a Cannibal will change how you see, feel and breathe in the world." —Angela Sterritt, author of Unbroken & host of CBC's Land Back
Graphic including text, the cover image of "How To Nourish a Cannibal" and Jess Housty's author photo. The cover is an illustration of Báxvbakvalanusiwa (the Great Cannibal at the North End of the World) by Nusí Qámácļas (Ian Reid). In Jess Housty's author photo they are outdoors wearing a black, short-sleeved button-up shirt. Text at the bottom reads "Order Now, September 15". Graphic including text and  the cover image of "How To Nourish a Cannibal" as well as Nightwood Edition's logo. Text reads: "From award-winning, bestselling poet Jess Housty, a collection that offers nourishment through land-based medicine and ancestral wisdom.

Following their critically acclaimed debut Crushed Wild Mint, Jess Housty offers a new collection capturing connections between kinship, ancestral knowledge and spirituality. Drawing on Heiltsuk supernatural beings like Báxvbakvalan̓usiwa (the Great Cannibal at the North End of the World), these poems encircle the idea of the cannibal, a complex figure who is at times dangerous but also a generous conduit for spiritual gifts. They tap into the poet’s own wildness, love and tenderness—and explore the sweet, agonizing anticipation of shared feasts, both from the land and of the body."Graphic including Jess Housty's author photo and their biographical statement, which reads: "Jess Housty ('Cúagilákv) is a parent, writer and grassroots activist with Heiltsuk (Indigenous) and mixed settler ancestry. They serve their community as an herbalist and land-based educator alongside broader work in the non-profit and philanthropic sectors. They are inspired and guided by relationships with their homelands, their extended family and their non-human kin, and they are committed to raising their children in a similar framework of kinship and land love. They reside and thrive in their unceded ancestral territory in the community of Bella Bella, BC."
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All Lit Up @alllitupcanada.bsky.social · 01/09/2026
What’s at the top of our reading piles this coming season? Check out our fall preview: alllitup.ca/the-all-lit-...
A graphic labelled ALU Fall Preview 2026 with six book covers: How to Nourish a Cannibal by Jess Housty, Driving into the Sun by Becca Babcock, Aether and Ego by Joanne Merriam, The Comedian’s Book of the Dead by Gary Barwin, One Soft Infested Summer by Matthew Heiti, and Sailors Can't Swim by Dominique Scali, translated by Jessica Moore
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Arc Poetry Magazine @arcpoetry.bsky.social · 01/09/2026
Susan Gillis describes “A RIGHT HOOK, IN FIVE PARTS” by Fareh Malik as "five angles on a heated exchange: insult, response." Read more about why this poem earned a spot on the Poem of the Year Contest shortlist and why it was Susan's Editor's Choice: arcpoetry.ca/editorials/a...
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chris johnson @ceeeejohnson.bsky.social · 01/09/2026
Good news for poets based in Ottawa! Check out the Diana Brebner Prize if you are in the National Capital Region and have not yet published a full-length collection of your poetry!
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Arc Poetry Magazine @arcpoetry.bsky.social · 25/08/2026
There is just 1 WEEK LEFT to submit your poems to the Diana Brebner Prize! Ottawa poets without a full-length book, don't miss this opportunity to have Tawahum Bige read your work!
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Tom Snarsky @tomsnarsky.bsky.social · 25/08/2026
four poems by Jo Ianni for #twopageplustuesday
do
orbe
ambe
anbe
at
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chris johnson @ceeeejohnson.bsky.social · 21/08/2026
just spent ~30 min writing an email to a poet who was clearly upset by an editorial decision, and I'm glad I spend this much time composing an email that is as kind and generous as possible. so if you advocate using AI to write emails because it saves time, fuck you. compassion is worth the time.
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Arc Poetry Magazine @arcpoetry.bsky.social · 18/08/2026
Nancy Jo Cullen says that “A Place Both Inside and Out” by Vinita Agrawal "is a dense consideration of the natural complexities of geography in these days of disruptive climate change." Read more about why this poem is Nancy's Editor's Choice here: buff.ly/hPH9GFb
graphic with textgraphic with text and photo of Vinita Agrawal
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Susan Gillis @susangillis.bsky.social · 17/08/2026
Some of you know I love #winter. Some of you know I love #poetry and #books. I’m deeply moved by the care baseline press lavished on these poems in this hand-sewn chapbook Last Winter, available here www.baselinepress.ca/shop/last-wi...
baselinepress.ca
Last Winter // Susan Gillis // 2026 — Baseline Press
poems by SUSAN GILLIS September 2026 shipping starts Sept. 1 28 pp., thread bound, 5.25"x 8" ISBN # 978-1-998521-14-2 in an edition of 75 numbered copies cover of St. Armand Canal paper flyleaf...
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chris johnson @ceeeejohnson.bsky.social · 15/08/2026
everyone go wish @conyerclayton.bsky.social a happy birthday!
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chris johnson @ceeeejohnson.bsky.social · 12/08/2026
call for submissions: Men Lit is looking for poems by men and for men. we want sonnets about manly subjects, haiku about being a himbo, verse about your virility. submit by International Men's Day: Thu, Nov 19, 2026. (bet you didn't know that was Int'l Men's Day, eh, bud?!)
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chris johnson @ceeeejohnson.bsky.social · 11/08/2026
it's so cool to see all of Nightwood's Fall 2026 poetry books on the poetry preview from 49th Shelf! exciting to see these books breaking out into the world!
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chris johnson @ceeeejohnson.bsky.social · 28/07/2026
Ottawa poets!! the time to submit to the 2026 Diana Brebner Prize is NOW!!
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Wolsak & Wynn @wolsakandwynn.bsky.social · 23/07/2026
We're delighted to see Conyer Clayton's the lake-shaped excuse and Rabindranath Maharaj's The Nowhereian both included in this Q&Q Fall Preview: quillandquire.com/omni/2026-fa...
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chris johnson @ceeeejohnson.bsky.social · 16/07/2026
hey, rob's above/ground press is having a sale, so now would be a good time to get copies of my chapbooks with them! Gravenhurst: abovegroundpress.blogspot.com/2019/06/grav... some of the raccoon poems: abovegroundpress.blogspot.com/2022/10/new-...
abovegroundpress.blogspot.com
Gravenhurst, a failed record of a roadtrip in haibun, by Chris Johnson
Gravenhurst a failed record of a roadtrip in haibun Chris Johnson $5 I’m the youngest son of the youngest son of a youngest son. If...
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Conyer Clayton @conyerclayton.bsky.social · 15/07/2026
"My little sister asks me" from my forthcoming third poetry collection, the lake-shaped excuse (Buckrider Books, @wolsakandwynn.bsky.social), after @sannawani.bsky.social's "Lately I Am Trying." 💛 Pre-order now 🌅 Check out Wolsak and Wynn's full fall 2026 catalogue here: tinyurl.com/423tf48z
My little sister asks me

after Sanna Wani


if I remember when I realized I could die and I don’t, but I wish I did. Did I even think as a child? Do I even think now? So much of my world develops like a photograph, in the dark room way back and is fully formed before I realize it has been there floating in chemicals I assembly-line walk by. If I think in words, I don’t know them. If I knew I could die, I was okay with it. I tell my sister I feel like I have no memory sometimes – I spit shine my own eyes so they’ll see something. The snow I forgot was falling. The ice I walked on weeks too early. If I realized I could die, I don’t remember it. It’s not my death that worries me. It’s yours. If my lake isn’t solid, maybe yours is. Yours is. Yours is. No one else can die because the ice is just a photograph I took in high school. I made you sit on a pool noodle in the middle of the street while I crouched to get an artsy angle. Your skirt was striped and black and white. I think I need to go home.
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chris johnson @ceeeejohnson.bsky.social · 13/07/2026
come work with me at Arc Poetry Magazine!!
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Julie S. Lalonde @julieslalonde.bsky.social · 02/07/2026
Oh, man. Because of Ottawa's extreme weather yesterday, Cornerstone Housing for Women suffered a flood. It's taking major resources, human and financial, to deal with the damage and keep women housed. They're asking folks to donate, if they can:
cornerstonewomen.ca
Donate - Cornerstone Housing for Women
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Conyer Clayton @conyerclayton.bsky.social · 30/06/2026
Want a signed / personalized copy of my forthcoming book, the lake-shaped excuse (@wolsakandwynn.bsky.social)? You can order it from the best indie bookstore in the universe, Perfect Books and they will ship to you anywhere in the US or Canada. 💛 shop.perfectbooks.ca/item/aemMz2r...
Text: "the lake-shaped excuse, Oct 6 2026. Pre-order a personalized copy from Perfect Books in Ottawa, ON and they will ship it direct to you after release day! 'Clayton is a poetic force to be reckoned with.' —Gap Riot Press". There is a photo of Conyer Clayton and the cover of the lake-shaped excuse.
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chris johnson @ceeeejohnson.bsky.social · 30/06/2026
I have to come clean... until literally yesterday I thought Alex Ross Perry and Richard Reed Parry were the same person.
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chris johnson @ceeeejohnson.bsky.social · 20/06/2026
i’m excited to share news of my forthcoming chapbook from Paper Bill Press! this one's all “response poems” or poems that are slightly ripping off other poets. pre-orders are available for the entire first series of Paper Bill Press chapbooks, so better get 'em all! paperbillpress.ca/product/afte...
paperbillpress.ca
After — Chris Johnson
Poetry
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chris johnson @ceeeejohnson.bsky.social · 19/06/2026
come say hi tomorrow!
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chris johnson @ceeeejohnson.bsky.social · 15/06/2026
today is the deadline to submit your application to Arc's Poet-in-Residence position!
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Lambda Literary @lambdaliterary.org · 13/06/2026
🎉🎉 Congratulations to the 2026 Lambda Literary Award Winner for Bisexual Poetry: The Garbage Poems by Anna Swanson, illustrated by April White! @annajswan.bsky.social 🎉🎉 #Lammys2026 #LammyAwards
Winner graphic displaying the book cover of The Garbage Poems by Anna Swanson, illustrated by April White!
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chris johnson @ceeeejohnson.bsky.social · 04/06/2026
what do you do when you feel like you made plans for tomorrow night but you don’t remember what they were? make new plans? keep your schedule open in case you remember the plans you forgot?
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Arc Poetry Magazine @arcpoetry.bsky.social · 02/06/2026
For the Fall 2026 issue of Arc Poetry Magazine, we’re looking for poetic responses to resistance movements around the world and explorations of protest through poetry. More details here: buff.ly/uqcQBQO
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chris johnson @ceeeejohnson.bsky.social · 29/05/2026
the PIR program is one of the best things that Arc does! if anyone has questions about the program or application process, shoot me a line!
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VERSe Ottawa / VERSeFest (prior account lost, @versefest-ottawa.bsky.social · 25/05/2026
We got some great news today! thanks so much to Canadian Heritage's Canada Arts Presentation Fund for giving us funding to support our 2027 and 2028 plans!
The words "We're so excited to learn that we've received multi-year funding from the Canada Arts presentation Fund!" appear in white text, above the Canadian Heritage logo (The word "Canada" in large font, with "Canadian Heritage" underneath it). The background is blue.
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Nightwood Editions @nightwoodeditions.bsky.social · 14/05/2026
Vancouver friends! Elizabeth Bachinsky will be everything, everywhere, all at once, reading from her new collection, Real Grownup!
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Christina Shah @christinashah.bsky.social · 10/05/2026
Big thank you to @thespanielstale.bsky.social for hosting our Ottawa launch to a full house- with Natalie Southworth and David O'Meara! What a fun evening with two great writers- and I got to meet @ceeeejohnson.bsky.social!! @nightwoodeditions.bsky.social
Natalie Southworth reading from her debut collection, 'There's Always More to Say' at The Spaniel's Tale Bookstore in Ottawa.David O'Meara, English Poet Laureate of Ottawa, reading from his novel 'Chandelier' at The Spaniel's Tale Bookstore in Ottawa.Christina Shah reading from her poetry collection 'if: prey, then: huntress' at The Spaniel's Tale Bookstore in Ottawa.Chris Johnson with Christina Shah! He is pointing at her and she is smiling and holding her book!
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Arc Poetry Magazine @arcpoetry.bsky.social · 06/05/2026
We are thrilled to announce the shortlist for our 2026 Poem of the Year! Now it's your turn to determine which one deserves recognition. The Readers' Choice Award is open for your votes, but only until May 21. Which shortlisted poem is your favourite? Cast your vote today! buff.ly/b0rBh07
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Misha Solomon @mishasolomon.bsky.social · 04/05/2026
TONIGHT in OTTAWA @robmclennan.bsky.social @manahil.bsky.social
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rob mclennan @robmclennan.bsky.social · 02/05/2026
some above/ground press author activity: Gary Barwin, Orchid Tierney, Catriona Strang, Conor Mc Donnell, Noah Sparrow, Cole Swensen, Chris Johnson + Amanda Earl, / @garybarwin.bsky.social @amandaearl.bsky.social @ceeeejohnson.bsky.social ; abovegroundpress.blogspot.com/2026/05/some...
abovegroundpress.blogspot.com
some author activity: Barwin, Tierney, Strang, Mc Donnell, Sparrow, Swensen, Johnson + Earl,
Doreen Nicoll interviews Gary Barwin for the Small Change Podcast ; Orchid Tierney has new work in petrichor ; Catriona Strang has a poem up...
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Nightwood Editions @nightwoodeditions.bsky.social · 30/04/2026
Have you ever wondered what the inspiration was for the mythical beasts in Renée Sarojini Saklikar's latest instalment of her epic fantasy saga in verse? 🐱 In our last #NationalPoetryMonth “Author Q&A” we caught up with the author of Bramah's Discovery: nightwoodeditions.com/blogs/news/a...
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Pinhole Poetry @pinholepoetry.bsky.social · 27/04/2026
We are so excited to share the covers of our upcoming Summer 2026 titles: Andrew French, ‘Fists You’ve Called Home’ Ariel Gordon, ‘A Mudlarker’s Diary’ & LM Rochefort, ‘Living With The Animals’ (cover illustrated by artist Lucy Zou) Head over to the pinholepoetry.ca web shop to pre-order yours!
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chris johnson @ceeeejohnson.bsky.social · 27/04/2026
new poem; thanks @robmclennan.bsky.social!
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Arc Poetry Magazine @arcpoetry.bsky.social · 23/04/2026
“My love, nothing stays.” In On the News That Sagittarius A* Grows Hungrier, Nicola Vulpe expands intimate moments into the vastness of the universe. Reviewer Mark Frutkin calls it fascinating, unusual, and both personal and universal. Read the full review here: buff.ly/KWEGRLq
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Nightwood Editions @nightwoodeditions.bsky.social · 23/04/2026
Have you ever wanted to know what lives on Jes Battis’ writing desk, or what they think of balloons? 🎈 In our latest “Author Q&A” we caught up with the author of I Hate Parties, winner of the 2025 Saskatchewan Book Award for poetry! Read it here: nightwoodeditions.com/blogs/news/a...
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ELLEN OF GENEROUS @funnyposts.online · 21/04/2026
(waking as if from a nightmare) hey
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Simon and Gargamel @kellylink.bsky.social · 20/04/2026
This Is Just To Say I have turned off the AI features that were in the update and which you were probably hoping to monetize Fuck you they were stupid so unnecessary and so annoying
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chris johnson @ceeeejohnson.bsky.social · 20/04/2026
no idea if i’m on the precipice of editing my poem too much or just the right amount #2DayContest2026 @cv2magazine.bsky.social
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