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Derek Mong

@derekmong.bsky.social
195 followers 216 following 130 posts

Poet, essayist, editor, & translator. Latest poetry collection: When the Earth Flies into the Sun. Cont. Ed. at Zocalo Public Square. Prof. of English at Wabash College. Married to the inimitable Anne O. Fisher.

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Derek Mong @derekmong.bsky.social · 19h
Indy Friends! I'll be reading at Proof: a Midwest Lit Fest today alongside Marcus Wicker, L. Renee, and Lisa Low! It'll be in the Harrison Gallery in the Harrison Center (1505 N Delaware) at 1 PM.
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Derek Mong @derekmong.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
Replace "Lamborghini" with "Toyota Camry," and it's the story of my last decade.
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Derek Mong @derekmong.bsky.social · 03/09/2026
This new story from Adina Polatsek on @atlengthmag.bsky.social is a real gem! Give it a read today.
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Derek Mong @derekmong.bsky.social · 27/08/2026
What do W.S. Merwin, Joan Baez, Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain, and Cecillia Wang have in common? I've got new essay in @zocalopublicsquare.bsky.social answering that question. (Spoiler alert: I adore them all.) www.zocalopublicsquare.org/my-pantheon-...
zocalopublicsquare.org
My Pantheon of Heroes for Powerless Times | Essay
How a Folk Singer, Poet, Civil War Vet, and Lawyer Help Me Survive American Life
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Derek Mong @derekmong.bsky.social · 26/08/2026
I'm very glad to have this new essay about heroes up @zocalopublicsquare.bsky.social! With thanks to Sarah Rothbard and @erynbrown.bsky.social for their editing and Jason Lord for this constellated illustration!
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Derek Mong @derekmong.bsky.social · 24/08/2026
We're so glad to have these wonderful translations in our latest issue of @atlengthmag.bsky.social. Thanks to @hisraeli.bsky.social and Gentian Çoçoli!
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Derek Mong @derekmong.bsky.social · 18/08/2026
@affisher.bsky.social & I are particularly proud of this issue! See below for previews of work by Adina Polatsek, @hisraeli.bsky.social & Gentian Çoçoli, and @derfbackderf.bsky.social!
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Derek Mong @derekmong.bsky.social · 04/08/2026
I’m excited to announce that I've been shortlisted by the 2026 Indiana Authors Awards in poetry! Every other year, the Awards honor the best books written by Hoosier authors and celebrate our state’s literary community. Read more at IndianaAuthorsAwards.org (1/2)
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Derek Mong @derekmong.bsky.social · 02/08/2026
Take a gander at some gems from out At Length archives... and stay tuned for more comics coming to the site in the very near future!
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Derek Mong @derekmong.bsky.social · 19/07/2026
This pretty much nails the Odyssey casting ridiculousness. Also: The Conquerors was filmed in Utah, near nuclear test sites, and 91 of 220 crew members (including Wayne) wound up with cancer. That's peak American irony right there for the celebrity spokesperson for American imperialism.
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At Length @atlengthmag.bsky.social · 12/07/2026
As your weekend comes to an end, take a look at Asya Graf’s autobiographical essay chronicling a journey to the past that kindles hope for the future. It's a beauty. atlengthmag.com/revolutionary/
atlengthmag.com
Revolutionary
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jamelle @jamellebouie.net · 08/07/2026
funny how the cutting edge of the far right is just regurgitated slaveholder agitprop from 1850.
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Derek Mong @derekmong.bsky.social · 06/07/2026
We're really glad to be publishing Jason Koo's latest in At Length!
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Derek Mong @derekmong.bsky.social · 05/07/2026
These exclamations included such stunners as "I'm friends with Andrew from Sequoia" (a venture capitalist firm, apparently); "you're all getting fired"; an insinuation about throat slitting; and--of course he went there--"Trump invests in my company." American fireworks indeed. 2/2
reddit.com
[Mature Content] From the bayarea community on Reddit: Business Bro loses it at SFO
Posted by wes00mertes - 613 votes and 325 comments
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Derek Mong @derekmong.bsky.social · 05/07/2026
I'm not much for celebrating the Fourth of July--not when our democracy is in crisis--but this fiasco, which we witnessed in person at SFO on July 3, seems darkly representative of America today: a drunken tech bro, enraged after being barred from our flight, lashes out with entitled invectives 1/2
reddit.com
[Mature Content] From the bayarea community on Reddit: Business Bro loses it at SFO
Posted by wes00mertes - 613 votes and 325 comments
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Derek Mong @derekmong.bsky.social · 12/06/2026
It's just cosmically unfair to loose Duane Michals and David Hockney in the same week. Piss off, universe.
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Derek Mong @derekmong.bsky.social · 09/06/2026
We just published some good stuff on At Length! Take a gander.
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Derek Mong @derekmong.bsky.social · 08/06/2026
File this under "Because, well, duh" for both @affisher.bsky.social and I.
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Derek Mong @derekmong.bsky.social · 02/06/2026
Asshat Hoosier politicians are on a real role this week. First Lt. Gov. Beckwith calls Islam a "demonic death cult" that he "hates." Then Gov. Braun announces June as "Nuclear Family Month"--no coincidence that it's Pride Month--with a call to "Take Back the Rainbow." They're both embarrassments.
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jamelle @jamellebouie.net · 01/05/2026
dudes rock
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Merriam-Webster @merriam-webster.com · 17/04/2026
Marlene cooked with this one.

Language Matters
Why English is so hard to learn
Marlene Davis
YOU think English is easy? Check out the following.
1. The bandage
was wound around
the wound.
11. The insurance was invalid for the invalid in his hospital bed.
12. There was a row among the oarsmen about who would row. 13. They were too close to the door to close it.
14. The buck does funny things when the does (females) are present.
15. A seamstress and a sewer fell
2. The farm was cultivated to produce down into a sewer line.
produce.
3. The dump was so full that the workers had to refuse more refuse.
4. We must polish the Polish furniture shown at the store.
5. He could lead if he would get the lead out.
6. The soldier decided to desert his tasty dessert in the desert.
7. Since there is no time like the pres- ent, he thought it was time to present the present to his girlfriend.
8.A bass was painted on the head of the bass drum.
9. When shot at, the dove dove into the bushes.
10. I did not object to the object which he showed me.
16. To help with planting, the farmer taught his sow to sow.
17. The wind was too strong to wind the sail around the mast.
18. Upon seeing the tear in her painting she shed a tear.
19.I had to subject the subject to a series of tests.
20. How can I intimate this to my most intimate friend?
Heteronyms
These are brilliant. Homonyms or homographs are words of like spelling, but with more than one meaning and sound.
When pronounced differently, they are known as heteronyms.
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Matt Brown @mattbrown.bsky.social · 11/04/2026
Okay CTA. This is a good sign.
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Derek Mong @derekmong.bsky.social · 09/04/2026
I support reading in all its form--audiobooks, ebooks, and book books--but this bullshit adds a little more luster to the old-fashioned codex, which Bezos the Bozo can't fuck with in his off hours from dismantling the Washington Post. www.wired.com/story/amazon...
wired.com
Amazon Pulls Support for Perfectly Fine Older Kindles
In an email to customers, Amazon announced that it would be ending service for Kindle devices older than the 2012 edition. Those devices will lose access to the Kindle Store.
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Alex de Campi @alexdecampi.bsky.social · 03/04/2026
Somewhere up in heaven, Richard Scarry is like “fuck yeah, told you so”: www.bbc.com/news/world-u...
bbc.com
Rats taught to drive tiny cars to lower their stress levels
Researchers taught rats to drive tiny "ratmobiles" in exchange for food, which helped the rats relax.
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Derek Mong @derekmong.bsky.social · 21/02/2026
If you’re willing to complete this anonymous survey (7 mins), and enter your email (not connected to your survey responses), you could easily get a Starbucks gift card. She’s sending them out randomly to entrants. 2/2 regisu.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_...
regisu.qualtrics.com
Thriving Through Unexpected Change
Help us understand how people thrive through unexpected change! Your anonymous responses are critical to the science of resilience.
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Derek Mong @derekmong.bsky.social · 21/02/2026
Men Friends (and Fam): Liz Moody--a best selling author, generally cool person, and a member of my fam--is running a scientific study about, among other things, the amount of novelty in your life. Her sample size, though, is very low on men. 1/2
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Derek Mong @derekmong.bsky.social · 17/02/2026
Today at Wabash College!
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Derek Mong @derekmong.bsky.social · 11/02/2026
I'm very pleased to host David Baker at Wabash College on Tuesday, Feb. 17 (next week)! I've been at Wabash for a decade now, and it's a delight to finally bring my old prof and friend to our little campus for a poetry reading. Please do mark this one in your calendars. You won't regret it.
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Derek Mong @derekmong.bsky.social · 05/02/2026
This semester's Humanities Colloquia at Wabash College will feature a poet, a pirate, and a professor. I'll be playing the poet. Come join me this coming Monday for a reading. Lunch provided!
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Derek Mong @derekmong.bsky.social · 27/01/2026
The Wabash College English Department has an open Visiting Assistant Professor position. If you or someone you know would be a good fit--we're looking for a candidate in Rhet-Comp who can teach Business Writing--please forward this ad! www.wabash.edu/employment/?...
wabash.edu
Visiting Assistant Professor of English | Employment | Wabash College
Wabash College is a small, private, liberal arts college for men, located in Crawfordsville, Indiana, United States.
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Derek Mong @derekmong.bsky.social · 13/01/2026
My short essay is part of the "Centennial Reflections" on Jeffers's Roan Stallion, Tamar, and Other Poems. Check out essays here by my pal Jesse Nathan, as well as Brenda Hillman, Christopher Benfey, David Lehman, Dana Gioia, and many others! (2/2) ir.library.illinoisstate.edu/cgi/viewcont...
ir.library.illinoisstate.edu
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Derek Mong @derekmong.bsky.social · 13/01/2026
The world's falling apart, but I'm still revelling in this bucket list appearance in a scholastic journal: Jeffers Studies. I'm more of a poet & critic than a scholar, so it's a real joy to publish an essay on Robinson Jeffers's "Continent's End." (1/2) ir.library.illinoisstate.edu/cgi/viewcont...
ir.library.illinoisstate.edu
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Derek Mong @derekmong.bsky.social · 11/01/2026
I could rewatch this video of an ICE officer falling on his ass thanks to Minnesota ice all goddamn day.
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Derek Mong @derekmong.bsky.social · 08/01/2026
This is murder. www.nytimes.com/video/us/100...
nytimes.com
Video: Videos Contradict Trump Administration Account of ICE Shooting in Minneapolis
An analysis of footage from three camera angles show that the vehicle appears to be turning away from a federal officer as he opened fire.
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Derek Mong @derekmong.bsky.social · 03/01/2026
Giving up on the Nobel Peace Prize in favor of a Wag the Dog slide into the foreign policy of 2003. What could POSSIBLY go wrong?!
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Derek Mong @derekmong.bsky.social · 29/12/2025
Attention Poets: we'll be reading for At Length in January! See below:
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jamelle @jamellebouie.net · 18/12/2025
weiss does not know how to run a news organization, and so she's doing what she does best: hosting fatuous "debates" involving the people in her group chats www.hollywoodreporter.com/business/bus...
hollywoodreporter.com
Bari Weiss’ Next CBS News Move: Town Halls With JD Vance, Sam Altman and Debates About God and Feminism
The news division is also planning a town hall with Maryland Gov. Wes Moore in the 'Things That Matter' series, with Bank of America lined up as a sponsor.
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Derek Mong @derekmong.bsky.social · 15/12/2025
If you're a law enforcement agent, and you're intimidated by snowballs, it's time for a new fucking line of work. www.youtube.com/shorts/eTEQC...
youtube.com
ICE vehicle hits protester, agents use pepper spray in Minneapolis
YouTube video by Washington Post
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Derek Mong @derekmong.bsky.social · 12/12/2025
Thanks to those GOP State Senators here in Indiana who voted for democracy tonight! And for the Democrats who needed no convincing whatsoever. www.nytimes.com/2025/12/11/u...
nytimes.com
Indiana Lawmakers Reject Trump’s New Political Map
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Derek Mong @derekmong.bsky.social · 09/12/2025
Poets! We'll be opening up @atlengthmag.bsky.social for submissions on January 1!
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Jordan Davis @jordandavis.bsky.social · 05/12/2025
Walt Whitman’s epic long poem, Promotion of Myself
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Derek Mong @derekmong.bsky.social · 30/11/2025
As the season of rampant consumerism commences, let us remind you that At Length is a free and widely accessible literary journal. No cost to read and no cost to submit. Let us be your long-form oasis as the mayhem begins.
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Derek Mong @derekmong.bsky.social · 20/11/2025
And let's not forget the casual racism of these "Speaker Hakeem" posters; his title would be "Speaker Jeffries." Gotta blow that Islamophobic dog whistle. I don't even like Deery--that wiener gave us SB 202, an attack on higher ed. But at least he believes in the constitution on this issue. 2/2
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Derek Mong @derekmong.bsky.social · 20/11/2025
Micah Beckwith might be the most loathsome guy in Hoosier politics, what with his book-banning mania and his campaign of "retribution" (his word) against Spencer Deery (W. Lafayette, R) for not joining in an undemocratic, off-cycle re-districting. 1/2 indianacapitalchronicle.com/2025/11/19/p...
indianacapitalchronicle.com
Pro-redistricting crowd presses Indiana lawmakers for ‘9-0’ map at Statehouse rally • Indiana Capital Chronicle
Hoosiers gathered under the Indiana Statehouse rotunda Tuesday morning to call on lawmakers to approve new congressional district maps.
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Derek Mong @derekmong.bsky.social · 18/11/2025
Friends--we've got more long-form literature for you! @affisher.bsky.social, Preeta Samarasan, @carsonwirtz0.bsky.social, and I put lots of sweat and effort into getting these gems out into the world every couple of months. Take a gander when you've got a chance!
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Derek Mong @derekmong.bsky.social · 13/11/2025
This is happening next week at Wabash College! Hopefully it's the first of many: Hoosier poets reading in triplicate on campus. Free and open to all!
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Derek Mong @derekmong.bsky.social · 09/11/2025
Thanks to @ronslate.bsky.social and Jonathan Farmer for this interview about When the Earth Flies into the Sun! The book celebrated its first birthday last month!
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Derek Mong @derekmong.bsky.social · 06/11/2025
Tim Hunt recently invited me to chat about three Robinson Jeffers poems alongside my own. Our conversation, which you can read (or listen to) below, was a total delight. Thanks for this, Tim, and for your Selected Jeffers, which has accompanied for over 20 years. huntt.substack.com/p/robinson-j...
huntt.substack.com
Robinson Jeffers Now: A Conversation with Derek Mong
TH: Welcome to the second installment of Robinson Jeffers Now, a series of interviews with contemporary poets exploring their varied engagements with the California poet Robinson Jeffers (1887-1962), ...
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Derek Mong @derekmong.bsky.social · 01/11/2025
Hoosier writers old and young (including students!): we've got a chapter of Writers for Democratic Action (@indianawda.bsky.social) up and running, and we'd love for you to join! Resist authoritarianism--like Orwell did before you--with your pen. DM me to join. sites.google.com/view/indiana...
sites.google.com
Indiana-WDA
Indiana Writers for Democratic Action is a community of writers and readers committed to the core American principle that civil liberties exist for all. Our freedoms include the right to vote and have...
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