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kara oakleaf

@karaoakleaf.bsky.social
1K followers 507 following 123 posts

reader of all the things, writer of a few things. assistant professor and wrangler of other bookish things in the dmv. words at karaoakleaf.com

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kara oakleaf @karaoakleaf.bsky.social · 02/07/2026
very excited to have this story on the wigleaf top 50 longlist this year! 😊
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Benjamin Dreyer @bcdreyer.social · 27/06/2026
Happy Lottery Day!
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kara oakleaf @karaoakleaf.bsky.social · 03/06/2026
excited to see this little book of love from @wwph.bsky.social out in the world, and to have a story in here alongside some of my favorite dc writers ♥️
book titled “capital love” edited by caroline bock and jona colson
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kara oakleaf @karaoakleaf.bsky.social · 08/05/2026
“Kevin and I laughed at our feral little animal, this creature who was loud and determined and afraid of nothing.” @emilyrinkema.bsky.social and @dawnsteffler.bsky.social with this total knockout of an apocalypse story in cutleaf 💔
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Jason Koebler @jasonkoebler.bsky.social · 12/03/2026
I met with AI data labelers in Kenya who are organizing their colleagues to fight the brutal working conditions and horrible pay given to the workers at the "bottom of the AI supply chain." They believe the NDAs they've signed are unenforceable so are speaking out: www.404media.co/ai-is-africa...
404media.co
'AI Is African Intelligence': The Workers Who Train AI Are Fighting Back
Kenyan workers are still the underpaid labor behind AI training, moderation, and sex chatbots. The Data Labelers Association is fighting back.
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kara oakleaf @karaoakleaf.bsky.social · 08/03/2026
i didn’t get a lot of photos, but i heard good stories, hugged a lot of people i adore, and brought home some gorgeous books. til next year, friends. ♥️ #awp26
photo of “awp26 bookfair banner” at baltimore convention center photo of george mason’s booth at the awp bookfairphoto of poster board with handwritten comments about “what you love about poetry daily”image of 8 books - first kicking then not by hannah grieco, audition by katie kitamura, governing bodies by sangamithra iyer, my heresies by alina stefanescu, the snow collectors by tina may hall, the baby on the fire escape by julie phillips, esquire ball by lisa slage robinson, and the earth room by dana diehl
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kara oakleaf @karaoakleaf.bsky.social · 16/02/2026
so much fun to read at the 804 lit salon this weekend - huge thanks to @andrewbertaina.bsky.social for including me with this absurdly talented group of writers ♥️ @margarethutton.bsky.social @janinalapapita.bsky.social @ambersparks.bsky.social @danilabotha.bsky.social @tmcallister.bsky.social
group photo of five women and one man
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kara oakleaf @karaoakleaf.bsky.social · 30/01/2026
lots of bookish things up for auction to support minnesota (and just a good list of resources that could use your donations if you aren’t bidding on anything here) ❤️‍🩹 www.32auctions.com/publishingfo...
32auctions.com
Publishing for Minnesota
Silent auction 'Publishing for Minnesota' hosted online at 32auctions.
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New Flash Fiction Review (subs closed) @nffr.bsky.social · 26/12/2025
We will be open for submissions 1 to 15 Jan. For inspiration, read our winning stories from last issue by @karaoakleaf.bsky.social @emilyrinkema.bsky.social @belindarowe.bsky.social @jaimegill.bsky.social @theodora.bsky.social @kathrynsilverhajo.bsky.social newflashfiction.com/issue-39/
newflashfiction.com
Issue 39: 2025 New Flash Fiction Prize | New Flash Fiction Review
Featuring new work by Belinda Rowe, Jaime Gill, Emily Rinkema, Theodora Sutcliffe, Kara Oakleaf, Leigh Ann Ruggiero, Kathryn Silver-Hajo, Brigid M. Hughes, and Jess Richards
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kara oakleaf @karaoakleaf.bsky.social · 15/12/2025
“I asked Dad once, What goes on in Olive’s head? He said, Believe whatever thing seems nicest.” leigh ann ruggiero’s “iron shoes” in @nffr.bsky.social 🤍 newflashfiction.com/iron-shoes/
newflashfiction.com
Iron Shoes | Issue #39
My parents, Olive, and I arrive at Uncle Don’s Memorial cookout after a day spent laying flowers at graves.
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Claudia Monpere @claudiamonpere.bsky.social · 13/12/2025
The long hallways of my arms, where sometimes, I swear I can feel their footsteps, where I look down and expect to see the skin rise up, something pushing against me from the inside." Brilliant unforgettable winning story@karaoakleaf.bsky.social @nffr.bsky.social newflashfiction.com/body-as-a-si...
newflashfiction.com
Body as a Single-Family Home | Issue #39
My ribcage must be the foyer, all high ceilings and wasted space and a place for the air to circulate. Small voices echoing off the walls of my lungs.
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James Montgomery @jamesmontgomery.bsky.social · 11/12/2025
‘…knowing they were safe, that they were surrounded only by their own histories.’ Beautiful, heartbreaking framing to this prize-winning @nffr.bsky.social story from @karaoakleaf.bsky.social 🏠 newflashfiction.com/body-as-a-si...
newflashfiction.com
Body as a Single-Family Home | Issue #39
My ribcage must be the foyer, all high ceilings and wasted space and a place for the air to circulate. Small voices echoing off the walls of my lungs.
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kara oakleaf @karaoakleaf.bsky.social · 05/12/2025
“My Uncle Louie beat a man to death with his bare hands, the same hands that now hold my baby in the living room of my newly dead grandmother’s house.” been reading through the @nffr.bsky.social issue this week and man, @emilyrinkema.bsky.social’s piece is a stunner. ♥️
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Meg Pillow @megpillow.bsky.social · 04/12/2025
This is one of the most damning arguments against AI and one of the most damning indictments of the university admins who gleefully jumped on this bandwagon without once thinking about the long-term damage it might cause. Everyone should read this.
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kara oakleaf @karaoakleaf.bsky.social · 02/12/2025
very surprised and grateful to see this little story win the 2025 new flash fiction review prize! the whole @nffr.bsky.social issue is phenomenal and i’m so glad to be in such good company 🥰 newflashfiction.com/body-as-a-si...
nffr.bsky.social
New Flash Fiction Review (subs closed) (@nffr.bsky.social)
New Flash Fiction Review is an online magazine devoted to flash fiction. Read more: https://newflashfiction.com
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kara oakleaf @karaoakleaf.bsky.social · 21/11/2025
“This is precisely how it is every Tuesday. The egg. The soldiers. Mrs White in a fluster.” beautiful story from @mattkendrick.bsky.social in milk candy review 💔
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kara oakleaf @karaoakleaf.bsky.social · 07/11/2025
"In cutting literature programs, universities...are dismantling the intellectual infrastructure that enables young people, and particularly the least advantaged, to become critical subjects capable of engaging with the all-too-many systems of power around them." lareviewofbooks.org/article/lite...
lareviewofbooks.org
Literature Is Not a Vibe: On ChatGPT and the Humanities | Los Angeles Review of Books
Rachele Dini discusses OpenAI’s “A Machine-Shaped Hand” and an academic sector in crisis.
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kara oakleaf @karaoakleaf.bsky.social · 05/11/2025
virginia. 💙💙💙
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kara oakleaf @karaoakleaf.bsky.social · 28/10/2025
look at this little piece of wonderful news in the midst of all the mess. ♥️
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kara oakleaf @karaoakleaf.bsky.social · 18/09/2025
“She laughs and her short red hair is an inkblot in the starlight, and you love her and miss her more than you thought was possible, all your feelings driven by this new wild blood. Was this yours, this brain full of such fierce fire?” @ambersparks.bsky.social in short story long 💜
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Free DC @freedcproject.bsky.social · 06/09/2025
This is what democracy looks like! A people united will never be defeated. We want federal forces out of DC NOW! #WeAreAllDC #FreeDC
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kara oakleaf @karaoakleaf.bsky.social · 01/09/2025
“Because the taste of mangoes clings to your teeth like a hymn. Because the boy on the bus folded his laughter into a paper crane & left it on your seat.” an absolutely perfect tiny story in @trampset.bsky.social ❤️‍🩹❤️‍🩹❤️‍🩹 trampset.org/reasons-to-s...
trampset.org
Reasons to Stay Alive When the World Burns
by Oladosu Michael Emerald
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kara oakleaf @karaoakleaf.bsky.social · 22/08/2025
🤦🏼‍♀️🤦🏼‍♀️🤦🏼‍♀️
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Free DC @freedcproject.bsky.social · 14/08/2025
Last night DC neighbors showed up at a police checkpoint at 14th & V ST. NW with handwritten signs warning drivers to avoid the block. After realizing that the community was successfully diverting all traffic, agents packed up the checkpoint and left. #WeKeepUsSafe
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Benjamin Dreyer @bcdreyer.social · 27/06/2025
"The morning of June 27th was clear and sunny, with the fresh warmth of a full-summer day; the flowers were blossoming profusely and the grass was richly green." Happy Lottery day to you and yours.
a stone
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Matt Kendrick @mattkendrick.bsky.social · 11/05/2025
Thanks to the generous sponsors for my stair climb challenge, I have free spots for low-income writers on all my upcoming #WriteBeyondTheLightbulb courses. Details about the courses: www.mattkendrick.co.uk/courses-work... Sign up to the "lottery": docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F...
A background of lightbulbs. White text reads "#WriteBeyondTheLightbulb"
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kara oakleaf @karaoakleaf.bsky.social · 11/05/2025
“in this big house full of small suites, the loneliness of motherhood dissipates, mostly, and the safety net needed to create art becomes visible, connective.” @amiesouzareilly.bsky.social w/a perfect mother’s day essay about isolation, creativity, & the small moments of community we all need. ♥️
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Anne Applebaum @anneapplebaum.wsocial.eu · 09/05/2025
Every book published in the United States is sent to the Library of Congress. Also, if you are under 16 you cannot use the reading room or order books.
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Simon and Gargamel @kellylink.bsky.social · 09/05/2025
Dr. Carla Hayden has more sense of American history, better bureaucratic understanding & capability, and a stronger sense of justice in her little pinky finger than everyone in the Trump administration & all those aiding and abetting that administration.
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Amy Stuber @amystuber.com · 09/05/2025
Shocked & grateful (thank you Stillhouse Press for giving my book a chance ❤️)
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kara oakleaf @karaoakleaf.bsky.social · 08/05/2025
all i can think is chicago pope, thursdays on nbc.
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Poetry Daily @poetrydaily.bsky.social · 07/05/2025
Meet our new managing editor, @elenamacdonald.bsky.social ! Elena Macdonald (they/she) is a writer from Virginia. Their work has been featured or is forthcoming in The Ekphrastic Review, Kitchen Table Quarterly, and Twin Bird Review. Elena is grateful and excited to be taking on this role.
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Lauren Beukes @laurenbeukes.com · 29/04/2025
So many, many bargains still on the Genre Creators for Trans Rights charity auction, including a just-added-this-minute signed Patrick Rothfuss, as well as handcrafted gems. www.32auctions.com/genrefortrans And here's a statement from our South African beneficary, @triangleprojectngo.bsky.social.
Rainbow pride triangles form a top border over a yellow background.  In the centre is an upside down pink triangle with a scribble of the outline of Table Mountain over it and the words "triangle project.". The header text reads: The Genre Creators for Trans Rights Charity Auction http://bit.ly/genrefortrans is proud to support our South African beneficiary.  It's followed by a quote: “This generous donation is not just financial support, it’s a statement of solidarity in a world where trans rights are under constant threat. 

In the face of international funding cuts and global pressures, this contribution ensures we can continue our vital work in South Africa, advocating for policy changes, providing crucial support services, and fighting against the growing wave of discrimination” 
- Ling Sheperd, TRIANGLE.ORG.ZA
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Amy Stuber @amystuber.com · 11/04/2025
This book - so many iterations and rejections and years of giving up and starting again - and now I’m so happy to see it on this finalist list. (Biggest thank you Stillhouse Press and Bingham judges 💚).
Photo of book covers of five finalists for the Pen Robert W Bingham prize for debut short story collection - lists here https://pen.org/announcing-the-2025-pen-america-literary-awards-finalists/
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kara oakleaf @karaoakleaf.bsky.social · 09/04/2025
“We talked in our own accents, used our own language, told them our creation stories, fed them laksa and posole and bamya.” this almost impossibly hopeful story from @pleomorphic2.bsky.social in @bendinggenres.bsky.social is exactly what i needed to read today. 💜
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kara oakleaf @karaoakleaf.bsky.social · 07/04/2025
“I fix my eyes on Gladys and stroke the smooth wool of my pink coat, finding the buttonhole edges with my fingers, and that’s when Gladys stares straight through me. Like she knows.” @sarahillswrites.bsky.social in @flashfrog.bsky.social with this 🔥
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kara oakleaf @karaoakleaf.bsky.social · 05/04/2025
image of hands off rally crowd in dc with capitol building in distance
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ALCS @alcs.co.uk · 31/03/2025
“I’m a crime writer – I understand theft when I see it.” Authors call for UK government to hold Meta accountable for copyright infringement. www.theguardian.com/books/2025/m...
theguardian.com
Authors call for UK government to hold Meta accountable for copyright infringement
‘I am a crime writer, I understand theft,’ said Val McDermid – joining Richard Osman, Kazuo Ishiguro and Kate Mosse in their appeal to Lisa Nandy to act on their behalf
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kara oakleaf @karaoakleaf.bsky.social · 31/03/2025
“It’s more like watching and wondering about the life you might have had if anyone had ever found out what you were concealing from them after you’re already gone. We all think this sounds like a nightmare. And that we better try even harder not to die just in case.” oh, this story 💔 it’s perfect
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kara oakleaf @karaoakleaf.bsky.social · 29/03/2025
tons of amazing stuff still up for auction and you’ll be supporting the transgender law center too: www.32auctions.com/writers4tran...
32auctions.com
Crime Writers for Trans Rights 2025
Silent auction 'Crime Writers for Trans Rights 2025' hosted online at 32auctions.
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kara oakleaf @karaoakleaf.bsky.social · 25/03/2025
got the new @otherppl.bsky.social pick & immediately remembered the nightmares i had from the 2015 NYer article abt the cascadia fault line, but then tore through the book in a day anyway. and it also wrecked me. it was so brilliant and so gutting and so alive and so terrifying and so beautiful. 💔
picture of book “tilt” by emma pattee. cover has slanted text and image of a red and black bird.
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kara oakleaf @karaoakleaf.bsky.social · 24/03/2025
“[AI] will never mimic a writer’s soul or how he or she produces meaningful writing—that process by which an individual idiosyncratic mind works out a problem, granting readers access to the inner life of another person, that constitutes the lifeblood of writing and storytelling.” all this, really.
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Amy Stuber @amystuber.com · 21/03/2025
A mere 33 years into my writing career, I published a book. It's such a thrill to see it here. (much ❤️ Stillhouse Press! Big thanks @penamerica.bsky.social & judges@leahhampton.bsky.social Sarah Shun-lien Bynum @wendywimmer.bsky.social. (Happy to be here w my friend @janellebassett.bsky.social!)
Prize announcement for the longlist of the 2025 Pen/Robert W Bingham Prize for Debut Short Story Collection including 9 book covers https://pen.org/announcing-the-2025-pen-america-literary-awards-longlists/
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kara oakleaf @karaoakleaf.bsky.social · 21/03/2025
“She’s still down there, bones picked clean by river fish, snapping turtles risen from swamps. She thought prayer would save her, an invisible, tide-halting dome cast over the house.” @coreyfarrenkopf.bsky.social with this gem in @flashfictiononline.bsky.social. every single sentence is so good. 🩵
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kara oakleaf @karaoakleaf.bsky.social · 20/03/2025
😡😡😡 www.theatlantic.com/technology/a...
theatlantic.com
The Unbelievable Scale of AI’s Pirated-Books Problem
Meta pirated millions of books to train its AI. Search through them here.
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After Dinner Conversation® @afterdinnerconversation.com · 19/03/2025
Help litmags transition away from Twitter, follow them on BlueSky. go.bsky.app/7cWNC2j
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Hannah Grieco @writesloud.bsky.social · 15/03/2025
Writers over at @porcupinelit.bsky.social are currently being targeted by the MAGA crowd. Read and share the work of teachers. ♥️ 💪 www.porcupineliterary.com
porcupineliterary.com
Home | Porcupine Literary
Porcupine Literary is a journal by and for teachers.
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kara oakleaf @karaoakleaf.bsky.social · 11/03/2025
this place, guys. it’s beautiful, it’s quiet, it has tons of space, it’s an easy drive from dc, and i accomplished more here in 5 days than i’ve gotten done in the last year. #areasontowrite @ellenweeren.bsky.social ❤️❤️❤️
house in the woods with the moon visible in the daytime skyview of sunset over the shenandoah river from the porch of the ‘a reason to write’ retreat sun setting over the shenandoah river rows of pages with colored post-its laid out across several tables
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