kara oakleaf @karaoakleaf.bsky.social · 02/07/2026very excited to have this story on the wigleaf top 50 longlist this year! 😊 160
kara oakleaf @karaoakleaf.bsky.social · 03/06/2026excited 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 ♥️ 010
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 💔 241
Reposted by kara oakleafJason Koebler @jasonkoebler.bsky.social · 12/03/2026I 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 BackKenyan workers are still the underpaid labor behind AI training, moderation, and sex chatbots. The Data Labelers Association is fighting back. 3563183016
kara oakleaf @karaoakleaf.bsky.social · 08/03/2026i 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 021
kara oakleaf @karaoakleaf.bsky.social · 16/02/2026so 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 0122
kara oakleaf @karaoakleaf.bsky.social · 30/01/2026lots 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.comPublishing for MinnesotaSilent auction 'Publishing for Minnesota' hosted online at 32auctions. 010
Reposted by kara oakleafNew Flash Fiction Review (subs closed) @nffr.bsky.social · 26/12/2025We 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.comIssue 39: 2025 New Flash Fiction Prize | New Flash Fiction ReviewFeaturing 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 02916
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.comIron Shoes | Issue #39My parents, Olive, and I arrive at Uncle Don’s Memorial cookout after a day spent laying flowers at graves. 121
Reposted by kara oakleafClaudia Monpere @claudiamonpere.bsky.social · 13/12/2025The 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.comBody as a Single-Family Home | Issue #39My 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. 4106
Reposted by kara oakleafJames 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.comBody as a Single-Family Home | Issue #39My 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. 2153
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. ♥️ 111
Reposted by kara oakleafMeg Pillow @megpillow.bsky.social · 04/12/2025This 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. 23620
kara oakleaf @karaoakleaf.bsky.social · 02/12/2025very 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.socialNew 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 7222
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 💔 120
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.orgLiterature Is Not a Vibe: On ChatGPT and the Humanities | Los Angeles Review of BooksRachele Dini discusses OpenAI’s “A Machine-Shaped Hand” and an academic sector in crisis. 010
kara oakleaf @karaoakleaf.bsky.social · 28/10/2025look at this little piece of wonderful news in the midst of all the mess. ♥️ 000
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 💜 141
Reposted by kara oakleafFree DC @freedcproject.bsky.social · 06/09/2025This is what democracy looks like! A people united will never be defeated. We want federal forces out of DC NOW! #WeAreAllDC #FreeDC 254168424880
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.orgReasons to Stay Alive When the World Burnsby Oladosu Michael Emerald 010
Reposted by kara oakleafFree DC @freedcproject.bsky.social · 14/08/2025Last 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 14979311
Reposted by kara oakleafBenjamin 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. 421158345
Reposted by kara oakleafMatt Kendrick @mattkendrick.bsky.social · 11/05/2025Thanks 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... 12822
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. ♥️ 010
Reposted by kara oakleafAnne Applebaum @anneapplebaum.wsocial.eu · 09/05/2025Every 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. 669145264841
Reposted by kara oakleafSimon and Gargamel @kellylink.bsky.social · 09/05/2025Dr. 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. 0203
Reposted by kara oakleafAmy Stuber @amystuber.com · 09/05/2025Shocked & grateful (thank you Stillhouse Press for giving my book a chance ❤️) 5420722
kara oakleaf @karaoakleaf.bsky.social · 08/05/2025all i can think is chicago pope, thursdays on nbc. 082
Reposted by kara oakleafPoetry Daily @poetrydaily.bsky.social · 07/05/2025Meet 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. 1266
Reposted by kara oakleafLauren Beukes @laurenbeukes.com · 29/04/2025So 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. 16448
Reposted by kara oakleafAmy Stuber @amystuber.com · 11/04/2025This 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 💚). 3219719
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. 💜 131
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 🔥 222
Reposted by kara oakleafALCS @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.comAuthors 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 022793
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 120
kara oakleaf @karaoakleaf.bsky.social · 29/03/2025tons of amazing stuff still up for auction and you’ll be supporting the transgender law center too: www.32auctions.com/writers4tran...32auctions.comCrime Writers for Trans Rights 2025Silent auction 'Crime Writers for Trans Rights 2025' hosted online at 32auctions. 010
kara oakleaf @karaoakleaf.bsky.social · 25/03/2025got 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. 💔 051
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. 152
Reposted by kara oakleafAmy Stuber @amystuber.com · 21/03/2025A 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!) 1611414
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. 🩵 151
kara oakleaf @karaoakleaf.bsky.social · 20/03/2025 😡😡😡 www.theatlantic.com/technology/a...theatlantic.comThe Unbelievable Scale of AI’s Pirated-Books ProblemMeta pirated millions of books to train its AI. Search through them here. 000
Reposted by kara oakleafAfter Dinner Conversation® @afterdinnerconversation.com · 19/03/2025Help litmags transition away from Twitter, follow them on BlueSky. go.bsky.app/7cWNC2j 49341
Reposted by kara oakleafHannah Grieco @writesloud.bsky.social · 15/03/2025Writers over at @porcupinelit.bsky.social are currently being targeted by the MAGA crowd. Read and share the work of teachers. ♥️ 💪 www.porcupineliterary.comporcupineliterary.comHome | Porcupine LiteraryPorcupine Literary is a journal by and for teachers. 12816
kara oakleaf @karaoakleaf.bsky.social · 11/03/2025this 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 ❤️❤️❤️ 2100