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Kirin Khan

@kirinjaan.bsky.social
868 followers 506 following 113 posts

Pashtun-American writer living in Amsterdam. Pushcart nom, Tin House Fellow, Pen EV fellow, Steinbeck fellow, Vermont Studio Center, among others… www.kirinkhan.com

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Kirin Khan @kirinjaan.bsky.social · 10/04/2026
Nabil was more than a brother. He was a mirror, a twin spirit. We understood each other. 4 out of the 7 of my family are gone now. I’m 42. I don’t know what to do.
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Kirin Khan @kirinjaan.bsky.social · 19/03/2026
My brother Nabil has died. As you know, we lost our dad in 2013, brother Qayyum in 2020, and mom just last year. Losing Nabil under suspicious circumstances is a nightmare. An investigation is ongoing. We will share burial service details asap as the official process allows us to move forward.
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Kirin Khan @kirinjaan.bsky.social · 14/03/2026
Shh the baby is sleeping
An extremely cute long haired mini dachshund puppy sleeps on the lap of someone wearing fuzzy Paul frank pajamas. The puppy is brown and tan with dark fur around its ears.
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Lincoln Michel @thelincoln.bsky.social · 13/03/2026
There's hope yet for my haters www.newscientist.com/article/2519...
newscientist.com
Single-celled organism with no brain is capable of Pavlovian learning
A trumpet-shaped, single-celled organism seems able to predict one thing will follow another, hinting that such associative learning emerged long before multicellular nervous systems
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AskAubry 🦝 🐆 @ask-aubry.com · 30/01/2026
With much love RIP Catherine O'Hara.
TAKE A THOUSAND NAKED PICTURES OF YOURSELF NOW. YOU MAY CURRENTLY THINK, "ON I'M TOO SPOOKY OR "NORODY WANTS TO SEE THESE TINY BOOBIES" BUT BEUEVE ME ONE DAY YOU WILL LOOK AT THOSE PICTURES WITH MUCH KINDER EYES AND SAY "DEAR GOD, I WAS A BEAUTIFUL THING!

MORA ROSE
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scare-cadus (is this anything) 🎃 @birdapp.rip · 01/07/2025
happy pride month. that’s right. july is pride month too. in fact it’s pride year, bitches. the pride will continue until rights improve.
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Amy @lolennui.bsky.social · 23/06/2025
The bees from My Girl have endorsed Cuomo
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Boston Review @bostonreview.bsky.social · 24/06/2025
“It is interesting that countries that call themselves democracies—India, Israel, and the United States—are busy running military occupations.” An interview with Arundhati Roy:
bostonreview.net
How to Think About Empire - Boston Review
An interview with Arundhati Roy on censorship, storytelling, and her problem with the term "postcolonialism."
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The Onion @theonion.com · 10/06/2025
ICE Releases Gavin Newsom Beheading Video
theonion.com
ICE Releases Gavin Newsom Beheading Video
WASHINGTON—Disseminating grainy footage of the California Democrat meeting his disturbing and bloody end, Immigration and Customs Enforcement released a video Tuesday in which Gov. Gavin Newsom is see...
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Matt Bell @mdbell79.bsky.social · 09/06/2025
"Someone once said that God offers man the choice between repose and truth: he cannot have both." —Peter Matthiessen, The Snow Leopard
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Victoria Spires @victoriaspires.bsky.social · 09/06/2025
#PromptCombo thank you @rfsmith.bsky.social for excellent hosting last week ❤️ This week I'm looking for poems on #Decay. Is decay inevitable? Can you find the beauty in it? If you get right up close to it - what does it look, smell, feel like? Replies may be a little delayed as I've a busy week.
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Dr. Glenn Patrick Doyle @drdoylesays.bsky.social · 09/06/2025
Consent isn't consent when you're scared out of your mind, deprived of vital information, or not in a position to realistically survive if you say "no." And "survival" has multiple dimensions beyond physical. That's not an "excuse," that's reality.
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Momma Dart @mommadart.bsky.social · 08/06/2025
These kids aren't afraid of fake bullets. They've been faced with the threat of real ones since kindergarten.
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John "Anaxis" Galt @4lusus2naturae0.bsky.social · 02/06/2025
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Alan Cummings’ Traitors Outfits @scryptkeeper.bsky.social · 31/05/2025
media.tenor.com
a black and white photo of a man wearing a suit and tie .
ALT: a black and white photo of a man wearing a suit and tie .
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Rusty Foster @rusty.todayintabs.com · 29/05/2025
Main character energy is OUT, this summer we’re bringing NPC energy. We’re posted up at the bar dropping lore and suggesting side quests. We’re leaning casually near a locked door and saying “I don’t think you have the key for that” when someone tries the handle. We’re staring at a tree.
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Poetry Ireland / Éigse Éireann @poetryireland.bsky.social · 26/05/2025
📣 We are hiring! Poetry Ireland are seeking a passionate, qualified Librarian to lead the development of the new Seamus Heaney Poetry Library at No. 11 Parnell Square. ℹ️ Find full information and application details here: www.poetryireland.ie/news/poetry-... 🚨Deadline: Friday 30 May, 5pm #JobFairy
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André Picard @picardonhealth @picardonhealth.bsky.social · 25/05/2025
I went to a farm in the Netherlands that cares for #dementia patients. Here’s what I learned about a good life - and a good death, by Fay Martin www.thestar.com/opinion/cont... via @thestar.com #eldercare
thestar.com
I went to a farm in the Netherlands that cares for dementia patients. Here’s what I learned about a good life - and a good death
Alternative living arrangements provide an option from long-term care homes that focuses on providing life with purpose
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Meg Elison @megelison.bsky.social · 25/05/2025
Hanif Abdurraqib just quoted this poem in a theater, and I needed it so bad. He said “the way that I want to love is not fully legible in a world like this one.” www.poetryfoundation.org/poetrymagazi...
poetryfoundation.org
Intifada Incantation: Poem #8 for b.b.L.
I SAID I LOVED YOU AND I WANTED GENOCIDE TO STOP I SAID I LOVED YOU AND I WANTED AFFIRMATIVE ACTION AND REACTION I SAID I LOVED YOU AND I WANTED MUSIC OUT THE WINDOWS I SAID I LOVED YOU AND I WANTED N...
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After Dinner Conversation® @afterdinnerconversation.com · 22/05/2025
If you are a teacher and assign one of our stories for your students to read, I'm happy to video conference into your class as the editor of After Dinner Conversation magazine to discuss the story and discussion questions with your class!
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Saeed Jones @theferocity.bsky.social · 21/05/2025
This is one of the most profound essays I’ve read in years. You don’t need me to tell you that Hanif Abdurraqib is one of the finest writers of our time, but this essay in particular is a hard-won offering. Please read it and share with people you love.
newyorker.com
In Defense of Despair
The feeling is most commonly framed as an end point, a level of despondency that cannot be overcome. But it doesn’t have to be so.
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Solomon @solomonrmissouri.com · 19/05/2025
If taking it to hell is an art form i wanna be da Vinci
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Solomon @solomonrmissouri.com · 19/05/2025
"i wouldn't wish ____ on my worst enemy" not me... i "be" wishing it
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Matt Bell @mdbell79.bsky.social · 16/05/2025
A favorite revision trick that almost always brings a dull scene to better life: transform anything the protagonist thinks into something they say aloud and then just write what happens next.
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Jonathan Edward Durham @thisone0verhere.bsky.social · 16/05/2025
All the books I ordered last week just arrived! Can't wait to pour myself a drink, relax, be too tired to read and play around on my phone all night
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Ali Trotta @alwayscoffee.bsky.social · 13/05/2025
"I asked ChatGPT, and--" ...the ghost of Ada Lovelace appeared and punched you in the face, I hope.
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JP @jpbrammer.bsky.social · 12/05/2025
complaining about my day means I’m in a decent mood. if I say some shit like “just practicing gratitude today” I’m probably at rock bottom and contemplating illegal activity
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After Dinner Conversation® @afterdinnerconversation.com · 11/05/2025
"Outside of a dog, a book is man’s best friend. Inside of a dog, it’s too dark to read." - Groucho Marx
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Adam Morgan @adamm0rgan.bsky.social · 09/05/2025
If your literary organization lost an NEA grant this week, I'd like to hear from you for a story I'm writing for the LARB. DMs are open, email is adam@thefrontlist.org.
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Kirin Khan @kirinjaan.bsky.social · 07/05/2025
I’m subscribing to as many literary journals that have lost their NEA grants as I can. Literary journals are so important for writers, readers, and to literature as a whole, and are mostly volunteer run, with tiny budgets. Every time we lose one, we lose unique voices & perspectives we so need.
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SmokeLong Quarterly @smokelong.bsky.social · 07/05/2025
It’s Wednesday. The Smokey deadline is midnight, NYC, Saturday. It’s time to step away from that comma, now. That’s right. Eaaaasy does it. No, I don’t know if it should “maybe be an em-dash”. Did you drink water today? You seem to have an olive in your hair. C’mon. That story is DONE. Send it.
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Ali Trotta @alwayscoffee.bsky.social · 06/05/2025
Darlings, a moment. Don’t give up on your dreams. Or, if you do, remember that you can choose to pursue them again. We often get down on ourselves. Let the world creep in. Too much has happened. Not enough has happened. We’re too this or too that. That’s crap. It’s not too late until you’re dead.
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Bob Johnston @bobjohnstonbooks.bsky.social · 06/05/2025
Feeling extremely seen by @asherperlman.bsky.social today... #booklove #emotionalsupportbook
Cartoon of two people leaving their home. One is putting a book in their bag and caption reads "I better bring my book just in case I want to spend all day carrying my book."
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Kirin Khan @kirinjaan.bsky.social · 06/05/2025
This looks rad!
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Ben Collins @bencollins.bsky.social · 04/05/2025
It is a little weird to me countries aren’t more aggressively, formally trying to take advantage of the U.S. science brain drain. Once in a lifetime opportunity to buy low on Non-Dumbass Americans with PhDs who just wanna look into microscopes and quietly cure ass cancer as our country eats shit.
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Moira Donegan @moiradonegan.bsky.social · 01/05/2025
Happy May Day, don’t be a scab.
Black and white photo from the early 20th century of two little girls in roller skates on a city street, wearing sashes that read DON’T BE A SCAB. A handwritten annotation in white ink at the top of the photo says “Strike Sympathizers.”
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­🦋­ ­Bluesky Support­ ­🦋­ ­(­­unofficial) @bsky.support · 25/04/2025
we will never let you edit posts. you must wear each typo as an albatross. you will bear the weight of your hubris
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Jim Musil Painter @jimmusilpainter.bsky.social · 24/04/2025
My painting TIDAL WETLANDS
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SmokeLong Quarterly @smokelong.bsky.social · 24/04/2025
The first winner of "The Smokey" in 2018 was Alvin Park @chipmnk.bsky.social with his rich, moving "Whale Fall". It still slays us every time we read it. The 2025 deadline for The Smokey is May 10! Send us something you love. www.smokelong.com/stories/whal...
smokelong.com
Whale Fall - SmokeLong Quarterly
She and I were one year married when we made the decision and waited for the papers to remove the priest’s words and our vows. I told myself we could fix this, that it was because of the village’s new...
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Dr Lindz McLeod - THE MISEDUCATION OF CAROLINE BINGLEY out now! @lindzmcleod.bsky.social · 23/04/2025
I was just told that my launch event in Glasgow was going to be cancelled because I don't have *enough* tickets sold. Humiliating—not least because I worked my butt off for this book & went to other people's launches. If I could sell a few more today, maybe I could change their minds. Please.
waterstones.com
Lindz McLeod launches The Unlikely Pursuit of Mary Bennet | Events at Waterstones Bookshops | Waterstones
Events at Waterstones get you closer to the books and authors you admire most. Find information and tickets about Lindz McLeod launches The Unlikely Pursuit of Mary Bennet today.
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SmokeLong Quarterly @smokelong.bsky.social · 22/04/2025
How is time ticking down so fast? Just 18 days and 21 hours now to enter. The Smokey. Our fifth year. $4700 in the prize pot, maybe more. If you're an earthling over 18 you can enter. Send us work you love. Your name should appear ONLY in your cover letter. www.smokelong.com/the-smokelon...
smokelong.com
The SmokeLong Quarterly Award for Flash Fiction 2025 - SmokeLong Quarterly
The SmokeLong Quarterly Award for Flash Fiction (The Smokey) is now an annual competition that celebrates and compensates excellence in flash. Our first grand prize winner in 2018 was “Whale Fall” by ...
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Kirin Khan @kirinjaan.bsky.social · 20/04/2025
Gorgeous morning in Amsterdam today
A photo from one side of the Amstel river reflects the blue sky, trees, and colorful, narrow, tall Dutch buildings on the other side. Houseboats line the river as well.
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MORGUES @mxmorgan.com · 16/04/2025
Here's an alternate fantasy author who isn't an absolute cunt: Ursula K Le Guin
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Electric Literature @electricliterature.com · 13/04/2025
These Indonesian authors defy that societal conventions around shame that would silence them.
buff.ly
7 Indonesian Novels in Translation That Push Boundaries - Electric Literature
Dias Novita Wuri, author of "Birth Canal" recommends Nusantara fiction that shines a light on the taboo
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Kirin Khan @kirinjaan.bsky.social · 13/04/2025
Sigh. Tried to invite a guy over to hookup but instead I said “read books together” soooo if you’re wondering how long it’s been…it’s been a very long time 😭
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Kirin Khan @kirinjaan.bsky.social · 13/04/2025
Been having a hard time for awhile now. I keep wanting to talk to my parents but they are still dead.
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HAD @havehashad.com · 10/04/2025
SECRET SUBMISSION CALL!! By which we me mean... a "SECRETS" themed submission call. In ~48 hours. Saturday, 4/12, 12pm (noon) ET. Sub call capped at 150 submissions. Guest editors? Team hex (Kate, Danny, Joe)!
Submissions call! Theme: Tell us a secret 🤫! We’re asking for your secrets, broadly interpreted: A death-bed confession? An impossible craving? A hidden room in the count’s sprawling manse? The moonbase beneath the moonbase? The true identity of your friend’s cool mom? The real reason the dinosaurs disappeared? Did you know that the doorway to hell is located under an abandoned Shell station in Lima, Ohio? Did you know Miss Piggy was a secret agent? Did you know Lyndon B. Johnson could astral project at will?

🤫 Short fiction, short nonfiction, or non-lineated prose poems only (two max, please).

🤫 500 words or fewer total.

🤫 Shorter’s often better. Sometimes not.

Thank you for trusting us 😈

hex (Kate, Danny, Joe)
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Ilhan Omar @ilhanmn.bsky.social · 09/04/2025
Members of Congress should never be allowed to trade stocks. Period.
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