iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Mark Abdon @markabdonwrites.bsky.social · 21/09/2026

Jessica! What a joy it was to have you! As a professor with very little experience in writing for children, it was a true gift to my students to bring in someone so knowledgeable and so personable as well! Thank you! 5 stars - would highly recommend :)

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Mark Abdon @markabdonwrites.bsky.social · 07/09/2026

Thanks for the kind words, Liz! Added plus that I think this is the first time a story of mine has been dubbed "devious" 💪

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Mark Abdon @markabdonwrites.bsky.social · 31/05/2026

Extra credit for anyone who has been an adjunct professor, or who has read Finnegan's Wake all the way through. Respect.

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Reposted by Mark Abdon

The Offing @theoffingmag.bsky.social · 28/05/2026

“Loud, heap miseries upon us yet entwine our arts with paychecks low! Here Comes Everybody.” From “Finnegans Wake Forest,” a Wit Tea humor piece by Mark Abdon. theoffingmag.com/wit-tea/finn...

theoffingmag.com

Finnegans Wake Forest - The Offing

Wit Tea - The Offing Magazine

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Mark Abdon @markabdonwrites.bsky.social · 03/03/2026

While you're at it - check out @k-a-polzin.bsky.social wonderful story, "The Football Party" from a few weeks back: www.porcupineliterary.com/post/the-foo.... PS - K.A. - I think this is the third time we've been published together, more or less. Catamaran, MoonPark, and now here. High five.

porcupineliterary.com

“The Football Party”

K. A. Polzin’s stories have appeared in Subtropics, swamp pink, Gulf Coast, Wigleaf, and elsewhere, and have been anthologized in Best Small Fictions 2023 and the Fractured Lit Anthology 3, and chosen...

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Mark Abdon @markabdonwrites.bsky.social · 03/03/2026

This one goes out to all the teachers-turned-sleuths using six different AI Detection sites while comparing writing samples from earlier in the semester... Loads of gratitude to @porcupinelit.bsky.social for giving this one a home! www.porcupineliterary.com/post/under-t...

porcupineliterary.com

“Under the Gun”

Mark Abdon hails from Indianapolis, Indiana where he teaches Creative Writing at Indiana Wesleyan University. His stories are popping up in places like The Pinch Journal, Catamaran, X-R-A-Y, Chautauqu...

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Mark Abdon @markabdonwrites.bsky.social · 30/01/2026

"Feeling like someone has scooped out our guts, we decide to call it a night, not even checking to see if you're inside." Hey thanks for reposting - I'd missed this the first time around. Love the mood of this piece, and if I knew my stages of grief better, those too, I bet.

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Mark Abdon @markabdonwrites.bsky.social · 29/01/2026

🙋‍♂️ - Think it was this line that got me: "please focus on what a f***-up/loser/hack writer I am in real life." And I was like, man, that guy needs a hug or a high-five or something. Much less worried now. Plus you graciously published one of my stories after that haha.

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Mark Abdon @markabdonwrites.bsky.social · 26/01/2026

As of 2026, here are some of the places I'd be most jazzed to have stories appear: - BOOTH (hometown) - Harvard Review (reader) - Image (faith) - McSweeney's (humor) - Florida Review (many kind rejections)

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Mark Abdon @markabdonwrites.bsky.social · 26/01/2026

About to hit my 3-year anniversary of when I started submitting stories out into the world. I secretly love the process. My "Dream Publication" list sure has changed! I think I started with the typical 'whatever is most prestigious.' What's your Top 5? Mine's below, with a one-word (explanation)

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Mark Abdon @markabdonwrites.bsky.social · 20/01/2026

New Source of Joy: When a lit mag that previously published YOU now publishes one of your STUDENTS! Now doubly grateful to @jmwwjournal.bsky.social, @socalwritergirl.bsky.social, and Juliet Way-Henthorne!

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Mark Abdon @markabdonwrites.bsky.social · 20/01/2026

Late gratitude post to @porcupinelit.bsky.social, @theoffingmag.bsky.social, @thirdcoastmagazine.com, and Red Rock Review for some good news in December! RIP: my 10-month rejection streak I had going. My wife could have made a person in that window. I, by contrast, made a stack of 100 rejections.

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Mark Abdon @markabdonwrites.bsky.social · 19/01/2026

Alright #writers, #writing, #litmags – I'm about to set up the Submittable account for our university lit mag. Advice for a total newbie as we get this thing up and running?

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Mark Abdon @markabdonwrites.bsky.social · 16/01/2026

Ha! No worries! Totally get it - I’m on bsky avoiding grading right now!

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Mark Abdon @markabdonwrites.bsky.social · 16/01/2026

*Patiently waits for SSL nomination for 'Best American Cover Letters' anthology* *Falls into a pit of old episodes of Frasier upon finding out that 'Best American Cover Letters' isn't a thing*

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Mark Abdon @markabdonwrites.bsky.social · 16/01/2026

Ah yes! 'The Ask' was on the list too.

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Mark Abdon @markabdonwrites.bsky.social · 11/01/2026

New teaching gig comes with free cookies at every department meeting 💪 But also comes with an 80 minute commute. Each way. So who has a great podcast about writing they'd like to recommend? Could cover any aspect of writing!

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Mark Abdon @markabdonwrites.bsky.social · 08/01/2026

Aaaand I will forever picture you reading SSL submissions in cut-off jean shorts.

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Reposted by Mark Abdon

Jessica Whipple @jessicawhippl17.bsky.social · 16/12/2025

New bio to share: Bethany Jarmul. We'd love to have you with us in January. Registration is free via the link in the next post (so as to avoid suppression of this one!) @bethanyjarmul.bsky.social @nancyhuggett.bsky.social Shares welcome

Image description
A graphic that reads: About the Poets, Bethany Jarmul. Bethany Jarmul is an Appalachian writer, poet, writing coach, and workshop instructor. She’s the author of a poetry collection, Lightning Is a Mother and a memoir, Take Me Home. Her work has been published in more than 100 literary magazines including Rattle, Brevity, and Chestnut Review. Her writing was selected for Best Spiritual Literature and Best Small Fictions, and nominated for the Pushcart Prize and The Best of the Net. Connect with her at bethanyjarmul.com or on social media: @BethanyJarmul. Further text reads: Hear Bethany share selected poems on Motherhood, faith, and caregiving over zoom January 11, 7pm EST - Free.

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Mark Abdon @markabdonwrites.bsky.social · 11/12/2025

My favorite this year was - "Well, I hated writing coming into your course. Now I hate it less, I guess." 💪

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Mark Abdon @markabdonwrites.bsky.social · 30/04/2025

That's... a lot of stairs. Thanks, but not thanks. However, did you know a flock of stairs is called a flight?

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Mark Abdon @markabdonwrites.bsky.social · 17/04/2025

Whoa dang. Maybe not. $399 on eBay, eh?

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Mark Abdon @markabdonwrites.bsky.social · 17/04/2025

I think that you’ve got what it takes….

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Mark Abdon @markabdonwrites.bsky.social · 15/04/2025

I think @adroitjournal.bsky.social does some secondary and undergrad-specific calls. I want to say their current contest is only open to undergrad and younger...

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Mark Abdon @markabdonwrites.bsky.social · 31/03/2025

Hmmm... yes. That's better than "BeTrothchee". Simpler too. Let's go with yours.

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Mark Abdon @markabdonwrites.bsky.social · 31/03/2025

Heartened to find this thoughtful piece by the editor of Christianity Today on the danger of deportation without due process.

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Mark Abdon @markabdonwrites.bsky.social · 31/03/2025

I’d like to congratulate Cezarija Abartis for First Place in the index. Alphabetically, there’s nobody better. Know when you’re beaten, you know?

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Mark Abdon @markabdonwrites.bsky.social · 29/03/2025

"In the bathroom you blushed at the backsides of bawdy dames. Who were those people, black-and-white and glamorous? Maybe they’re bent on revenge, like ghosts (all that remains of young lives, now parody, glued to the stalls)." RIP, Buca.

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Mark Abdon @markabdonwrites.bsky.social · 29/03/2025

"There was the unpredictable ember of anger he set alight in me that heated everything I did in the weeks and months and, yes, even the years after I had to learn to be without him." Whew! This one takes quite a turn before the end! New @thewritelifeliz.bsky.social up at @mrbullbull.bsky.social.

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Mark Abdon @markabdonwrites.bsky.social · 28/03/2025

Cheers from Indianapolis–also-not–Los-Angeles! 🍻

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Mark Abdon @markabdonwrites.bsky.social · 27/03/2025

Never gets old. An Eternal Joke, if you will. Or some kind of Inf–

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Mark Abdon @markabdonwrites.bsky.social · 27/03/2025

I've given up on my kids and literature. I'm just trying to get mine to contribute to household chores. Broom of the system, you know?

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Mark Abdon @markabdonwrites.bsky.social · 24/03/2025

"But she’s the one who doesn’t understand. Lila smells like vanilla and limes. She has one blue eye and one brown eye... She sings when it’s raining out and makes me want to sing too." Great prose moment from "Stupid Girl", @emilyrinkema.bsky.social in @moonparkreview.bsky.social. Read the rest!

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Mark Abdon @markabdonwrites.bsky.social · 23/03/2025

No offense to the fish lovers out there. But a win for humanity that you work with words, no?

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Mark Abdon @markabdonwrites.bsky.social · 23/03/2025

"When we tore the strawberry pink ribbons off our white teddy bears’ necks, it was not about the ribbons. It was our response to the terror of gentleness and elegance..." Clever new @noraraywrites.bsky.social in @moonparkreview.bsky.social. (Side note - glad you're a writer, not an icthyologist)

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Mark Abdon @markabdonwrites.bsky.social · 23/03/2025

I hear you're supposed to pay taxes in March. But this month, I'm already indebted to @catamaranlit.bsky.social, @moonparkreview.bsky.social, and now Fourth River: www.thefourthriver.com/tributaries-...

thefourthriver.com

I Was Asleep When the Golden Opportunity Arose — The Fourth River

By Mark Abdon

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Mark Abdon @markabdonwrites.bsky.social · 22/03/2025

Yes! One of my favorite parts of the lit mag world is meeting new writers when we overlap in a new issue!

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Mark Abdon @markabdonwrites.bsky.social · 21/03/2025

Hey thanks, Dawn! Mutual writerly respect 🫡

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Mark Abdon @markabdonwrites.bsky.social · 21/03/2025

"The garden seemed a lovely little oasis, a calm and quiet respite from the hubbub, from the onslaught of human activity that is the city." New @k-a-polzin.bsky.social in the stunning Garden Issue of @catamaranlit.bsky.social. Fun to overlap here AND in @moonparkreview.bsky.social this month 🤷‍♂️

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Reposted by Mark Abdon

Catamaran Literary Reader @catamaranlit.bsky.social · 23/02/2025

In our Special Garden Issue, explore lush literary works with settings that span public gardens, imaginary gardens, themes of flowers, plants, and the organic world, alongside visual artwork from landscape & still life paintings to abstraction and realism. catamaranliteraryreader.com/the-garden-i...

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Mark Abdon @markabdonwrites.bsky.social · 21/03/2025

"Until I slip, and they scowl, and my tongue stumbles, and my brain struggles to recalibrate, and my heart sighs. I give them space." Wonderfully tender piece by @dawnsteffler.bsky.social in the new @moonparkreview.bsky.social.

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