Sign in

Rebecca Lehmann

@rebeccaslehmann.bsky.social
1.6K followers 1.3K following 403 posts

Novelist & poet. THE BEHEADING GAME pubs 3/24 US (Crown Publishing) 3/26 UK (Harvill Books). Opinions my own.

PostsRepliesMedia
Reposted by Rebecca Lehmann
Lisa @runtalien.bsky.social · 20/04/2026
Reposting this because I just finished The Beheading Game by @rebeccaslehmann.bsky.social and it DID NOT DISAPPOINT #booksky www.whoevenreads.com/books-we-lik...
whoevenreads.com
Books We Like the Looks Of: New Releases in March 2026
Check out five books we're looking forward to that are coming out in March, including new releases from Rebecca Solnit and Louise Erdrich.
172
Reposted by Rebecca Lehmann
Rebecca Lehmann @rebeccaslehmann.bsky.social · 27/02/2026
The Beheading Game is in the New York Times!!!! Available for pre-order now—pubs 3/24 US and 3/26 UK. Long may she reign! 🗡️🪡👑 www.nytimes.com/2026/02/27/b...
nytimes.com
27 Books Coming in March
172
Reposted by Rebecca Lehmann
Shazzie @readeratwork.bsky.social · 02/04/2026
Here are my April book recommendations! Check out the titles that impressed me here: readeratworkblog.wordpress.com/2026/04/01/s... @dragons.bsky.social @charleenhurtubise.bsky.social @rebeccaslehmann.bsky.social @torbooks.bsky.social 📚💙
Covers of The Poet Empress, Saoirse and The Beheading Game
1103
Reposted by Rebecca Lehmann
Sophie Bacchus-Waterman @sophiebwaterman.bsky.social · 09/04/2026
Newest addition to my bookshelf 📚 "The Beheading Game" by @rebeccaslehmann.bsky.social ❤️ I've been looking forward to reading this for ages!
Photo of me holding "The Beheading Game" by Rebecca Lehmann
131
Reposted by Rebecca Lehmann
Tessa Yang ~THE JELLYFISH PROBLEM~ @theptessadactyl.bsky.social · 15/04/2026
Really loved this reimagining of Anne Boleyn by @rebeccaslehmann.bsky.social. Fantastical, suspenseful, compassionate, & with a sapphic side quest to boot 👑
bookshop.org
The Beheading Game: A Novel
A Novel
152
Reposted by Rebecca Lehmann
The Literate Lizard @theliteratelizard.bsky.social · 22/03/2026
This week's authors on Bluesky: @rebeccaslehmann.bsky.social @barfridmantell.bsky.social @annacelenza.bsky.social Publishers: @penguinrandomhouse.bsky.social @bloomsburybooksus.bsky.social @catapultbooks.bsky.social @harperbooks.bsky.social @grandcentralpub.bsky.social @vikingbooks.bsky.social
112
Reposted by Rebecca Lehmann
Turn The Page! - Syosset Public Library 🎤 @splturnthepage.bsky.social · 26/03/2026
Now here's ep. 395B! Rebecca Lehmann shares THE BEHEADING GAME, a sharp-as-knives work of speculative historical fiction that imagines Anne Boleyn's mysterious resurrection after her execution. @rebeccaslehmann.bsky.social @crownpublishing.bsky.social turnthepage.blubrry.net/2026/03/26/t...
054
Reposted by Rebecca Lehmann
“No Country for Old Jenn” Jordan @jennlynnjordan.bsky.social · 26/03/2026
And this book and fascinating and wild and cathartic as hell. Thanks @rebeccaslehmann.bsky.social!
022
Reposted by Rebecca Lehmann
Chaucer Doth Tweet @levostregc.bsky.social · 16/03/2026
Roses are redde Noble are the manatees For a bettir future Teach artes and humanityes
5448118
Reposted by Rebecca Lehmann
Literary Mama @literarymama.bsky.social · 10/03/2026
"The thing about the story that I find resonant and that I think resonates with people 500 years later is that in so many ways, it seems like she's a woman being punished for her power and her success." @rebeccaslehmann.bsky.social, author of The Beheading Game:
open.substack.com
Rebecca Lehmann: Resurrecting Anne Boleyn and Going from Poet to Novelist
Eva and Amanda chat with Rebecca Lehmann, author of The Beheading Game, about rewriting Anne Boleyn through the lens of motherhood and bringing a poetry background to novel-writing.
173
Rebecca Lehmann @rebeccaslehmann.bsky.social · 06/03/2026
This convo was a delight! Tune in to hear me talk The Beheading Game, Anne Boleyn as a mother, and my own attempts at “pizza” parenting 🍕😂
052
Rebecca Lehmann @rebeccaslehmann.bsky.social · 06/03/2026
The Beheading Game is an Indie Next Pick for April!!! Plus, tour dates! Pre-orders open now: 3/24 pub date US, 3/26 pub date UK @crownpublishing.bsky.social
041
Rebecca Lehmann @rebeccaslehmann.bsky.social · 27/02/2026
The Beheading Game is in the New York Times!!!! Available for pre-order now—pubs 3/24 US and 3/26 UK. Long may she reign! 🗡️🪡👑 www.nytimes.com/2026/02/27/b...
nytimes.com
27 Books Coming in March
172
Rebecca Lehmann @rebeccaslehmann.bsky.social · 26/02/2026
Hi All!! The Beheading Game pubs on 3/24 US @crownpublishing.bsky.social & 3/26 UK (Harvill Books). What if Anne Boleyn woke up after her execution, sewed her head back on & tried to kill Henry VIII before he could remarry? Long may she reign 🪡🗡️👑 www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/786110...
penguinrandomhouse.com
The Beheading Game by Rebecca Lehmann: 9798217086481 | PenguinRandomHouse.com: Books
Disgraced. Beheaded. And out for revenge . . . We all know what happened to Henry VIII’s second wife, Anne Boleyn. But what if she woke up the day after her execution and took it upon herself to...
140
Rebecca Lehmann @rebeccaslehmann.bsky.social · 26/02/2026
It was a DELIGHT to talk THE BEHEADING GAME with @chatteronbooks.bsky.social Link below to listen and also link below to pre-order TBG—out 3/24 US, 3/26 UK 🪡👑🗡️
130
Reposted by Rebecca Lehmann
Donna Vorreyer @djvorreyer.bsky.social · 16/04/2025
A great little book haul from the @nolapoetry.bsky.social & @amorak.bsky.social's chapbook waiting for me. Can't wait to dig into poems from @nicolecallihan.bsky.social @lesleymwheeler.bsky.social @tracibrimhall.bsky.social @rebeccaslehmann.bsky.social & Patrycja Humienik.
Book covers of The Sweating Sickness by Rebecca Lehmann, Love Prodigal by Traci Brimhall, Slip by Nicole Callihan, We Contain Landscapes by Patrycja Humienik, Mycocosmic by Lesley Wheeler, and Extinction Level by Amorak Huey.
0111
Reposted by Rebecca Lehmann
Simeon Berry @simeonberry.bsky.social · 11/11/2025
“betraying / their own brothers and stepping in front / of trains that have come loose / from their tracks and instead of brakes / have two sad faced women / waving kerchiefs” — @rebeccaslehmann.bsky.social, “Two Lovers” @southernreview.bsky.social @upittpress.bsky.social
TWO LOVERS. In one story we are two lovers scrambling up the banks of the Rhine a river I’ve never been to that I’ve read stories about in the way working class people read stories of the affluent vacationing and fucking and betraying their own brothers and stepping in front of trains that have come loose from their tracks and instead of brakes have two sad faced women waving kerchiefs from the railing of an old caboose. The thing with rivers is they crook and bend sometimes they are tidal and I have spent a lot of time writing about them. I thought our lives would crook and bend but mostly they are just the day to day which you excel at and I
am bad at. A woman wants to meet me in Chicago. A train is waiting for me. I chase it down the tracks use my kerchief to catch the railing of the caboose to hoist myself onto the little balcony. The woman is already there disappointed in me. My son my daughter two sad faces in the caboose’s back windows. Say we are climbing the banks of the Rhine. This poem a spiral, repetition with progress. I hand you a glass of chilled beer make apologies for things I can’t control. Next time, I whisper, I will be a naked beauty a face carved in a rocky cliff the answer to a question you haven’t asked yet. Rebecca Lehmann
053
Reposted by Rebecca Lehmann
Linda Hill @lindasbookbag.bsky.social · 13/12/2025
My huge thanks to Susie of @penguinrandomhouse.bsky.social for this brilliant sounding The Beheading Game by @rebeccaslehmann.bsky.social coming from @vintagebooks.bsky.social Harvill in March www.penguin.co.uk/books/476256...
062
Reposted by Rebecca Lehmann
Prairie Schooner @prairie-schooner.bsky.social · 14/01/2026
With generous supporters of the literary arts, Prairie Schooner was able to award 15 writing prizes totaling $8,250 for work published in 2025. Award winners include @skyskkyy.bsky.social, @thomaskneeland.bsky.social, @ellgpeck.bsky.social, @rebeccaslehmann.bsky.social, and more. go.unl.edu/bfya
Prairie Schooner
Annual Award Winners

Lawrence Foundation Award $2000
Skyler Melnick, "Sisterhood of Dirt," Fall 2025

Virginia Faulkner Awards $500
Morgan Christie, "Sapphire Gurl," Spring 2025
Ben Freedman, "That Summer," Fall 2025

Bernice Slote Award $500
Luca van der Heide, "Halina's Guest House," Fall 2025

Edward Stanley Award $500
Thomas Kneeland, two poems, Fall 2025Prairie Schooner
Annual Award Winners

Strousse Award $500
Migwi Mwangi, "Like So, Like So," Fall 2025

Ervin and Loretta Krause Freedom of Expression Award $500
Ell Peck, "A Paper Lantern Over the Light: Becoming Blanche DuBois," Fall 2025

Jane Geske Award $250
Carolina Murriel, "Driving My Tías Through Miami," Spring 2025

Hugh J. Luke Award $250
Priyam Goel, "3 White Witches," Winter 2025Prairie Schooner
Annual Award Winners

First Place Glenna Luschei Prairie Schooner Award $1500
Rebecca Lehmann, seven poems, Spring 2025

Glenna Luschei Prairie Schooner Awards $500
Fayssal Bensalah, ""Your Son Is with Pollen and Dust," Fall 2025
Virginia Kane, two poems, Winter 2025
Dominic Russ-Combs, "Faith," Winter 2025
George Uba, two poems, Spring 2025
Anthony Yarbrough, "Cruiser," Spring 2025
092
Reposted by Rebecca Lehmann
Bookish Scifi & Fantasy @bookishsff.bsky.social · 13/02/2026
The Beheading Game by @rebeccaslehmann.bsky.social is a brilliantly original debut novel which imagines the undead Anne Boleyn plotting vengeance on her murderers with the aid of fenlander Alice. Brilliant #Tudor history with a good sprinkle of magic - out 26th March! 🪐📚💙
151
Reposted by Rebecca Lehmann
The Massachusetts Review @themassreview.bsky.social · 20/03/2025
Sharing the latest publications from MR contributors, including David Ricchiute, Amanda Hawkins, @rebeccaslehmann.bsky.social and more! themassachusettsreview.substack.com/p/contributo...
themassachusettsreview.substack.com
Contributor Publications Winter 2024-2025
By Staff
021
Rebecca Lehmann @rebeccaslehmann.bsky.social · 21/02/2025
I’m thrilled to announce my forthcoming novel, The Beheading Game, about my girl, Anne Boleyn 🎉🥳🍾🗡️
Publisher’s Marketplace description of the forthcoming novel The Beheading Game, by Rebecca Lehmann, acquired by Crown. Publisher’s Marketplace description of the forthcoming novel The Beheading Game, by Rebecca Lehmann, acquired by Crown.
5412
Rebecca Lehmann @rebeccaslehmann.bsky.social · 19/02/2025
The Sweating Sickness got a mention in last weekend’s @nytbooks.bsky.social !!! @upittpress.bsky.social
A photo of the Newly Published / Poetry page from the 2/16 New York Times Book Review. Encircled portion describes Rebecca Lehmann’s new collection The Sweating Sickness.
0202
Rebecca Lehmann @rebeccaslehmann.bsky.social · 19/02/2025
Chicago!!! I am reading from The Sweating Sickness TONIGHT at 6:30pm at City Lit Books with @rubenq.bsky.social —come join us for an evening of poetry in the Windy City (but hopefully not too windy…).
A flier advertising a reading with Rebecca Lehmann and Ruben Quesada, featuring pictures of each author and details of the event.
040
Rebecca Lehmann @rebeccaslehmann.bsky.social · 14/02/2025
Look I’ve thrown a lot of shade at Thomas Cromwell but the man had a pet leopard and loved to dress in black velvet so…irl I probably would have been his friend.
030
Rebecca Lehmann @rebeccaslehmann.bsky.social · 14/02/2025
Valentine’s Day is a great day to order a copy of The Sweating Sickness, and dream about the spouse awaiting us all one day: death ☠️ University of Pittsburgh Press (link to order below) @upittpress.bsky.social
241
Rebecca Lehmann @rebeccaslehmann.bsky.social · 11/02/2025
It’s official!! The Sweating Sickness, my third book of poetry, is out today from @upittpress.bsky.social! I’m so proud of these poems, and hope you love them.
The Sweating Sickness by Rebecca Lehmann propped against house plants. Rebecca Lehmann holding The Sweating Sickness against a brick wall. Rebecca Lehmann holding The Sweating Sickness against a brick wall. The Sweating Sickness propped against a window.
2266
Rebecca Lehmann @rebeccaslehmann.bsky.social · 17/01/2025
My tragic flaw is that I revert to British spellings when stressed because I read too many British/Canadian novels as a kid.
270
Reposted by Rebecca Lehmann
Fred Schmalz @fredschmalz.bsky.social · 12/01/2025
Chicago! Start your New Year with Poetry & Biscuits! Carrie and I are excited to bring you readings by Natalie Eilbert, Donato Loia, Ruben Quesada, and Deborah Shapiro along with biscuits and cozy company. Fri, Jan. 17 @ 7pm 2145 W Walton RSVP to the biscuit maker: mailto:carrieolivia@gmail.com
061
Reposted by Rebecca Lehmann
Simeon Berry @simeonberry.bsky.social · 29/12/2024
“I’ll move back/to the Midwest, and leave bone cold/New England far behind. I can imagine/all the tattered houses fading from sight/over the back of my son’s car seat as we drive/down the tollway, the mountains receding like sad/contractions” — @rebeccaslehmann.bsky.social “Into the Firmament”
INTO THE FIRMAMENT
 
Into the firmament I stitched my farewell. The crocuses I planted while pregnant got eaten by deer. I’d be eight months in now, if I hadn’t lost the baby. What is the firmament, anyway? What is fire? I wonder when I lie in bed half awake/aware. The same student comes in with her poem about how hard it is to write a poem. I imagine placing her in the firmament too, joints pressed into stars that litter the sky. It was the morning the secretary’s son broke three ribs in a car accident, the day I got cheap carnations at work from a man in the hall I didn’t even know. I made tape into circles and stuck the circles to the backs of children’s drawings about peace, stuck the drawings to butcher paper to hang in the hall. Everyone said, “I’m so sorry about what happened to you with that student.”They meant the one who wrote a poem about my pussy and turned it in for a homework assignment. I wore a polka dot dress. I know how to dance the polka, a little bit, having grown up in Wisconsin. Soon, I’ll move back to the Midwest, and leave bone cold New England far behind. I can imagine all the tattered houses fading from sight over the back of my son’s car seat as we drive down the tollway, the mountains receding like sad contractions, the popcorn I’ll spill on the car floor as I check the route on my phone, the car pushing to the boozy forever of winter sun and forgetful grey Lake Michigan, who will signal hello with each crested wave, who will welcome me home with a smile of mussel shells and alewives, and innumerable tan brick lighthouses,
swaddled in steel railings that will make my son’s hands smell like hot pennies. Rebecca Lehmann.
0122
Reposted by Rebecca Lehmann
Aoife Mac Namara @aoifemacnamara.bsky.social · 17/12/2024
It’s official: engaging with art and culture benefits health & wellbeing. In the UK, it generates £8bn/year in quality of life improvements & higher productivity. Starving the Arts won’t help Canada’s productivity gap. #cdnpse @ucalgary.bsky.social #ArtMatters www.theguardian.com/society/2024...
theguardian.com
Consuming arts and culture is good for health and wellbeing, research finds
Engaging with arts improves quality of life, increases productivity and creates financial ‘dividend’
0176
Rebecca Lehmann @rebeccaslehmann.bsky.social · 13/12/2024
Reading my first Sally Rooney novel and can I just say I love her attention to clothing? I love clothes, and the way she details what people are wearing is deeply satisfying.
020
Reposted by Rebecca Lehmann
jamelle @jamellebouie.net · 13/12/2024
it’s all the purest distillation of the idea that society doesn’t actually exist. the only thing that exists is some amorphous “liberty” that entitles you to a life without obligations or responsibilities or anything that might impose a duty on you or a limit on your conduct
915254518
Rebecca Lehmann @rebeccaslehmann.bsky.social · 12/12/2024
Let me get this straight: you can now literally take a shit in the halls of Congress, and it’s not a crime? Cool cool cool cool cool.
NT Times headline saying Trump will pardon Jan 6 insurrectionists in the “first hour” of his presidency.
151
Rebecca Lehmann @rebeccaslehmann.bsky.social · 12/12/2024
Tbh I wasn’t aware Time magazine still existed 😮‍💨
3261
Rebecca Lehmann @rebeccaslehmann.bsky.social · 12/12/2024
Forgot about this banger from last winter! Still relevant this year as I remain deeply obsessed with Anne Boleyn.
020
Reposted by Rebecca Lehmann
🚲5🇵🇸 @anyfishanytime.bsky.social · 10/12/2024
Consider yourself to have been blessed to be alive in any kind of overlap with Nikki Giovanni, May Allah be pleased with her. She has left her voice with us. This is one of my favorites. Photo credit: @jana_m_mader on X
A picture of part of a larger of a book. White background black text

NIKKI GIOVANNI
Winter Poem
once a snowflake fell on my brow and i loved it so much and i kissed it and it was happy and called its cousins and brothers and a web of snow engulfed me then i reached to love them all and i squeezed them and they became a spring rain and i stood perfectly still and was a flower
221974284
Rebecca Lehmann @rebeccaslehmann.bsky.social · 10/12/2024
Rest in poetry: one of America’s finest poets. I know I will be rereading her work today.
0142
Rebecca Lehmann @rebeccaslehmann.bsky.social · 10/12/2024
Yes, and also the economics of it. There is a NINE percent gender pay gap at the assistant level at my college. If your spouse makes more money (and could make more in a more desirable location) why tf would you stay??
070
Rebecca Lehmann @rebeccaslehmann.bsky.social · 09/12/2024
SPACE SPIDERS SLIDE SHOW!!! This is not a drill! If you’re in the South Bend area come join us for what is sure to be a memorable evening with @jillchristman.bsky.social as part of the Visiting Writers Series.
010
Rebecca Lehmann @rebeccaslehmann.bsky.social · 06/12/2024
Evening plans: sledding; frozen hot chocolate; corny Xmas movie; melatonin; in bed by 11pm. Ahhhh.
170
Rebecca Lehmann @rebeccaslehmann.bsky.social · 06/12/2024
My students gave presentation on women or nonbinary/GF poets this week and 🥺🥺🥺 I was so proud. From Elizabeth Barret Browning to Natalie Diaz to Eavan Boland: great discussions on great poets.
080
Rebecca Lehmann @rebeccaslehmann.bsky.social · 06/12/2024
Getting as bi as I can and ordering Blundstones. I am so excited!
070
Reposted by Rebecca Lehmann
Alexander Chee @alexanderchee.bsky.social · 06/12/2024
Sending this around again tonight
914943
Rebecca Lehmann @rebeccaslehmann.bsky.social · 03/12/2024
Really excited to be hosting @jillchristman.bsky.social in the Visiting Writers Series at Saint Mary’s College Monday, Dec 9th. If you’re in the area, come join us!
020
Rebecca Lehmann @rebeccaslehmann.bsky.social · 03/12/2024
I’m watching Hot Frosty!
150
Reposted by Rebecca Lehmann
Max Pearl 🏳️‍⚧️ @pearlbear.com · 02/12/2024
This.
@jeffowski: The underlying purpose of AI is to allow wealth to access skill while removing from the skilled the ability to access wealth. Quote post: @Rahll: Rarely have I seen AI described so succinctly.
320564
Reposted by Rebecca Lehmann
Sara Hates Hockey @helmerroids.bsky.social · 01/12/2024
YOU FOOLS. YOU LET MOOSE.
A road sign that says DO NOT LET MOOSE
381137172628
Rebecca Lehmann @rebeccaslehmann.bsky.social · 01/12/2024
For years I made inferior Chex mix; then I asked my dad, what’s your secret? Double butter, friends, double butter. Cheers.
Chex mix made with double butter
0111
Rebecca Lehmann @rebeccaslehmann.bsky.social · 01/12/2024
Buying extra vanilla and maple syrup at the store just in case, feeling very barfy at the prospect of more shortages, why anyone wanted a return to this, etc.
050