iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

R. O. Kwon 권오경 @rokwon.bsky.social · 20/09/2026

it’s been a true honor to mentor with Periplus these past years. We started it in late 2020 while things were feeling extra terrible & being part of this all-volunteer collective reminds me of what can grow even in relatively bleak times (& I’m not on the admissions committee, the faqs are detailed)

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R. O. Kwon 권오경 @rokwon.bsky.social · 20/09/2026

writers! If you’re looking for mentorship & you’re of color, Periplus is going into its seventh(!) year of annually pairing 50ish writers who are newer to publishing with more established writers. Periplus is taking applications through 10/11 🌱 faqs below docs.google.com/document/d/1...

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R. O. Kwon 권오경 @rokwon.bsky.social · 20/09/2026

this will be such a gorgeous epic night & if you’re in NY on 10/13 you should come celebrate with us 💌

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Amanda in Atlanta (she/her) @atlnewsgirl.bsky.social · 28/08/2026

Georgia folks: Check your voter registration here. Frequently. mvp.sos.ga.gov/s/ If you aren’t already, REGISTER TO VOTE! The registration deadline for the November 3 election is October 5. georgia.gov/register-vote

mvp.sos.ga.gov

GA My Voter Page

Use the Georgia My Voter Page (MVP) to check your voter registration status, find your polling location, view your county's early voting locations, review your sample ballot for upcoming elections, an...

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R. O. Kwon 권오경 @rokwon.bsky.social · 21/08/2026

thank you to @jessicagoudeau.bsky.social for thinking of us for this piece, you can find the new issue at your local bookstore 🌷

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R. O. Kwon 권오경 @rokwon.bsky.social · 21/08/2026

we’re in POETS & WRITERS! Fatimah Asghar, @ingridrojasc.bsky.social, & I are featured in the new issue as part of a piece on our collective The Ministry of Words & other alternatives to in-person MFAs 5 days until fall workshops start, with spots open in fiction & nonfiction theministryofwords.com

Sept. / Oct. 2026 Poets & Writers cover heading with text:

Begin where you are: your path to a literary education

Headshots of R. O. Kwon, Fatimah Asghar, & Ingrid Rojas Contreras

a photo of text from the new issue of Poets & Writers

cover of POETS & WRITERS with Min Jin Lee, books and coffee mug in the background

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Alejandra Caraballo @esqueer.net · 20/08/2026

I've never seen such an effort to censor a document as I have the Amnesty International report on gender critical groups because of JK Rowling. They removed the report from the Wayback Machine and now I got a DMCA strike on my Google Drive for having it. It was deleted and removed from my account.

A screenshot of an email viewed in dark mode with the subject line "Google DMCA Violation." The email from Google informs the recipient that they have received a notification under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) that some of their materials allegedly infringe on copyrights. It explains the removal process, mentions that notice details will be posted on Lumen, warns against repeated violations, and lists one affected Google Drive URL at the bottom

A nearly identical mobile browser screenshot of the Internet Archive's Wayback Machine. It shows a search for the same Amnesty International UK resources URL, resulting in the same message: "This URL has been excluded from the Wayback Machine."

A mobile browser screenshot of the Internet Archive's Wayback Machine. A URL for an Amnesty International UK resources page is entered in the search bar, but the page displays the message: "This URL has been excluded from the Wayback Machine."

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Lincoln Michel @thelincoln.bsky.social · 11/08/2026

Some positive publishing news to counter some of the doomerism: total book sales, and adult fiction specifically, increased in 2025. Print was 73% of market and digital audio/ebook 22%. (I guess the remaining is physical audio?) www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/...

publishersweekly.com

Publishing Sales Hit $32.5 Billion in 2025

Total estimated industry sales rose 2.5% over 2024, according to the year-end report from the AAP, and the number of books sold inched up 0.4%, to 3.15 billion units.

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ProPublica @propublica.org · 05/08/2026

We created this guide for anyone who could experience a miscarriage in a state with abortion restrictions. We wrote it in consultation with dozens of doctors, including those who regularly treat patients who are miscarrying 👇

propublica.org

If You’re Pregnant, Here’s What You Should Know About the Medical Procedures That Could Save Your Life

Women experiencing pregnancy loss in states with abortion bans told us they wished they had known what to expect and how to advocate for themselves. We created this guide for anyone who finds themselv...

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Anna Holmes @annabookwriter.bsky.social · 05/08/2026

Library pro tip: never go in without locking the emergency stop. If the lights are motion activated and you’re alone, they will definitely turn off if you’re in there, someone will come in and assume sensibly that there’s no one there. Ask my busted ribs how we know!

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R. O. Kwon 권오경 @rokwon.bsky.social · 05/08/2026

captive mind is one! & haven’t read it yet but a friend I trust highly recommends native realm

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R. O. Kwon 권오경 @rokwon.bsky.social · 05/08/2026

“aren’t at least some of the gods against us all & don’t we all have enemies,” he asks

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R. O. Kwon 권오경 @rokwon.bsky.social · 05/08/2026

“what about the gods being dead set against him, what about the bag of wind,” I’ve asked, & he says it doesn’t matter. A very good swimmer with the help of an occasional inflatable could cross the distance, he feels. Use the goddamn oars, he says 🪦

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R. O. Kwon 권오경 @rokwon.bsky.social · 05/08/2026

one of my all-time favorite disgruntled reviews of THE ODYSSEY long precedes the movie & comes from my partner. His take: “Odysseus is a shit sailor. There was very little ocean to cross to get home”

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R. O. Kwon 권오경 @rokwon.bsky.social · 05/08/2026

ah but I sometimes find the facts etc. of nonfiction to be so difficult to work with! I’ll find a word to be acoustically displeasing but can’t change it because it’s a real person’s name, a real city, etc. haha

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R. O. Kwon 권오경 @rokwon.bsky.social · 05/08/2026

ooh some of these are new to me!! (currently reading a lot of Czeslaw Milosz, including his Selected Poems)

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R. O. Kwon 권오경 @rokwon.bsky.social · 04/08/2026

some go-to drafting strategies from me & @ingridrojasc.bsky.social 🟢 as Ingrid puts it, part of writing a book necessarily involves “the art of keeping oneself going” day after day after day 3 weeks until writing workshops start at The Ministry of Words, more info below 🔵 theministryofwords.com

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Jemele Hill @jemelehill.bsky.social · 02/08/2026

The WNBA has never had a trans woman play in the league’s 30-year history and now the right and other anti-trans activists are hammering the league over something that has never been an issue, proving once again it isn’t about protection but exhibiting cruelty toward trans people.

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R. O. Kwon 권오경 @rokwon.bsky.social · 30/07/2026

dry-farmed tomato season is starting with 20 lbs. of this abundance hallelujah I praise the tomato gods 🔴🔸 this is also the time of year when I need to be very careful not to eat so many tomatoes I turn noticeably orange, ask me how I learned such a transformation is possible 🍅s from Mariquita Farm

four white bowls of tomatoes on a white kitchen countertop

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R. O. Kwon 권오경 @rokwon.bsky.social · 29/07/2026

the pleasure of watching this part of the website for our collective, The Ministry of Words, grow & grow 🌱 we have spots open for writing classes taught by @ingridrojasc.bsky.social, Fatimah Asghar, & yours truly. & scholarships are available for writers of color theministryofwords.com

Screenshot with text:

The Ministry of Words

Student and Alumni News

We had an inaugural Ministry-wide celebratory reading with our first spring cohort on July 9, 2026!

Ministry alumnus Lenna Jawdat’s poetry collection, 70,000, is out from Central Avenue Books! The book was chosen by the American Booksellers Association for both their Indies Introduce and Indie Next lists.

Ministry alumnus Sarah Ghazal Ali has a poem, “Künstlerroman,” out with Poem-a-Day at poets.org!

Ministry alumnus Aarti Shahani hosted an episode of NPR’s Fresh Air with photojournalist Loubna Mrie!

Ministry participant Crystal Theresa Z. Ejanda has new fiction

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Alexander Chee @alexanderchee.bsky.social · 29/07/2026

This is a tremendous act of self love and I admire BTS even more for it.

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Alexander Chee @alexanderchee.bsky.social · 26/07/2026

This is an incredibly niche ask, but, does anyone have an egg foo young recipe they like? I recently learned it is a favorite of my mom’s. I order it out, usually, but I’d like to learn to make it.

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R. O. Kwon 권오경 @rokwon.bsky.social · 26/07/2026

“Why am I so isolate in this strange place? Why is my sweat being sold as an elixir?” cackled at this description of writing from Joy Williams’s exquisite “Uncanny the Singing That Comes from Certain Husks” digitalexhibits.library.washu.edu/s/joy-willia...

screenshot of a passage:

But who cares if the writer is not whole? Of course the writer is not whole or even particularly well. There is something unwholesome and destructive about the entire writing process. Writers are like eremites or anchorites—natural-born eremites or anchorites—who seem puzzled as to why they went up the pole or into the cave in the first place. Why am I so isolate in this strange place? Why is my sweat being sold as elixir? And how have I become so enmeshed with works, mere works, phantoms?

Writers when they’re writing live in a spooky, clamorous silence, a state somewhat like the advanced stages of prayer but without prayer’s calming benefits. A writer turns his back on the day and the night and its large and little beauties, and tries, like some half-witted demiurge, to fashion other days and nights with words. It’s absurd. Oh, it’s silly

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darth™️ @darthbluesky.bsky.social · 21/07/2026

i enjoy reading about the creative process of writers and other artists tbh

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Melissa Gira Grant @melissagiragrant.com · 21/07/2026

I’ve been doing some in-depth reporting on the Prairieland cases, and had to get this out first as I continue to dig: I spoke with Ana Bell, sister of Des, who it turns out co-owns and runs an indie bookstore. We talked about the case, the judge, book banning, ICE killings, and living through this:

newrepublic.com

My Brother Was Sentenced to 30 Years for Moving a Box of Zines

The sister of a defendant in the Prairieland case, which targeted Texas ICE protesters, speaks out.

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R. O. Kwon 권오경 @rokwon.bsky.social · 22/07/2026

playlists of the writing songs @ingridrojasc.bsky.social & I are devoted to these days 🎶 a good writing song can easily get 1000s of plays at The Ministry of Words, we’re taking applications for fall writing workshops, & scholarships are available for writers of color www.theministryofwords.com

Ingrid’s current writing songs on repeat

1. Maxime Denuc, "Infinite End"
2. Oliver Coates, "Backprint Radiation"
3. Raul Refree "Rompe Cinta"
4. Cello Octet Amsterdam, Arvo Part, "Summa"
5. Phillipp Rumsch, "No Hands Unstained'
6. Martin Brugger, "Downward Curving”
7. nonkeen, "The Invention Mother"

R. O. Kwon’s current writing songs on repeat

1. Kate Bush, "Running Up That Hill"
2. Tracy Chapman, "Fast Car"
3. Florence + The Machine, "Sky Full of Song"
4. Sharon Van Etten, "Like I Used to" (also good for a brief dance break while writing)
5. Pérotin, The Hilliard Ensemble, "Viderunt omnes"
6. Gustav Mahler, Christian Gerhaher & Geraold Huber, "Ich bin der Welt abhanden gekommen"
7. Ella Fitzgerald & Duke Ellington, "It Don't Mean a Thing"

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Boze Herrington, Library Owl @sketchesbyboze.bsky.social · 21/07/2026

By far the funniest moment in Homer’s Odyssey is when Circe says, “Shall we have sex?” and Odysseus says, “You just turned all my men into pigs. You have the GALL to think I would sleep with you? Of course I will. Absolutely. But don’t do any weird spells”

photograph of the relevant passage in Fitzgerald's translation of the Odyssey ("I make no bed of love with you upon it. Or swear me first a great oath, if I do, you'll work no more enchantment to my harm.")

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Alexander Chee @alexanderchee.bsky.social · 22/07/2026

My mother’s home care is 26k a month.

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Judd Legum @juddlegum.bsky.social · 21/07/2026

I took a hard look at the financial donors to ICE’s biggest supporters in Congress. These are people who want to significantly expand ICE’s power and have sponsored or co-sponsored legislation to do so. Here are the top 25 consumer brands bankrolling the biggest ICE supporters in Congress:

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sarah thankam mathews @smathewss.bsky.social · 20/07/2026

newwwwwww ting out <3

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R. O. Kwon 권오경 @rokwon.bsky.social · 21/07/2026

& here are the images again with the alt text xx

R. O. Kwon
writing desk essentials

1. Laptop
2. Hand sanitizer in case I need to touch my face or eyes while writing
3. Nothing ever on the walls
4. Lamp I turn on only while I’m writing fiction
5. Quart-sized Mason jar for room-temperature water, any smaller is too small
6. Coffee mug made by a friend, used only while writing fiction, plus a straw
7. Noise-canceling earphones
8. Chair where I can rest my feet
9. Blackout blinds, I don't want to see sunlight while I'm writing
10. Space heater below my desk, San Francisco is usually cold
11. Small najeonchilgi box—lacquered mother-of-pearl—from Moonji, my Korean publisher. Inside: pens, lip balm, mother’s jade rings
12. A book that’s helping my novel: in this case, SECOND SPACE by Czeslaw Milosz, tr. with Robert Hass

photo of a desk with a laptop, book, mug, lamp, and other materials described under the previous image of R. O. Kwon's writing desk essentials

Ingrid Rojas Contreras
writing desk essentials

1. Laptop
2. Acrylic box: with a whale bone inside it and also SECRETS
3. A candle
4. A long to-do/scratch pad with a zebra pencil I got in Mexico
5. Nono’s curandero business card, framed
6. Post-its to keep track of essential questions I am trying to edit for in novel draft I am working on
7. Leaf from Gabriel García Marquez’s beautiful Mexico house
8. Photos of eclipse series by Linda Connor, framed from one of her books (not originals, sadly, tho someday!)
9. A golden strip of fancy wallpaper I bought to “try out” in my room, the single long strip was always the plan
10. Lamp I made out of Nabokov’s unfinished book, The Original of Laura, from instructions I found on the internet :)
11. Rose quartz
12. Noise-canceling headphones

photo of a desk with a laptop, headphones, box, and other materials described under the previous image of Ingrid Rojas Contreras's writing desk essentials

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R. O. Kwon 권오경 @rokwon.bsky.social · 21/07/2026

<3 raising a glass (from afar, in a hermit-befitting way)

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R. O. Kwon 권오경 @rokwon.bsky.social · 21/07/2026

*while traveling etc. we can of course make do with less, though we’d rather not ☺️ (& for me the hand sanitizer is not optional. One of our great inventions as a species, I feel) stay tuned for a fall offering from Fatimah Asghar as well. Scholarships are available for writers of color 🌱

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R. O. Kwon 권오경 @rokwon.bsky.social · 21/07/2026

went into detail on writing desk essentials! Here’s everything @ingridrojasc.bsky.social & I need* at our desks for writing to happen ☺️ we’re taking applications at The Ministry of Words for fall workshops, there are just a few seats left so we’ve opened a third workshop theministryofwords.com