Sign in

Sarah Viren

@sarahviren.bsky.social
877 followers 210 following 84 posts

Contributor @NYTMag. Creative writing prof. Author of MINE and TO NAME THE BIGGER LIE. Queer. Mom. Runner. Weirdo. Views are views.

PostsRepliesMedia
Reposted by Sarah Viren
New Ohio Review @newohioreview.bsky.social · 13/08/2026
Her piece "Street View" was selected by @sarahviren.bsky.social and will appear in print in issue 38 of New Ohio Review.
021
Reposted by Sarah Viren
New Ohio Review @newohioreview.bsky.social · 01/04/2026
Two weeks left to submit! This year's judges are @jeffvandermeer.bsky.social , @sarahviren.bsky.social , and George Bilgere!
011
Sarah Viren @sarahviren.bsky.social · 24/03/2026
"The parents of dead children are a problem. They stand opposed to our most basic and necessary illusions." An absolutely haunting story by @kerryhowley.bsky.social that resist all such illusions. A story of Camp Mystic, and the 27 girls who died there unnecessarily, that I never knew.
04613
Reposted by Sarah Viren
Sarah Posner @sarahposner.bsky.social · 02/03/2026
In case you're wondering how some sectors of the Christian right are seeing Trump's war in Iran, I've just read several articles seeing a prophetic meaning in a coincidence of Trump's strikes, the assassination of Khameni, and a blood moon occurring on Purim (tomorrow).
29633234
Reposted by Sarah Viren
Molly White @molly.wiki · 25/01/2026
Even when there’s no accountability, the record matters. Credit to the Wikipedia editors maintaining this page.
en.wikipedia.org
Deaths, detentions and deportations of American citizens in the second Trump administration - Wikipedia
3853461493
Reposted by Sarah Viren
Amber Sparks @ambersparks.bsky.social · 25/01/2026
My midwestern stoicism broken by this though
0704
Reposted by Sarah Viren
Nolan Hicks @ndhapple.bsky.social · 25/01/2026
The Star-Tribune is taking donations to help fund the purchase vital newsroom supplies and equipment, including protective and tactical gear for street reporters and photogs. If you live in MSP, pls subscribe. If you don't and want to help, here's a way -- www.startribunecompany.com/donate-payme....
startribunecompany.com
Donate Payment - Star Tribune Company
DonateDonate Now Donate Thank You for Supporting the Minnesota Star Tribune Thank You for Supporting the Minnesota Star Tribune See Other Ways to Give We Value Your Privacy The Minneapolis…
21564353
Sarah Viren @sarahviren.bsky.social · 04/12/2025
Once again @kerryhowley.bsky.social manages to make me laugh and then devastate me one beat after the other next.
020
Reposted by Sarah Viren
Department of English at Arizona State University @asuenglish.bsky.social · 14/11/2025
(Non)Fiction Friday: "I tried listening to whale songs and podcasts filled with monotone, meandering stories that would put anyone (except me) to sleep." From ASU English professor @sarahviren.bsky.social's essay about a soothing British radio show @nytimes.com: ow.ly/IQhJ50XptaW #ASUHumanities
An Illustration by Klaus Kremmerz of a person sleeping in a bed surrounded by various objects, representing topics listened to on the radio right before bed.
043
Reposted by Sarah Viren
Megan Stielstra @meganstielstra.bsky.social · 13/11/2025
This spring I'm working with @offassignment.bsky.social on an online class about writing rage. Dan, Maggie, Ashley, and Carmen are going to help me. Their work has kept me from launching myself into the sun. Come join us.
152
Sarah Viren @sarahviren.bsky.social · 11/11/2025
Talked to @jenpercy.bsky.social over at @literaryhub.bsky.social about her unforgettable new book, Girls Play Dead, out today.
092
Reposted by Sarah Viren
Stephen Moran @sjmoran.com · 05/11/2025
New York Times gift article - In praise of Melvyn Bragg's "In Our Time" podcasts of his radio show, of which there are about 1000. Initially it was the solution to the NY Times journalist, Sarah Viren's, insomnia but eventually she became an avid and constant fan. www.nytimes.com/2025/11/04/m...
nytimes.com
The Soothing British Radio Show That Blew My Mind — and Put Me Right to Sleep
021
Reposted by Sarah Viren
Dave Lee @davelee.me · 06/11/2025
Lovely ode to BBC Radio 4's In Our Time www.nytimes.com/2025/11/04/m...
nytimes.com
The Soothing British Radio Show That Blew My Mind — and Put Me Right to Sleep
0102
Reposted by Sarah Viren
Philip S Turner @pstnyc.bsky.social · 04/11/2025
Delighted to see that like me, Sarah Viren is an admirer of Melvyn Bragg and his @BBC radio program In our Time. www.nytimes.com/2025/11/04/m...
nytimes.com
The Soothing British Radio Show That Blew My Mind — and Put Me Right to Sleep
021
Sarah Viren @sarahviren.bsky.social · 06/11/2025
Thank you to Vic Flanagan for finding some meaning behind the feeling I also have in airports that every fifth person I see is someone from my past. Also just a beautiful essay about losing the "drumbeat" of your own thinking. open.substack.com/pub/vflanaga...
open.substack.com
Heaven and Earth in Terminal 3
Bleary-eyed in the airport—the culmination of six unprecedented, restless weeks.
010
Reposted by Sarah Viren
Nicole Walker @nikwalk.bsky.social · 05/11/2025
What a gift it is to have this essay published on this hopeful day! Thank you so much, @jacqdoyle.bsky.social , for helping to bring this piece into the world.
392
Reposted by Sarah Viren
Matt Bell @mdbell79.bsky.social · 05/11/2025
Two weeks from today, the ASU Worldbuilding Initiative will host "Resistance in Speculative Fiction and Beyond," our final workshop of 2025, with speakers @jennahanchey.bsky.social and Tanvir Akhtar Ahmed! Free and open to the public. Join us in-person in Tempe or on ASU Live!
asuevents.asu.edu
Resistance in Speculative Fiction and Beyond | ASU Events
In this workshop, our speakers will use speculative thinking, literary criticism, and fiction writing to explore what resistance looks like in both our real world and in the imagined worlds that refle...
0269
Sarah Viren @sarahviren.bsky.social · 04/11/2025
My little brother has been complaining that I never mention him in my writing, so I wrote an essay about the British podcast that puts me to sleep just so I could prove him wrong. www.nytimes.com/2025/11/04/m...
nytimes.com
The Soothing British Radio Show That Blew My Mind — and Put Me Right to Sleep
360
Reposted by Sarah Viren
Jeff Sharlet @jeffsharlet.bsky.social · 25/10/2025
New on CALLING ALL SYLLABLES, a series of reported stories by @dartmouthartsci.bsky.social writers on how the Trumpocene trickles down into the everyday of our small towns: "What Time Is It?" by Claire Kovac, in which she asks the trees. callingallsyllables.substack.com/p/what-time-...
callingallsyllables.substack.com
What Time Is It?
A dendrochronology of the Trumpocene; or, the roots are longer than the tree itself.
25219
Reposted by Sarah Viren
Ander Monson @angermonsoon.bsky.social · 24/10/2025
Ho ho ho it's book prize time send me your badass work
074
Reposted by Sarah Viren
Lyz @lyz.bsky.social · 14/10/2025
It’s time, beyond time, really, I’m leaving Substack. I didn’t do it before because I had no other income to rely on. I don’t think abandoning spaces is always the right answer but sometimes it’s necessary www.patreon.com/posts/why-i-...
patreon.com
Why I am leaving Substack | Men Yell at Me by Lyz Lenz
Get more from Men Yell at Me by Lyz Lenz on Patreon
1850989
Sarah Viren @sarahviren.bsky.social · 03/10/2025
Such a fun and fascinating interview with Alex Niemi about her translation of a totally bonkers (and great!) new novel.
072
Sarah Viren @sarahviren.bsky.social · 25/09/2025
Was looking for context on a remembered Benjamin quote and found this deliciously detailed substack about structure and inspiration instead. Kinda like finding your keys while looking for your misplaced socks. Deep Dive: On (novel) problems & finding solutions open.substack.com/pub/katemild...
open.substack.com
Deep Dive: On (novel) problems & finding solutions
I’m deep in the problems and working-out phase of a new novel.
010
Sarah Viren @sarahviren.bsky.social · 25/09/2025
Good in-flight choice before a writing residency….
010
Sarah Viren @sarahviren.bsky.social · 24/09/2025
At least Slow Horses is back.
110
Reposted by Sarah Viren
Alina Stefanescu @alinaetc.bsky.social · 23/09/2025
Returning to DBQ. www.alinastefanescuwriter.com/blog/2022/8/...
alinastefanescuwriter.com
Dan Beachy-Quick whets the writing appetite. — alina Ştefănescu
The itch to write attacks me whenever I read Dan Beachy-Quick. Today, I came across an essay where he says that becoming a poet means accepting the debt of others as one’s own, and working to repay it...
1133
Reposted by Sarah Viren
Benjamin Percy @benjaminpercy.bsky.social · 23/09/2025
Nerds of Los Angeles: This weekend, I'm headed your way -- along with a killer lineup of artists and writers -- for LA Comic Con. Come hang out. www.comicconla.com/artists-and-... #lacomiccon2025 #lacomiccon
comicconla.com
Benjamin Percy — L.A. Comic Con
FRI • SAT • SUN
041
Reposted by Sarah Viren
Dr Anna Hájková @ankahajkova.bsky.social · 25/07/2025
Three more months until People without History are Dust: Queer Desire in the Holocaust comes out @uoftpress.bsky.social and translated @williamrossjones.bsky.social you can preorder below. utppublishing.com/doi/book/10....
17926
Sarah Viren @sarahviren.bsky.social · 05/09/2025
TO NAME THE BIGGER LIE is the Common Read at Stockton University! Looking forward to giving the convocation lecture later this month. stockton.edu/general-stud...
stockton.edu
First-Year Seminar - William T. Daly School of General Studies | Stockton University
141
Reposted by Sarah Viren
David Naimon @davidnaimon.bsky.social · 22/08/2025
Well, at least they are redirecting literary grant money to "foster AI competency" (clearly lacking in this AI generated 2nd paragraph), support for the military (as all true literature should do), and disaster recovery (books as sandbags?)
1618067
Reposted by Sarah Viren
Terri Langford @tlangford.bsky.social · 07/07/2025
Texas lawmakers failed to pass a bill to improve local flood warning systems this year www.texastribune.org/2025/07/06/t... via @texastribune.org
texastribune.org
Texas lawmakers failed to pass a bill to improve local flood warning systems this year
A GOP state lawmaker who represents Kerr County says he likely would vote differently now on House Bill 13, which would have established a grant program for counties to build new emergency communicati...
13261124
Sarah Viren @sarahviren.bsky.social · 03/07/2025
And essay by my 83 year old uncle in which he writes about driving a car into Arthur Miller’ house, among other feats. olliconnects.org/dear-nabokov/
olliconnects.org
Dear Mr. Nabokov | OLLI Connects
000
Sarah Viren @sarahviren.bsky.social · 02/07/2025
The most chilling part of T.S. Eliot's rejection of Orwell's Animal Farm come near the end, after he's said the allegory "is not the right point of view from which to criticize the political situation," but that if some other publisher "believes in what it stands for," good for them...
120
Sarah Viren @sarahviren.bsky.social · 28/06/2025
Toni Morrison: "I do know that I don’t like it here if I don’t have something to write." Interviewer: "Here, meaning where?" Morrison: "Meaning out in the world."
010
Reposted by Sarah Viren
Carrie Brown @brizzyc.bsky.social · 09/06/2025
"At the center of the chaos and fear swirling around the administration’s dismantling of the academy is the same question that animates Finkelstein’s case: Will the freedoms guaranteed to professors for generations survive?"
012
Reposted by Sarah Viren
Dr Anna Hájková @ankahajkova.bsky.social · 13/05/2025
Cover reveal for People without History are Dust: Queer Desire in the Holocaust, forthcoming in four months with @uoftpress.bsky.social Beautiful design by Filip Kraus; the faces correspond with six of the chapters told in the book.
Cover design for "People without History Are Dust: Queer Desire in the Holocaust" in a rich burgundy color, with six faces on the cover, each corresponding with a chapter.
414338
Reposted by Sarah Viren
Matt Bell @mdbell79.bsky.social · 06/06/2025
My friend and colleague @sarahviren.bsky.social is one of my favorite journalists, and every story she's done for the NYT Magazine is a masterclass in investigation, research, and insight. Her latest is no different. Give it a read!
0104
Sarah Viren @sarahviren.bsky.social · 06/06/2025
I have a new story up in the NYTimes Magazine. Thanks to @mauraf.bsky.social for talking to me so many times for this one, and to everyone else who talked to me on the record, especially students and faculty, despite the risk. www.nytimes.com/2025/06/06/m...
nytimes.com
A Professor Was Fired for Her Politics. Is That the Future of Academia?
45818
Sarah Viren @sarahviren.bsky.social · 04/06/2025
Loved talking with @melissafebos.bsky.social about her sexy thoughtful celibacy book for @literaryhub.bsky.social lithub.com/melissa-febo...
lithub.com
Melissa Febos on the Unexpected Joys, Discoveries, and Sexiness of Celibacy
Toni Morrison’s famous comment on writing, one I sometimes put at the top of my syllabi, is this: “If there’s a book that you want to read, but it hasn’t been written yet, then y…
064
Sarah Viren @sarahviren.bsky.social · 03/06/2025
Such a moving book!
010
Reposted by Sarah Viren
Alexander Chee @alexanderchee.bsky.social · 30/05/2025
I am happy to be among the writers who got to honor Maxine Hong Kingston for KQED: www.kqed.org/forum/201010...
kqed.org
Bay Area Legends: Maxine Hong Kingston Changed What It Means to Tell an American Story | KQED
As part of our Bay Area Legends series, we talk with Kingston – who grew up working in her parent’s Stockton laundry business and was an integral part of Berkeley’s counterculture movement – about her...
715115
Reposted by Sarah Viren
Kimberly Burns @kimberlyburns.bsky.social · 21/05/2025
A real list written by real journalists! Also: 👋 @melissafebos.bsky.social THE DRY SEASON 06.03.25 www.vulture.com/article/new-...
vulture.com
28 Books We Can’t Wait to Read This Summer
Whether you want to make sense of reality or escape it — through climate fiction, searing memoirs, and tight thrillers.
0104
Reposted by Sarah Viren
Rebecca Makkai @rebeccamakkai.bsky.social · 21/05/2025
I made you a REAL summer reading list of fifteen REAL books by REAL authors— books that might not be on your radar. Some old, some newer. Here it is. rebeccamakkai.substack.com/p/fifteen-re...
1221153
Sarah Viren @sarahviren.bsky.social · 12/05/2025
I only took one class with Cris Hassold at New College, but it made an impression. Apparently I did not make much of an impression on her. www.nytimes.com/2025/05/11/u...
nytimes.com
A Professor’s Final Gift to Her Students: Her Life Savings
120
Reposted by Sarah Viren
Evan Berry @ecothought.bsky.social · 02/05/2025
Academic job posting in Religious Studies @ ASU www.h-net.org/jobs/job_dis...
h-net.org
H-Net Job Guide
111
Reposted by Sarah Viren
Longreads @longreads.com · 09/04/2025
"The story of my evolving relationship with technology—a narrow slice of my experience in life—actually is worthy of telling by the definition that I set for myself." @vauhinivara.bsky.social @sarahviren.bsky.social @literaryhub.bsky.social longreads.com/2025/04/09/p...
Headline: Portrait of ChatGPT as a Young Artist: Vauhini Vara on Voice, Tech, and Using AI in Writing
Dek: Sarah Viren Talks to the Author of “Searches: Selfhood in the Digital Age”
Tagline: Sarah Viren, Vauhini Vara for Literary Hub
A logo in the bottom right reads “Longreads Editor’s Pick”
063
Sarah Viren @sarahviren.bsky.social · 09/04/2025
An interview in which I (+ briefly ChatGPT) ask the brilliant @vauhinivara.bsky.social about art and technology and selfhood and grief and her fabulous new book Searches.
051
Sarah Viren @sarahviren.bsky.social · 01/04/2025
Have been rejected from/for two things today, and so far neither of them has written back to say April Fools.
020
Sarah Viren @sarahviren.bsky.social · 01/04/2025
@erinchandler.bsky.social
010