Randy Hardwick

While the pasty incels who work the federal agencies continue to churn out feeble, bloodless AI pastiches of Axis propaganda, here’s how a living breathing artist powerfully invokes design history. This is by illustrator Emily K in South Philly, a free poster-sized download on her website: →

4 Lakota men were kidnapped by ICE in Minneapolis. 3 of them were taken to what used to be a concentration camp for Native people, and the only people talking about it are other Indigenous people. I am angry but mostly numb, I am so used to this at this point. We are always forgotten.

Behind-the-Scenes Look A poem from the podcast

open.substack.com/pub/maggiesm...

i think if you ride public transit enough you learn that most weird behavior is not dangerous, and conversely i think driving a car teaches you that everyone is trying to kill you at all times

What a vile POS that man is.

A truly insightful article. My own experience of Giovanni’s Room as a young man was similar to Garth’s. His brilliant analysis provided a framework for me to have deeper insight into that.
Thanks, Garth!

Finding Joy After Grief: No Stars in Jefferson Park - Chicago Review of Books No Stars in Jefferson Park, Maggie Andersen’s debut memoir scheduled to release in October, is at its core a Chicago story of working-class triumph in the face of adversity. It is a romantic story of ...

Happy to see my latest review for Chicago Review of Books published this morning.
chireviewofbooks.com/2025/10/15/f...

Enamored of the Abyss, by Garth Greenwell On the place of affirmation in art

Terrific essay by @garthgreenwell.bsky.social on Giovanni's Room and why the best art is anything but consoling

share.google/N1ipypQilELA...

A total self-reveal. Yuck.🤮

Randy Ray's review of Evenings and Weekends 4/5: A Big Cast of Characters in a Bigger Story A touching story about self-awareness and the timelessness of our human struggle of finding our own place. Setting all of that within the framework of ...

www.goodreads.com/review/show/...

I asked AI about AI and cognitive decline…

Brilliant breakdown on the Jimmy Kimmel story 🔥🔥🔥

Thank you @underthedesknews.bsky.social

Lucky guy.

Congratulations to all of the semi-finalists, especially my pal Meg Jerit.

I’m not in that subset. Your character work was brilliant.

The World Cup should move to Canada just in case.

Our Black Earth Peter Newall

Our Black Earth arcturusmag.com/2025/08/15/o...

A Diversity of Horror in "Red Line: Chicago Horror Stories" - Chicago Review of Books With Red Line: Chicago Horror Stories, Editor Michael W. Philips, Jr. has mined Chicago’s considerable pool of talented horror writers to curate an entertaining, if uneven, mosaic of the city. The met...

Had my first literary review published today in Chicago Review of Books. Feeling great!

chireviewofbooks.com/2025/08/12/a...

I loved this book!

I loved this book!

Craft: Stories I Wrote for the Devil, by Ananda Lima: Wow. Just Wow. Craft: Stories I Wrote for the Devil(out today!) is unlike anything I've ever read.

@anandalima.bsky.social's terrific book CRAFT: STORIES I WROTE FOR THE DEVIL is out in paperback this week. Have you read it yet? YOU SHOULD!!!

#books
#booksky

thenewdorkreviewofbooks.substack.com/p/craft-stor...

Thank you so much (and I love this review so much)

Our Flag Is Not ‘Surrender’ Pride has a name. LinkedIn has a dollar to say it, but won’t.

Those of you using LinkedIn for desktop (not the phone app) please do me a favor (cw: #homophobia #transphobia) —

Start to write a post. Press the happy face to insert an emoji. Use the magnifying glass search box to type "surrender".

🤔

@jesskeller42.bsky.social, @storystudiochicago.bsky.social's Executive Director) talks Saïd Sayrafiezadeh’s story “Nocturnal Creatures” on the latest episode of the
@chicagowriterspod.bsky.social. Check out the pod in the link below!
chireviewofbooks.com/2025/06/08/s...

I am super excited to announce that I have been invited to StoryStudio’s 2025 StoryBoard Conference in August at The Newberry Library.

sweet talk Caroline Fernandez

sweet talk arcturusmag.com/2025/06/02/s...

Unaskable Questions in Heather Christle's "In the Rhododendrons" - Chicago Review of Books “So we’re breaking into a National Trust property full of horny deer in the dark.” Anthony gives Jack a look.“It’s for poetry,” he says. Can a work of memoir also be a work of poetry? Yes, I’d argue—a...

Unaskable Questions in Heather Christle's "In the Rhododendrons" chireviewofbooks.com/2025/04/28/u...