Exacting Clam

This is the correct headgear.

“It was not Nelle Harper dropping him, it was Truman going away from her.”

Kat Meads on Nelle Harper Lee, the real and the fictional. Exacting Clam 20. Digital-only subscriptions now available.

https://www.exactingclam.com/issues/no-20-spring-2026/nelle-harper-lee-character/

"It's time for us to die."

Thomas Walton's thoughts are getting unsavoury-er. Exacting Clam 20. Subscribe for full online access to each issue. Digital-only subscriptions now available.

https://www.exactingclam.com/issues/no-20-spring-2026/unsavory-thoughts/

Recommend @exactingclam.bsky.social's new issue (delighted it has my Murnane essay in it), not least for @jgoldsmith.bsky.social's essay on friendship and envying artists 👇🦋🐚

"It’s possible that we have to remain in the dark, ignorant, we have to stay dumb long enough to regenerate the species."

Thomas Walton's unsavory thoughts. issue 20, out now. Digital-only subscriptions now available.

https://www.exactingclam.com/issues/no-20-spring-2026/unsavory-thoughts/

"The image of the grass having a simple call, like a bird, is straightforward, charming and distinctly inventive. Which is to say, typical Simic."

Kurt Luchs on Charles Simic. Issue 20. 

https://www.exactingclam.com/issues/no-20-spring-2026/listening-to-the-grass-and-to-charles-simic/

That’s me

"One envies other lives for the subterranean reason that makes all life so difficult: death."

@jgoldsmith.bsky.social  on 'Envying Artists'. Issue 20, out now. 

Pick up or gift a digital subscription at a much lower price.

https://www.exactingclam.com/issues/no-20-spring-2026/envying-artists/

Out now. Issue 20's magnificent cover is by Leigh Gore and Tyler C. Gore. Go to the website to choose your new, low-cost digital subscription or an enhanced print subscription (that now includes digital). Full access to entire issues online!

https://www.exactingclam.com/subscribe/

here's a glimpse of my short story Artemis at the venerable @exactingclam.bsky.social.

Big news! Not only is Issue 20 out today, but from here on in you can create your own account on the website, where all issues will soon be available in their entirety. Some already are. Plus digital-only subscriptions at a much, much lower price!

https://www.exactingclam.com/subscribe/

A Personal Anthology, by Guillermo Stitch Those familiar with the water colour Dickens’ Dream by Robert William Buss should be able to picture the scene.

Wherein, at the invitation of @jonathangibbs.bsky.social, I write about twelve brilliant stories by twelve brilliant writers, some of whom are alive @egangoonsquad.bsky.social @theactualemma.bsky.social @cdrose.bsky.social.

Cover art by Leigh Gore, design by Tyler C.Gore: collage including corn field, thatched barn in a tree with a staircase in the trunk , butterflies, flowers, folk from black and white photos, musical instruments, cats of course

A first sign of Spring from @exactingclam.bsky.social

My minor obsession with medieval saints continues with A Meeting in the Groves of Assisi, out now in the brilliant @exactingclam.bsky.social. St Francis, a man of mood swings, meets St Clare amongst the olive trees. Romance? To order Issue 20 follow this link www.exactingclam.com/issues/no-20...

It's always a good day when the Clam arrives.
@exactingclam.bsky.social @saggingmeniscus.bsky.social

It Is Still Beautiful to Hear the Heart Beat. Poems by Margo Berdeshevsky. “Margo Berdeshevsky’s It Is Still Beautiful To Hear The Heart Beat seems to leap up and declare a rhythmic homage to the world, and one is called to gaze into one’s own eyes and see patterns of the pa...

Read a review in @exactingclam.bsky.social of @margoberdeshevsky.bsky.social's IT IS STILL BEAUTIFUL TO HEAR THE HEART BEAT: www.exactingclam.com/issues/no-20...

Get the book: tinyurl.com/43ypnbzr

Read BEAUTIFUL SOON ENOUGH - one of our annual Sukenick Contest winners! fc2.org/authors/berd...

One of four new Nightjars coming in March.

Painting of Keats House in London by Wend Rend. Exacting Clam magazine. Essay titled Envying Artists by Jake Goldsmith

My essay 'Envying Artists' is available now in Exacting Clam @exactingclam.bsky.social.

Print edition out this Spring 🌱

www.exactingclam.com/issues/no-20...

You can now read "Eulalio Salmantino, 1921-2000" in the spring issue of @exactingclam.bsky.social: www.exactingclam.com/issues/no-20...

Very grateful to Guillermo and Jacob.

Huge thanks to @exactingclam.bsky.social for publishing my essay 'Behind the Scenes with Gerald Murnane: A First Reading of Inland'

www.exactingclam.com/issues/no-20...

@andotherstories.bsky.social

My story in the latest @exactingclam.bsky.social issue is constructed around a sleep cycle. Each paragraph's length and character is dictated by a corresponding sleep stage, and each contains one object from "The Pea Test" aka "The Princess and the Pea" www.exactingclam.com/issues/no-20...

My essay on art, artists, and friendship is out now via @exactingclam.bsky.social

www.exactingclam.com/issues/no-20...

And of course, Tributaries grew out of a column in Exacting Clam — long may it continue!

Alina Stefanescu Reads From Guillermo Stitch's THE COAST OF EVERYTHING Thanks to Alina Stefanescu, author of MY HERESIES, for this dramatic reading from Guillermo Stitch's forthcoming THE COAST OF EVERYTHING. https://thecoastofe...

Thanks to @alinaetc.bsky.social  for this reading from @guillermostitch.bsky.social 's THE COAST OF EVERYTHING, coming this Bloomsday.

In memory of Louis Zukofsky, born on 23 January, 1904, here are my Five Love Sonnets with Rhymes Stolen from Louis Zukofsky's "A"–9.
From the Autumn 2024 issue of @exactingclam.bsky.social

Note: line 4 of poem 1 should read: by the eye perceives an ordering resemblance.

Lee Upton Discusses Her New Book, “The Withers”: Interview — North Meridian Press In winter 2026, author Lee Upton answered questions about her new book “The Withers” with managing editor Wesley R. Bishop via email. Below is that conversation that explores Upton’s new novel, her wr...

A wonderful interview with @leeupton.bsky.social in North Meridian, regarding her forthcoming novel The Withers.

"We might want to escape our time, but inevitably our culture imprints itself on us even if we try to resist."

thenorthmeridianreview.org/blog/lee-upt...

“The first ray of light,” he said, as if in a reverie, “which illumines the gloom.” The line completes a long goodbye in a long book of goodbyes.

New Substack

Tom Shakespeare Reads From Guillermo Stitch's THE COAST OF EVERYTHING Thanks for Tom Shakespeare, author of THE ENDS, for this dramatic reading from Guillermo Stitch's forthcoming THE COAST OF EVERYTHING. We won't seek to dissu...

Thanks to Tom Shakespeare for this reading from Guillermo Stitch's THE COAST OF EVERYTHING, which comes out this Bloomsday. (But you can preorder at thecoastofeverything.com.)

Hey hey, Michiganders: Don't miss Kurt Luchs this Fri at Ann Arbor-bookstore @literatibookstore.bsky.social. He'll be reading from TRIBUTARIES, the latest poetry collection fresh off the @saggingmeniscus.bsky.social press: literatibookstore.com/event/2026-0...

Youssef Ralha Reads From Guillermo Stitch's THE COAST OF EVERYTHING Thanks to Youssef Rakha, author of THE DISSENTERS (Graywolf, 2025), for this reading from Guillermo Stitch's, THE COAST OF EVERYTHING, coming in June. Preord...

Thanks to Youssef Rakha, author of THE DISSENTERS (Graywolf, 2025), for this reading from Guillermo Stitch's, THE COAST OF EVERYTHING, coming in June. Preorder at thecoastofeverything.com.