Anya Kirshbaum

Lake at dusk surrounded by dried reeds and cattails. The water reflects a wintry sky and bare cottonwood trees. Photo by Jed Meyers.

Going to AWP? Please join Bracken for our offsite reading with Passager on Friday, 3/6, 5:00-7:00 p.m. at Pratt Street Ale House across from the Convention Center. Readers: Sarah Browning, Julie Choffel, Julia Lisella, Diana Whitney,
@karigunterseymour.bsky.social, and
@anyakirshbaum.bsky.social.

“How I dug and dug for them,

their sharp-dirt scent.

How much I craved holding

those shrunken moons.”

Excerpt of “Want of a Child” by @anyakirshbaum.bsky.social. It appeared in the Winter 2025 collection of Online Exclusives.

buff.ly/t1Vwzn2

#writingcommunity

Yes. Heartbreaking.

“A kind

of wanting, written

onto the rungs

of my vertebrae—

ancient, unsung.”

Excerpt from “Want of a Child” by @anyakirshbaum.bsky.social. It appeared in the Winter 2025 collection of Online Exclusives.

Read the full poem at the link below:

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#writingcommunity

West Trade Review Online Exclusives Winter 2025 West Trade Review: Fearless. Crafted. Authentically Human.

We’re excited to present the Winter 2025 collection of Online Exclusives. It features poetry by Nathan Erwin, @ritamookerjee.bsky.social, @ewenglass.bsky.social, and @andhow.bsky.social among others; fiction by Janine A. Willis; CNF by @hillbillypilgrim.bsky.social

Read it here:

Gorgeous

@ancpoet.bsky.social @isadoravoid.bsky.social @suchveronica.bsky.social @pyontek.bsky.social @anyakirshbaum.bsky.social @courtneyduchene.bsky.social @tracyneiman.bsky.social @navelgayzer.bsky.social

Thank you!

How wonderful that my poem found a home in @oneart.bsky.social, a journal I have loved for a long time!

Bice: Elon Musk group removes video from $1M winner after she says she got money to 'vote' Elon Musk's super PAC removed an X video from a $1M giveaway winner in which she said she received the money, in part, to 'vote.'

Direct evidence of criminal election bribery under Wis. Stat. §12.11:

“‘My name’s Ekaterina Deistler,’ she said in a video posted Monday morning. ‘I did exactly what Elon Musk told everyone to do: sign the petition, refer friends and family, vote, and now I have a million dollars.’”

Absolutely, how could one not, much to feel sad about.

Yes it is!

Love your poem, Angela.

So excited to have a poem in this beautiful issue!

Call this morning. 👇
A shutdown is better than caving.

Why Bother? Because right now, there is someone out there with a wound in the exact shape of your words.

Poem by Sean Thomas Dougherty.

some helpful reminders:

-not all jews support israel
-criticizing israel is not the same as being antisemitic
-being pro-palestine does not equal being pro-hamas
-arresting someone for being pro-palestine is a violation of the first amendment
-violating someone’s first amendment rights is bad

Gonna stick this up over my desk and make it a daily affirmation.

Damn. This poem.

From Sam Sax's book, Pig: bookshop.org/a/862/978166...

#poem #poetry #books #writing

Anya Kirshbaum Press Play to hear the author read their piece. Letter From the Edge of Every Known Thing Dear Ginkgo, are we so different? You at the edge of undress—I, undone, unkempt, infant at my breast. I hav…

I have a couple of poems out in the lovely journal: Sweet: A Literary Confection. Many thanks to @katierpoet.bsky.social and @chelsdingman.bsky.social and the rest of the team for their important work keeping the poetry fires burning. #poem #poetry

sweetlit.org/anya-kirshba...

Big, growing crowd just west of the U.S. Capitol protesting Trump, Musk and DOGE on President’s Day. “Hey Congress, grow a spine,” they shout, gathering for a rally around the reflecting pool.

That seems like fake news. We are not happy.

Hey friends! We're seeing a lot of terrible things. We're not able to cover all of them, but we felt this latest one is a really big deal and needs much more awareness. Our summary is this: It's an administrative coup. Trump has ordered tens of billions (maybe up to $3 trillion) of budget halted indefinitely in a blatantly illegal move. He's claiming power to halt and potentially redirect funding that's already been authorized by Congress — a classic authoritarian move. Here's what we know. And we're doing our best to catch up with this story, because it's moving fast. There's a memo from Matthew Vaeth, the acting head of the Office of Management and Budget. (That's the same government entity who set-up the DEI "snitch" line, that's now been spammed by tens of thousands of our fellow residents.) In typical Trump-style, the memo gets its facts wrong. It claims in FY2024 the US government spent $10 trillion (actually it was $6.8 trillion). It says money should be used for the administration's priorities — "The use of Federal resources to advance Marxist equity, transgenderism, and green new deal social engineering policies is a waste of taxpayer dollars that does not improve the day-to-day lives of those we serve." (Again, it's very fact deficient.) The memo says a pause will begin at 5pm on January 28th where, "Federal agencies must temporarily pause all activities related to obligation or disbursement of all Federal financial assistance, and other relevant agency activities that may be implicated by the executive orders, including, but not limited to, financial assistance for foreign aid, nongovernmental organizations, DEI, woke gender ideology, and the green new deal." Anyone promised federal grants might have their money at risk, even states. This is Congressional directed spending and Trump is ordering people to not do it. This funding includes universities for education and research programs, nonprofits, local and tribal governments, disaster relief aid, e…

So what can we do? It's been a lot. And the shock approach of this administration is to overwhelm us with nonsense and a state of paralysis. We continue to believe the best thing is to stay grounded and keep yourself sane amidst insanity. At this juncture, three actions we suggest that make sense to us: 1) Urge media to cover this story properly This is not "possibly illegal" — it's "patently illegal." You can read notes on that here. It's not "temporary" — it's "indefinite." There's no timetable for ending it. It's not just a memo — it's an administrative coup. 2) Urge your Representatives to act like this is a big deal If you know us, this isn't a knee-jerk action we suggest. We think this is a strategic because it's Congress that's being violated — their power is being directly undermined. 3) Continue to support ACLU and Democracy Forward These groups have been preparing litigation for some time. Unless Trump revokes this, this will certainly make its way through the courts. Our read is even the biased courts will have trouble swallowing this — so it may end up being shut down. Keep breathing. “Do not judge me by my successes, judge me by how many times I fell down and got back up again," Nelson Mandela. Warmly, - Choose Democracy

Hi that was a coup last night in case no one mentioned that to you. The executive branch seized the power of the purse the Constitution gave to Congress, which is a pretty authoritarian / illegal consolidation of powers move. Time to go yell at your reps, the media, etc.

From “Bargaining with the Palisades Fire, I Buy a Pack of Edible Flowers,” by Anna Journey. Read it in full: nyer.cm/E1juqln

Powerful poems.

Beautiful and haunting poem

No one else like him….

Thanks so much to @sarah-salcedo.com for all her extraordinary work on my beautiful new website! It was a great experience collaborating with her!