Theodora Goss

Thank you! :)

How to become a sea witch Issue five: poem by Theodora Goss

I'm delighted that "How to Become a Sea Witch"is on the Rhysling Award longlist. In case you need instructions on becoming a sea witch, you can read it here:

theorangebee.substack.com/p/how-to-bec...

Satellite proposals threaten the night sky In the United States, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), the agency responsible for authorizing satellite launches and operations…

The FCC just opened public comments on SpaceX's plan to launch a million satellites to do AI compute in space. Under the current proposal, an environmental review won't be required. Please consider submitting a public comment to oppose this damaging plan.
darksky.org/news/two-sat...

Glad you liked it! :)

Writing Lesson: Observation I thought it might be interesting to put down some of the things I’ve learned from teaching writing.  From writing too, of course, but I find that when I teach writing, I tend to make certain…

Working on my Ekphrastic workshop and came across this fantastic post by @theodoragoss.bsky.social

“...the best way to avoid clichés is to observe closely, to see things as they are instead of as people say they are. To see what actually is.”
theodoragoss.com/2014/12/29/w...

My Eye/My I Two weeks ago, I went to the symphony with our teaching team — four faculty members and seventy-two students. We heard a modern piece, which happened to be a very good modern piece — I&…

New blog post:

"It’s hard living in bodies, isn’t it?"

theodoragoss.com/2026/02/22/m...

The U.S. spent $30 billion to ditch textbooks for laptops and tablets: The result is the first generation less cognitively capable than their parents | Fortune Neuroscientist Jared Cooney Horvath said older generations “screwed up” giving students access to so much technology: “I genuinely hope Gen Z quickly figures that out and gets mad.”

Now THAT's a headline.

"The U.S. spent $30 billion to ditch textbooks for laptops and tablets: The result is the first generation less cognitively capable than their parents"

fortune.com/2026/02/21/l...

The Dictator Fears Death The Dictator Fears Death by Theodora Goss He tried to put his name on bridges, tunnels, terminals, in gilded letters carved into the stone of monuments, insisted he alone could build the country, c…

New poem. What drives dictators? I suspect it's always the fear of mortality.

theodoragosspoems.com/2026/02/12/t...

Puddleglum forever.

a round pottery piece with pig eyes and a snout

i think we all need to step back and realize that peak art was made when neolithic pot in the shape of a pig was fired

The Parsley Girl - Uncanny Magazine I. The parsley girl is trickier than you think. Wouldn’t you be, if your own mother sold you to a witch for a bundle of parsley? Winter had come and she was craving anything green, would have eaten gr...

New poem, in the lovely Uncanny Magazine. :)

The parsley girl is trickier than you think . . .

www.uncannymagazine.com/article/the-...

The Parsley Girl - Uncanny Magazine I. The parsley girl is trickier than you think. Wouldn’t you be, if your own mother sold you to a witch for a bundle of parsley? Winter had come and she was craving anything green, would have eaten gr...

In addition I need to call out "The Parsley Girl" by @theodoragoss.bsky.social - the poem in @uncannymagazine.bsky.social podcast 68B. A really fun story about fairy tales and witches. I had not read the original Persinette fairy tale from 1698.
www.uncannymagazine.com/article/the-...

Lovely. :)

I love that Walt Whitman had this cardboard butterfly as something he kept as a treasured possession with his journals.

I'm so glad you liked it! :)

To you too! :)

2025 Recommended Reading List Welcome to the Locus Recommended Reading List… We saw some fabulous books come out last year and are so pleased to let you know about them! Our recommendations are compiled annually by the Locus re…

I'm absolutely thrilled that my collection Letters from an Imaginary Country, published by the wonderful Tachyon Publications, is on the 2025 Locus Recommended Reading List. :)

locusmag.com/2026/02/2025...

Human General Intelligence At the beginning of the semester, I asked my students, all of whom are freshmen, how many of them had been told in high school not to use AI. Some hands went up. I asked how many of them had been t…

Finally, a new blog post: theodoragoss.com/2026/02/01/h...

"The problem, as I see it, is that the emphasis on AI and AGI seems to be replacing our focus on HI and HGI — on human intelligence."

To translate is to leave something, almost everything, out.

Translation is a conscious process where the elements that are put aside are as important as those that we choose to keep. AI, thus, cannot translate because it is incapable of understanding the act of leaving behind.

The Strange Case of the Alchemist's Daughter — Multnomah County Library The Strange Case of the Alchemist's Daughter — Goss, Theodora — Based on some of literature's horror and science fiction classics, this is the story of a remarkable group of women who come together to...

Explore The Strange Case of the Alchemist's Daughter by @theodoragoss.bsky.social if you're like our patron looking for "Something like A Natural History of Dragons, just finished the series and miss it already!" #AskALibrarian

SEE ICE? 617-370-5023 LUCE HOTLINE -- LUCEMASS.ORG

Massachusetts folks, the LUCE ICE Hotline is ☎️ 617-370-5023. If you see ICE in your area, call and report. And spread the word! Full sheet of stickers here: tinyurl.com/5eddfvrt
Print on mailing labels (5160) and stick up around your neighborhood.

The Boss is not alone in releasing new music to boost our spirits.
Proud to be in his company right now.

Bruce Springsteen - Streets Of Minneapolis (Official Audio) YouTube video by Bruce Springsteen

I wrote this song on Saturday, recorded it yesterday and released it to you today in response to the state terror being visited on the city of Minneapolis. It’s dedicated to the people of Minneapolis, our innocent immigrant neighbors and in memory of Alex Pretti and Renee Good.

Stay free

Transforming Fairy Tales Understand artistic techniques in fairy tales across time and how contemporary writers draw on an old form to make something new.

Registration is open for winter/spring classes @newberrylibrary.bsky.social I’m happy to teach a four-week online seminar on the wonderful stretchiness of fairy tales. Class begins March 31 at 6 pm CT.
www.newberry.org/calendar/tra...

Cover of Letters from an Imaginary Country by Theodora Goss with art by Catrin Welz-Stein.

I'm delighted that Letters from an Imaginary Country is on the BSFA Awards longlist under Collections. It's an honor to be in such wonderful company. :)

bsfa.co.uk/bsfa-awards-...

The precision is ridiculous. :)

I’m listening to some of the panels at Davos, and honestly it sounds like the masters of the universe are living in Lala Land.

Oops I forgot to use AI again today. I might forget tomorrow too . . .

Maybe we should stick to a message this simple.

Can we buy the Danish healthcare system instead?