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Leta McCollough Seletzky

@letaseletzky.com

11K followers 3K following 3.9K posts

Director, Low Res MFA in Creative Writing at U. of Nevada, Reno at Lake Tahoe | 2022 NEA Literature Fellow | Author | Lawyer | Strictly my opinions

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Leta McCollough Seletzky @letaseletzky.com · Sep 13

I’m re-reading my book THE KNEELING MAN—this time with the realization that it’s as much about gun violence as anything else.

From beginning to end (including, of course, Dr. King’s assassination), it’s a story about the degree to which the social order is maintained at the barrel of a gun

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Leta McCollough Seletzky @letaseletzky.com · 5h

Yep

Leta McCollough Seletzky @letaseletzky.com · 6h

I’m a writer by profession, so I can deal with it. But I worry about kids who open up a word processing program and are greeted with solicitations to write articles, stories, and even poetry for them

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Leta McCollough Seletzky @letaseletzky.com · 6h

This is what bugs me about AI (and I say this as someone who views it as nothing more or less than a tool):

It’s being aggressively thrust upon us at every turn.

For example, this is what greets me when I open my word processing program:

Create an article about how to
tline for a resume
effectively volunteer for a non-
profit organization

Do you want Copilot to draft

Write a bedtime story for an eight-year-old about dinosaurs

What do you want Copilot to draft?

Write a funny poem to wish Happy Birthday to my five-year-old sister

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Leta McCollough Seletzky @letaseletzky.com · 9h

TOMORROW 10/15 from 5–6 pm PT!

Want to learn more about how our low-residency creative writing MFA program can help you hone your craft as you prepare for a sustainable life of creation? Join me and @unrlowresmfacw.bsky.social at an upcoming info session 🙏🏽

Sign up here: bit.ly/4n6nHEd

MFA-CW INFO SESSIONS
OCT 10 10:00AM-11:00AM
OCT 15 5:00PM-6:00PM
OCT 21 11:30AM-12:30PM
OCT 31 11:00AM-12:00PM

REGISTER ON EVENTBRITE: LINK IN BIO
JOIN US ON ZOOM!
PACIFIC STANDARD

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Leta McCollough Seletzky @letaseletzky.com · 22h

Inherently terrifying!

Leta McCollough Seletzky @letaseletzky.com · 23h

Not me jumping out of my skin like a cartoon character again

Leta McCollough Seletzky @letaseletzky.com · 23h

I really feel like that right there is a big part of aging

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Leta McCollough Seletzky @letaseletzky.com · 23h

I can’t count the number of times my kids have scared the crap out of me late at night by suddenly appearing in a doorway or emerging from the shadows

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Leta McCollough Seletzky @letaseletzky.com · 1d

Love to see our @unr_lowresmfacw alums in the spotlight—so proud!

(And by the way, our low-residency creative writing MFA program is accepting applications for spring term through Nov. 1! Apply here: www.unr.edu/liberal-arts...)

unrlowresmfacw.bsky.social @unrlowresmfacw.bsky.social · 1d

We’re so thrilled that @awpwriter.bsky.social has awarded alum John Bonanni the 2025 Donald Hall Prize for Poetry for his manuscript, retrovirology. Huge congratulations on this momentous achievement! 🎉

AWP
Donald Hall Prize for
Poetry
Donald Hall Prize for Poetry: $5,500 and publication by the University of Pittsburgh Press
2025 Winner
Winner: John Bonanni
retrovirology
John Bonanni is a Cape Cod-based writer who serves as founding editor of the Cape Cod Review. His poems have appeared in Foglifter, Black Warrior Review, Southern Indiana Review, Washington Square
Review, Prairie Schooner, Michigan Quarterly Review, and Gulf Coast, and his literary criticism has been featured in DIAGRAM, Denver Quarterly, The Rumpus, and The Kenyon Review. He is the recipient of scholarships from the Fine Arts Work Center in Provincetown and residencies from AS220 and the John Hay Writing Studio. His research on poetry as an intervention for writing attitudes among learners with severe disabilities can be found in The Graduate Review (Bridgewater State University, and his chapbook, a rotary phone that dings when you move it (Cape Cod Editions), was funded by a matching grant from the Arts Foundation of Cape Cod and the National Endowment for the…

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Leta McCollough Seletzky @letaseletzky.com · 1d

By the way, we’re accepting applications now for the spring 2026 term!

In the words of Nina Simone, “An artist’s duty is to reflect the times in which we live.” We invite you to answer the call in community with us. The final application deadline is Nov. 1 🙏🏽

Apply here: www.unr.edu/liberal-arts...

Applications and Admissions | Low-Residency MFA in Creative Writing

Learn how to apply to to the low-residency MFA in creative writing at the University of Nevada, Reno.

www.unr.edu

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Leta McCollough Seletzky @letaseletzky.com · 1d

NEXT UP: this Wed. 10/15 from 5–6 pm PT!

Want to learn more about how our low-residency creative writing MFA program can help you hone your craft as you prepare for a sustainable life of creation? Join me and @unrlowresmfacw.bsky.social at an upcoming info session!

Sign up here: bit.ly/4n6nHEd

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Leta McCollough Seletzky @letaseletzky.com · 1d

So true—and I’m glad to hear these words resonated with you 🙏🏽

Reposted by Leta McCollough Seletzky

Jen Taub @jentaub.bsky.social · 5d

Correct

Leta McCollough Seletzky @letaseletzky.com · 5d

As it turns out, not only were we NOT overreacting, we were underreacting 🫠

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Leta McCollough Seletzky @letaseletzky.com · 5d

Because at this point 🫠

Leta McCollough Seletzky @letaseletzky.com · 5d

Mmm hmm

Leta McCollough Seletzky @letaseletzky.com · 5d

Well I guess that’s why that candidate said people wouldn’t need to bother voting again…

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Leta McCollough Seletzky @letaseletzky.com · 5d

Or the past six or so months, to be fair lol

Leta McCollough Seletzky @letaseletzky.com · 5d

No, really: apnews.com/article/domi...

Former Republican election official buys Dominion Voting — a target of 2020 conspiracy theories

Voting equipment company Dominion Voting Systems, a target of false conspiracy theories since the 2020 election, has been bought by a firm run by a former Republican elections official.

apnews.com

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Leta McCollough Seletzky @letaseletzky.com · 5d

A firm run by a former Republican elections official has bought Dominion Voting Systems and “vowed to follow the executive order Trump signed last spring seeking sweeping changes to election policies that multiple judges have put on hold for violating the Constitution”—what could go wrong?

😐

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Leta McCollough Seletzky @letaseletzky.com · 5d

As it turns out, not only were we NOT overreacting, we were underreacting 🫠

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Leta McCollough Seletzky @letaseletzky.com · 6d

Want to learn more about how our low-residency creative writing MFA program can help you hone your craft as you prepare for a sustainable life of creation? Join us at one of our upcoming info sessions!

First up: THIS FRIDAY, Oct. 10 at 10 am PT! Sign up here: www.eventbrite.com/e/low-reside...

Low-Residency Program
@unr_lowresmfacw
MFA-CW INFO SESSIONS
OCT 10 10:00AM-11:00AM
OCT 15 5:00PM-6:00PM
OCT 21 11:30AM-12:30PM
OCT 31 11:00AM-12:00PM

REGISTER ON EVENTBRITE: LINK IN BIO
JOIN US ON ZOOM!
PACIFIC STANDARD TIME

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Leta McCollough Seletzky @letaseletzky.com · 6d

Our @unrlowresmfacw.bsky.social faculty in the spotlight—so proud!

(And as an aside, our low-residency creative writing MFA program is accepting applications for spring term through Nov. 1! Apply here: www.unr.edu/liberal-arts...

unrlowresmfacw.bsky.social @unrlowresmfacw.bsky.social · 6d

We’re so extremely proud of faculty member @cathylinhche and the phenomenal news that her book Becoming Ghost is a finalist for the National Book Award in poetry—huge congratulations on this momentous achievement 🙏🏽

76th Nationail Book Awards Finalists
BecomingGhost
Cathy Linh Che
Washington Square Press /
Simon & Schuster
CATHY LINH CHE
NATIONAL BOOK AWARD FINALIST
Poetry

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Leta McCollough Seletzky @letaseletzky.com · 6d

Yessssss 🙏🏽

Leta McCollough Seletzky @letaseletzky.com · 6d

Thank you! 🙏🏽

Leta McCollough Seletzky @letaseletzky.com · 6d

I appreciate that so much—thank you 🙏🏽