Alison Colwell
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alisoncolwell.bsky.social
Alison Colwell
@alisoncolwell.bsky.social
Writer, weaver of fairy tales and other creative non-fictions, food security activist, mom to two teens and a houseful of cats. Currently searching for a literary agent to represent my memoir.
Pinned
It's publication day for one of the essays from my memoir collection. I've been so excited about this one coming out. It's not an easy essay, but it's one I'm really proud of. (Domestic Violence content warning required for this essay.)
hippocampusmagazine.com/2024/11/don-...
Don’t Ignore the Ashes by Alison Colwell | Hippocampus Magazine
"My husband, John, worked hard to isolate me...." -- Alison Colwell in her essay "Don't Ignore the Ashes."
hippocampusmagazine.com
"But every time someone looked away from me, it left space for John’s violence to continue unchecked."
From my essay in Hippocampus on Domestic Violence. Sometimes the silence of bystanders can hurt as much as the violence of an abuser.
May 26, 2025 at 1:13 AM
Reposted by Alison Colwell
🇨🇦“Buy Canadian movement starts to take a sizable bite out of U.S. business”. Canada understands the assignment! Keep it up, you via Globe and Mail. #nastycanadians !!🇨🇦 #nasty #NastyCanadian #elbowsup #ElbowsUpCanada
March 20, 2025 at 9:43 PM
So it's been just over four months since we lost our old boy - but today we had a puppy visit and put in an application. I think I'm ready to lose my heart again!!!!
February 15, 2025 at 12:44 AM
Reposted by Alison Colwell
“We will need writers who can remember freedom.”

—Ursula K. Le Guin, 2014
February 3, 2025 at 12:23 AM
Reposted by Alison Colwell
Americans who follow me, please watch this.

This is us.
Here's the speech if you haven't heard it. 13 minutes of your time. Share it with your American friends and neighbours, because they won't see it otherwise. Circulate it in Mexico and Denmark, France and the UK, Panama and Germany, Poland and Estonia, and especially -- especially -- Ukraine.
Trudeau: Canada will retaliate with 25% tariffs on $155B of U.S. goods
YouTube video by CBC News
youtu.be
February 2, 2025 at 5:23 AM
It’s publication day for a short little essay I wrote about my Grandma Laura Slaughter (and yes – that’s who my daughter is named after.)
You can read the story at The Keepthings on Substack or Instagram.
January 31, 2025 at 3:53 AM
Reposted by Alison Colwell
If you are in the U.S. we hope you’re having a good holiday and you got everything prepared that you planned. For some, that holiday checklist is one of doom. Read “How to Survive Christmas” by Alison Colwell in Vibe 65.

www.roifaineantpress.com/post/how-to-...
May 27, 2024 at 10:32 AM
Reposted by Alison Colwell
Our Nov-Dec '24 issue is live! If features #CNF from Alison Colwell, Bridgette Shade, Casey Mulligan Walsh, Jen Machajewski, Kate Lu Sedor, Marcos Reyna, Michael Nagle, Monika Dutt & Rayya Liebich. Plus new reviews, interviews & a craft column! www.hippocampusmagzine.com
November 23, 2024 at 12:35 AM
Reposted by Alison Colwell
In "Don't Ignore the Ashes," Alison Colwell asks: "What role do bystanders play in the lives of others?" Read the essay here:
https://hippocampusmagazine.com/2024/11/don-t-ignore-the-ashes-by-alison-colwell/
#essay
December 10, 2024 at 3:01 PM
Reposted by Alison Colwell
It’s a Wednesday afternoon and no better time for a bite! The holidays, for those living with domestic abuse, can be a conflicted and cofounding time. Read the moving and honest flash CNF piece “How to Survive Christmas” by Alison Colwell in our 65th edition. Sunday 5/26.
May 22, 2024 at 5:12 PM
Reposted by Alison Colwell
I read The Perils Of Being Good by Alison Colwell in @CrowKeys in which the princess is told she can be whatever she wants, then is put on a glass mountain. nightofthehats.blogspot.com/2024/04/i-re...
I Read Stories: The Perils Of Being Good by Alison Colwell
The Perils Of Being Good by Alison Colwell in Crow And Cross Keys They tell the princess she can do anything, be anyone. And then the...
nightofthehats.blogspot.com
April 11, 2024 at 7:15 AM
Reposted by Alison Colwell
Sunset on the Salish Sea. Galiano Island.
January 15, 2025 at 12:54 AM
An incredible book (Add to your must-read pile) - and a thought provoking reading Friday Night on Galiano Island with Alicia Elliott - author of A Mind Spread Out On The Ground. Thanks to the Galiano Library for organizing.
#Booksky
January 26, 2025 at 6:27 PM
Reposted by Alison Colwell
• Get a library card
• Use your library card
• Support indie booksellers
• Read banned books
• Read diverse authors
• Resist
• Repeat

#booksky #resist
January 23, 2025 at 6:52 PM
Reposted by Alison Colwell
Santa Arrives, Galiano Island
Molly Lamb Bobak
1997
December 24, 2024 at 12:54 PM
Reposted by Alison Colwell
A poem from GOOD BONES offered without comment, for no reason whatsoever. 👀

Happy Sunday from here. x M
January 12, 2025 at 3:23 PM
Reposted by Alison Colwell
being a “good” and responsible person will not prevent you from experiencing disaster

there is no proper prior planning that will protect you from tragedy and loss

other people experiencing hardship is not evidence of your relative superiority
January 10, 2025 at 8:06 PM
Reposted by Alison Colwell
My late mother, never healthy, would work herself into a state of illness to make Thanksgiving and Christmas fabulous for her family.

It was lovely of her. I’m grateful. And it also made things more anxious.

So we chill out on the holidays. Easy food. Avoid travel. Watch movies.
November 24, 2024 at 3:58 PM
Bluesky and cats.... (of Pompeii - courtesy of my daughter.)
November 16, 2024 at 5:01 AM
Recording the audio became an unexpected gift for my essay “Look Away," published by the wonderful women at Writing Class Radio.
podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/w...
The Unexpected Gift of an Acceptance — Alison Colwell - Writer
Recording the audio became an unexpected gift for my essay “Look Away.”
www.alisoncolwell.com
November 15, 2024 at 4:59 AM
Reposted by Alison Colwell
Social media is sucking, but hope still flickers (especially here!) I wrote about the need for connection, and where I'm finding it now, for Brevity. Read more -
@dintywmoore.bsky.social
brevity.wordpress.com/2024/11/14/s...
Social Media Sucks: What Now?
By Allison K Williams Photo by Alan Copson For 20 years now, I have been Extremely Online. I knew the memes. I kept tabs on news. I connected with thousands of writers and readers around the world,…
brevity.wordpress.com
November 14, 2024 at 12:22 PM
Recently I read a craft essay on memoir about finding your lane and staying there. The author’s words stuck with me because my essay collection deals with a variety of subjects.
What’s my lane? I wondered. Does trauma count as a lane?
www.alisoncolwell.com/blog/finding...
Finding my Lane…. — Alison Colwell - Writer
Recently I read a craft essay on memoir about finding your lane and staying there. The author’s words stuck with me because my collection deals with a variety of subjects. What’s my lane? I wondered. ...
www.alisoncolwell.com
November 15, 2024 at 1:26 AM
It's publication day for one of the essays from my memoir collection. I've been so excited about this one coming out. It's not an easy essay, but it's one I'm really proud of. (Domestic Violence content warning required for this essay.)
hippocampusmagazine.com/2024/11/don-...
Don’t Ignore the Ashes by Alison Colwell | Hippocampus Magazine
"My husband, John, worked hard to isolate me...." -- Alison Colwell in her essay "Don't Ignore the Ashes."
hippocampusmagazine.com
November 15, 2024 at 1:24 AM