Autumn Watts
@autumnwatts.bsky.social
Writer, Nevadan, former Guernica fiction editor (2014-2024), co-founder of litmatchcollective.com. She/her
Reposted by Autumn Watts
moving on from African to African American folklore for #PublicDomainDay, here's an important piece by Zora Neale Hurston entering #PublicDomain in 2026:
DANCE TALES AND SONGS FROM THE BAHAMAS
at the @archive.org
archive.org/details/sim_...
more details:
fabelizing.blogspot.com/2025/12/1930...
DANCE TALES AND SONGS FROM THE BAHAMAS
at the @archive.org
archive.org/details/sim_...
more details:
fabelizing.blogspot.com/2025/12/1930...
December 14, 2025 at 4:13 PM
moving on from African to African American folklore for #PublicDomainDay, here's an important piece by Zora Neale Hurston entering #PublicDomain in 2026:
DANCE TALES AND SONGS FROM THE BAHAMAS
at the @archive.org
archive.org/details/sim_...
more details:
fabelizing.blogspot.com/2025/12/1930...
DANCE TALES AND SONGS FROM THE BAHAMAS
at the @archive.org
archive.org/details/sim_...
more details:
fabelizing.blogspot.com/2025/12/1930...
Reposted by Autumn Watts
ICYMI
4 craft chats w/ Editor Steve @ The Forever Workshop
Comparing pre- and post-revision versions of work @okaydonkeymag.com
Think 'nothing happens' in your writing? You might be surprised by these chats
www.theforeverworkshop.com/p/editor-ins...
Members get 1 month of Forever Workshop, free
4 craft chats w/ Editor Steve @ The Forever Workshop
Comparing pre- and post-revision versions of work @okaydonkeymag.com
Think 'nothing happens' in your writing? You might be surprised by these chats
www.theforeverworkshop.com/p/editor-ins...
Members get 1 month of Forever Workshop, free
December 12, 2025 at 5:35 PM
ICYMI
4 craft chats w/ Editor Steve @ The Forever Workshop
Comparing pre- and post-revision versions of work @okaydonkeymag.com
Think 'nothing happens' in your writing? You might be surprised by these chats
www.theforeverworkshop.com/p/editor-ins...
Members get 1 month of Forever Workshop, free
4 craft chats w/ Editor Steve @ The Forever Workshop
Comparing pre- and post-revision versions of work @okaydonkeymag.com
Think 'nothing happens' in your writing? You might be surprised by these chats
www.theforeverworkshop.com/p/editor-ins...
Members get 1 month of Forever Workshop, free
Reposted by Autumn Watts
Feeling down about applying for residencies + more? Check out these tips from our chat with the Director of [REDACTED]
Got a writing sample to polish? Bring it to our (Better Than) MFA-style Writing Workshops, running Jan-Feb.
www.litmatchcollective.com/writing-work...
Non-members welcome too.
Got a writing sample to polish? Bring it to our (Better Than) MFA-style Writing Workshops, running Jan-Feb.
www.litmatchcollective.com/writing-work...
Non-members welcome too.
December 8, 2025 at 8:06 PM
Feeling down about applying for residencies + more? Check out these tips from our chat with the Director of [REDACTED]
Got a writing sample to polish? Bring it to our (Better Than) MFA-style Writing Workshops, running Jan-Feb.
www.litmatchcollective.com/writing-work...
Non-members welcome too.
Got a writing sample to polish? Bring it to our (Better Than) MFA-style Writing Workshops, running Jan-Feb.
www.litmatchcollective.com/writing-work...
Non-members welcome too.
YES: read this brilliant, heartwrecking collection stat! We had the great fun pleasure of chatting with @elainehsiehchou.bsky.social last night about her blistering yet masterfully nuanced story "Featured Background" (and got in a little gossip, too) for our #story-chat at @litmatchcollective.com ❤️🔥
Where Are You Really From? Don’t answer that. We’re talking about Elaine Hsieh Chou’s amazing new short story collection 📺🐇🪞🔍
The Transcendence of Writing Your Fears - Electric Literature
Elaine Hsieh Chou, author of “Where Are You Really From,” dares writers to stop seeing their books as stand-ins for themselves
buff.ly
December 8, 2025 at 6:19 PM
YES: read this brilliant, heartwrecking collection stat! We had the great fun pleasure of chatting with @elainehsiehchou.bsky.social last night about her blistering yet masterfully nuanced story "Featured Background" (and got in a little gossip, too) for our #story-chat at @litmatchcollective.com ❤️🔥
Reposted by Autumn Watts
This poor cat is just living his best life blissfully unaware that he's a stock photo for “big fatass cat”
December 3, 2025 at 11:41 PM
This poor cat is just living his best life blissfully unaware that he's a stock photo for “big fatass cat”
Reposted by Autumn Watts
I will do another 15 prompts leading up to the end of 2025, (another tired old year), but you can try these ones if you haven’t already! With love & gratitude, ~Kathy 💙 open.substack.com/pub/artoffla...
With Gratitude: 15 Prompts to get us through the rest of this tired old year
A mostly happy, well-fed child, 1962.
open.substack.com
November 30, 2025 at 3:30 PM
I will do another 15 prompts leading up to the end of 2025, (another tired old year), but you can try these ones if you haven’t already! With love & gratitude, ~Kathy 💙 open.substack.com/pub/artoffla...
Reposted by Autumn Watts
“Guzmán’s daughter was still in the NICU, unable to eat or breathe independently. The doctors had planned a meeting to review the baby’s prognosis and care plans… As Guzmán went to buckle her seatbelt, she looked out the window and noticed they were surrounded.”
Her baby was in the NICU. She was in ICE detention.
Before Trump took office, postpartum immigrants were rarely detained by ICE. Nayra Guzmán was detained while her 15-day-old baby was in the NICU.
19thnews.org
December 8, 2025 at 2:10 AM
“Guzmán’s daughter was still in the NICU, unable to eat or breathe independently. The doctors had planned a meeting to review the baby’s prognosis and care plans… As Guzmán went to buckle her seatbelt, she looked out the window and noticed they were surrounded.”
Reposted by Autumn Watts
Member Karen Karason has her 1st publication: a beautiful essay in @therumpus.net!
Got a draft to polish? Our editors treat your work like anything they'd have published at Guernica or @okaydonkeymag.com
Enrollment is open:
www.litmatchcollective.com/writing-work...
therumpus.net/2025/11/21/s...
Got a draft to polish? Our editors treat your work like anything they'd have published at Guernica or @okaydonkeymag.com
Enrollment is open:
www.litmatchcollective.com/writing-work...
therumpus.net/2025/11/21/s...
Something New - The Rumpus
Forcing myself, muscling through the mental pain. This is what I remember most of my own recovery. After the brief psychiatric hospitalization at eighteen, I returned for my second freshman semester h...
therumpus.net
December 3, 2025 at 6:40 PM
Member Karen Karason has her 1st publication: a beautiful essay in @therumpus.net!
Got a draft to polish? Our editors treat your work like anything they'd have published at Guernica or @okaydonkeymag.com
Enrollment is open:
www.litmatchcollective.com/writing-work...
therumpus.net/2025/11/21/s...
Got a draft to polish? Our editors treat your work like anything they'd have published at Guernica or @okaydonkeymag.com
Enrollment is open:
www.litmatchcollective.com/writing-work...
therumpus.net/2025/11/21/s...
Reposted by Autumn Watts
Reposted by Autumn Watts
Our December Calendar is UP!
🌲MFA-style Writing Workshops!
🌲Round 2 of the Residency Director Chat!
🌲A chat and Q&A with Elaine Hsieh Chou!
🌲A special "Admin & Apps" Accountability Session with Editor Steve!
🌲Plus prompts & sprints & more...
See our December newsletter for details!
🌲MFA-style Writing Workshops!
🌲Round 2 of the Residency Director Chat!
🌲A chat and Q&A with Elaine Hsieh Chou!
🌲A special "Admin & Apps" Accountability Session with Editor Steve!
🌲Plus prompts & sprints & more...
See our December newsletter for details!
December 1, 2025 at 3:22 PM
Our December Calendar is UP!
🌲MFA-style Writing Workshops!
🌲Round 2 of the Residency Director Chat!
🌲A chat and Q&A with Elaine Hsieh Chou!
🌲A special "Admin & Apps" Accountability Session with Editor Steve!
🌲Plus prompts & sprints & more...
See our December newsletter for details!
🌲MFA-style Writing Workshops!
🌲Round 2 of the Residency Director Chat!
🌲A chat and Q&A with Elaine Hsieh Chou!
🌲A special "Admin & Apps" Accountability Session with Editor Steve!
🌲Plus prompts & sprints & more...
See our December newsletter for details!
Stephanie Vaughn was my thesis advisor, and so generous and ferocious and funny. She freely gave her time and bracing advice to the silly, self-absorbed young person that I was then. I adored her and Michael Koch. Both such loving, kind, and gracious people, who made my program feel like home 💔
November 20, 2025 at 2:18 PM
Stephanie Vaughn was my thesis advisor, and so generous and ferocious and funny. She freely gave her time and bracing advice to the silly, self-absorbed young person that I was then. I adored her and Michael Koch. Both such loving, kind, and gracious people, who made my program feel like home 💔
Reposted by Autumn Watts
I'm editing an anthology about unlikable characters and seeking work from younger writers, 15-21. If you know of one such writer who might want to submit their work for consideration, please share this call for submissions: audacity.substack.com/p/acquired-t...
Acquired Tastes: A Call for Submissions
For younger writers, ages 15-21
audacity.substack.com
November 19, 2025 at 8:23 PM
I'm editing an anthology about unlikable characters and seeking work from younger writers, 15-21. If you know of one such writer who might want to submit their work for consideration, please share this call for submissions: audacity.substack.com/p/acquired-t...
Reposted by Autumn Watts
Most rapists operate on the premise that they can not only overpower the victim physically, but can do so socially and legally. They count on a system that discounts the voices of victims and only too often cooperates in silencing them...
The Jeffrey Epstein cover-up is an affront to US democracy | Rebecca Solnit
Democracy means a society and system in which everyone’s rights matter. Rapists count on this being untrue – and Trump is proving them right
www.theguardian.com
November 18, 2025 at 3:14 AM
Most rapists operate on the premise that they can not only overpower the victim physically, but can do so socially and legally. They count on a system that discounts the voices of victims and only too often cooperates in silencing them...
Tonight at 8pm! Don't miss it! 🔥
Don’t forget! Sunday, Nov 16, we’re diving into craft with Freund Prize winner and @lambdaliterary.org finalist @1demerith.bsky.social and EPOCH editor @jrobertlennon.com 🔥
Pre-game by reading “The Best Man” in @epochliterary.com or this scorcher in @therumpus.net:
therumpus.net/2022/06/13/r...
Pre-game by reading “The Best Man” in @epochliterary.com or this scorcher in @therumpus.net:
therumpus.net/2022/06/13/r...
November 16, 2025 at 9:56 PM
Tonight at 8pm! Don't miss it! 🔥
Reposted by Autumn Watts
Don’t forget! Sunday, Nov 16, we’re diving into craft with Freund Prize winner and @lambdaliterary.org finalist @1demerith.bsky.social and EPOCH editor @jrobertlennon.com 🔥
Pre-game by reading “The Best Man” in @epochliterary.com or this scorcher in @therumpus.net:
therumpus.net/2022/06/13/r...
Pre-game by reading “The Best Man” in @epochliterary.com or this scorcher in @therumpus.net:
therumpus.net/2022/06/13/r...
November 10, 2025 at 2:06 PM
Don’t forget! Sunday, Nov 16, we’re diving into craft with Freund Prize winner and @lambdaliterary.org finalist @1demerith.bsky.social and EPOCH editor @jrobertlennon.com 🔥
Pre-game by reading “The Best Man” in @epochliterary.com or this scorcher in @therumpus.net:
therumpus.net/2022/06/13/r...
Pre-game by reading “The Best Man” in @epochliterary.com or this scorcher in @therumpus.net:
therumpus.net/2022/06/13/r...
Reposted by Autumn Watts
Welcome to the editing workshop by Editor @stevexisxok.bsky.social!
On identifying common problems and solving them.
Featuring pre- and post-revision versions of work from @okaydonkeymag.com
First up: BSF winner "1000" by @robroensch.bsky.social
www.theforeverworkshop.com/p/editor-ins...
On identifying common problems and solving them.
Featuring pre- and post-revision versions of work from @okaydonkeymag.com
First up: BSF winner "1000" by @robroensch.bsky.social
www.theforeverworkshop.com/p/editor-ins...
November 5, 2025 at 2:35 PM
Welcome to the editing workshop by Editor @stevexisxok.bsky.social!
On identifying common problems and solving them.
Featuring pre- and post-revision versions of work from @okaydonkeymag.com
First up: BSF winner "1000" by @robroensch.bsky.social
www.theforeverworkshop.com/p/editor-ins...
On identifying common problems and solving them.
Featuring pre- and post-revision versions of work from @okaydonkeymag.com
First up: BSF winner "1000" by @robroensch.bsky.social
www.theforeverworkshop.com/p/editor-ins...
Reposted by Autumn Watts
Unbelievable.
Brava: “If I don’t file a complaint, then what message does that send to all Mexican women?” Ms. Sheinbaum said at her daily news conference, noting sexual harassment was a crime… “If this can happen to the president, what’s going to happen to all the young women & women across our country?”
Mexico’s President Presses Charges Against Man Who Groped Her on the Street
www.nytimes.com
November 6, 2025 at 12:01 PM
Unbelievable.
Reposted by Autumn Watts
Mamdani: Whether you are an immigrant, a member of the trans community, one of the many black women that Donald Trump has fired from a federal job, a single mom still waiting for the cost of groceries to go down, or anyone else with their back against the wall—your struggle is ours too
November 5, 2025 at 4:35 AM
Mamdani: Whether you are an immigrant, a member of the trans community, one of the many black women that Donald Trump has fired from a federal job, a single mom still waiting for the cost of groceries to go down, or anyone else with their back against the wall—your struggle is ours too
Reposted by Autumn Watts
Our plans for November are here!
🔥$15 Basic memberships!
🔥Chats with residency directors & @1demerith.bsky.social!
🔥A monthlong Write-More challenge led by @okaydonkeymag.com associate fiction editor @heidimarjamaki.bsky.social!
And more👇
litmatchcollective.beehiiv.com/p/november-p...
🔥$15 Basic memberships!
🔥Chats with residency directors & @1demerith.bsky.social!
🔥A monthlong Write-More challenge led by @okaydonkeymag.com associate fiction editor @heidimarjamaki.bsky.social!
And more👇
litmatchcollective.beehiiv.com/p/november-p...
November Plans!
Q&As w/Residency Directors & Meredith Talusan, $15 membership, monthlong Write-More challenge, and more!
litmatchcollective.beehiiv.com
October 28, 2025 at 4:25 PM
Our plans for November are here!
🔥$15 Basic memberships!
🔥Chats with residency directors & @1demerith.bsky.social!
🔥A monthlong Write-More challenge led by @okaydonkeymag.com associate fiction editor @heidimarjamaki.bsky.social!
And more👇
litmatchcollective.beehiiv.com/p/november-p...
🔥$15 Basic memberships!
🔥Chats with residency directors & @1demerith.bsky.social!
🔥A monthlong Write-More challenge led by @okaydonkeymag.com associate fiction editor @heidimarjamaki.bsky.social!
And more👇
litmatchcollective.beehiiv.com/p/november-p...
Reposted by Autumn Watts
This man is utterly disgusting. This is who shepherded Trump’s judicial nominees through confirmation. That should tell you A LOT.
May I present a former clerk to Justice Gorsuch.
October 27, 2025 at 2:44 AM
This man is utterly disgusting. This is who shepherded Trump’s judicial nominees through confirmation. That should tell you A LOT.
Reposted by Autumn Watts
Following Ada's lead, I'd like to do the same.
Reply to me w/ a receipt of a donation to a food bank of your choice, and I'll also match your donations, up to $500. 🍎🍌🥬🍞🥩❤️
Reply to me w/ a receipt of a donation to a food bank of your choice, and I'll also match your donations, up to $500. 🍎🍌🥬🍞🥩❤️
Alright, team Bluesky: US foodbanks are about to have staggering demand when SNAP ends Nov 1st. We need to help them prepare.
I'll match donations: DM or reply with a receipt showing your own donation to a food bank of your choice, and I'll donate to match, up to a total of $500. 💪🥗🍲🥚🥧🥪🥣🥛
#NoHunger
I'll match donations: DM or reply with a receipt showing your own donation to a food bank of your choice, and I'll donate to match, up to a total of $500. 💪🥗🍲🥚🥧🥪🥣🥛
#NoHunger
October 25, 2025 at 1:43 PM
Following Ada's lead, I'd like to do the same.
Reply to me w/ a receipt of a donation to a food bank of your choice, and I'll also match your donations, up to $500. 🍎🍌🥬🍞🥩❤️
Reply to me w/ a receipt of a donation to a food bank of your choice, and I'll also match your donations, up to $500. 🍎🍌🥬🍞🥩❤️
Reposted by Autumn Watts
Pregnant women detained by ICE report horrifying treatment: shackling, solitary confinement, no prenatal vitamins, inadequate food. ICE's own directives and regulations require the agency to avoid detention of pregnant people in the first place. www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news...
Pregnant women describe miscarrying and bleeding out while in ICE custody, advocates say
The ACLU and other groups are pressing for ICE to identify and release all pregnant women in custody and to stop detaining anyone known to be pregnant, postpartum or nursing.
www.nbcnews.com
October 22, 2025 at 3:14 PM
Pregnant women detained by ICE report horrifying treatment: shackling, solitary confinement, no prenatal vitamins, inadequate food. ICE's own directives and regulations require the agency to avoid detention of pregnant people in the first place. www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news...
Reposted by Autumn Watts
ICE detains mother dropping off child at elementary school—refuses to even look at her U.S. legal papers.
"What documents?" agent sarcastically replies—holding up the folder.
"The ones in your hands!" witnesses yell back.
Madison Elementary School in Santa Ana, California.
"What documents?" agent sarcastically replies—holding up the folder.
"The ones in your hands!" witnesses yell back.
Madison Elementary School in Santa Ana, California.
October 24, 2025 at 7:18 PM
ICE detains mother dropping off child at elementary school—refuses to even look at her U.S. legal papers.
"What documents?" agent sarcastically replies—holding up the folder.
"The ones in your hands!" witnesses yell back.
Madison Elementary School in Santa Ana, California.
"What documents?" agent sarcastically replies—holding up the folder.
"The ones in your hands!" witnesses yell back.
Madison Elementary School in Santa Ana, California.
Reposted by Autumn Watts
We love 3rd spaces and building community❤️🔥Better ways of life are possible!
thank you to everyone who came out last night to celebrate the opening of the Nightjar Arts Collective! the fact that a progressive third space in a deep red state had a packed house and so much community excitement fills me with joy. don’t let anyone tell you art is worthless!!
October 24, 2025 at 7:08 PM
We love 3rd spaces and building community❤️🔥Better ways of life are possible!
Reposted by Autumn Watts
Got work to share? Want to beat stage fright?
We host live community readings in Discord last Sundays of the month & the vibe is super warm & supportive❤️
And on Oct 26 @benloory.bsky.social will read too!
So pop in. Subscribe to our newsletter for a trial membership litmatchcollective.beehiiv.com
We host live community readings in Discord last Sundays of the month & the vibe is super warm & supportive❤️
And on Oct 26 @benloory.bsky.social will read too!
So pop in. Subscribe to our newsletter for a trial membership litmatchcollective.beehiiv.com
October 21, 2025 at 6:55 PM
Got work to share? Want to beat stage fright?
We host live community readings in Discord last Sundays of the month & the vibe is super warm & supportive❤️
And on Oct 26 @benloory.bsky.social will read too!
So pop in. Subscribe to our newsletter for a trial membership litmatchcollective.beehiiv.com
We host live community readings in Discord last Sundays of the month & the vibe is super warm & supportive❤️
And on Oct 26 @benloory.bsky.social will read too!
So pop in. Subscribe to our newsletter for a trial membership litmatchcollective.beehiiv.com