Author | Lightnews

Heather Lanier

@heatherklanier.bsky.social

320 followers 190 following 33 posts

Essayist, poet, TED Speaker, thrift store shopper. BOOKS: Raising a Rare Girl (New York Times Book Review Editors' Choice) & Psalms of Unknowing: Poems. Work in Longreads, The Sun, Atlantic. Writing Prof @RowanU. Trying to be more human, not superhuman.

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Heather Lanier @heatherklanier.bsky.social · Nov 14

Sometimes it helps to name the absurdity. You can find the rest of this poem in my book, PSALMS OF UNKNOWING, from Monkfish Publishing.

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Reposted by Heather Lanier

Jonathan Edward Durham @thisone0verhere.bsky.social · Apr 2

I refer to growing up in the acid rain/ quicksand/impending nuclear conflict era as being "classically trained" in generalized anxiety

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Reposted by Heather Lanier

Charlotte Clymer @charlotteclymer.bsky.social · Apr 2

If you like what you've seen from Sen. Cory Booker and other Democratic lawmakers this week, call and email their offices and let them know that. Evidence of public support gives lawmakers more clout with their colleagues to keep doing what they're doing. Constituent encouragement becomes influence.

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Heather Lanier @heatherklanier.bsky.social · Apr 2

it was lovely to meet you and your pants were the best!

Heather Lanier @heatherklanier.bsky.social · Mar 3

Happy Annual "OMG I Don't Think I Watched Any New Movies This Year" Day!... to all who celebrate.

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Heather Lanier @heatherklanier.bsky.social · Feb 23

Remember Reverend Shaw from Footloose? Remember the book burning scene, when all the parishioners are burning Vonnegut and such, and John Lithgow's Rev. Shaw runs out and tells everyone to stop burning books and go home? Who knew, 40 yrs later, that Rev. Shaw would be left of red America.

Heather Lanier @heatherklanier.bsky.social · Jan 23

Trump's review of Jesus Christ after meeting: "Radical leftist. Nasty in tone. Hangs out with twelve losers. Smells like fish."

Heather Lanier @heatherklanier.bsky.social · Jan 21

The tween in my house is unabashedly listening to a muzak version of "Dance Monkey" and that's the brightest element in this shitstorm of a day. What's yours?

Heather Lanier @heatherklanier.bsky.social · Jan 20

I watched a bit of the Eagles game. The best part was when the players made snow angels.

Heather Lanier @heatherklanier.bsky.social · Jan 15

When I see a sweatshirt that reads "ALL GOOD," I think, "Nope. It is decidedly not all good." But I'd love to buy a sweatshirt that reads SOME THINGS GOOD. That's a message I can get behind.

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Heather Lanier @heatherklanier.bsky.social · Jan 14

A year ago this week, my kid had a hole in her heart repaired w/ a polymer and titanium device that looked like a paper flower. Hooray for medical art!

With all her heart

Writer Heather Lanier reflects on a tough parenting moment: ceding control and trusting that everything will be OK

hub.jhu.edu

Heather Lanier @heatherklanier.bsky.social · Jan 10

Artists, writers, thinkers, makers: Let's encourage ourselves to question the constant pressure to be "relevant." Let's give ourselves permission to be "irrelevant." Moments are fleeting. The Earth is 4.5 billion years old. You're on the Earth. Ergo, just by breathing, you're relevant.

Heather Lanier @heatherklanier.bsky.social · Jan 9

3/ Sometimes half of the creative process is just listening to the truth of the thing you’re making.

Heather Lanier @heatherklanier.bsky.social · Jan 9

2/ Two hours later, I had a draft of a flash essay that felt alive and interesting to me. Sometimes the thing you’re trying to make isn’t bad. It’s just in the wrong container, or abiding by the wrong rules. It’s trying to squawk like a duck when it’s actually a blue whale.

Heather Lanier @heatherklanier.bsky.social · Jan 9

1/ This morning, I typed up a very rough draft of a poem I’d handwritten in my journal, and none of it was particularly good. “Jeez,” I thought, “is this a bad poem?” The lines read like broken-up prose. And then I realized, “Wait. Maybe this isn’t a poem at all. Maybe this is an essay.”

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Heather Lanier @heatherklanier.bsky.social · Dec 27

I'm impressed by the person who picks a Word of the Year. I can barely pick a Word of the Week.

Reposted by Heather Lanier

WXPN @wxpnfm.bsky.social · Dec 13

XPN's John Vettese calls "Seven Nation Army" by The White Stripes, our number 1 song in the #XPNCountdown, "a song of scorned determination that is an unbreakable part of the 21st century’s pop cultural DNA." Read about it here:

xpn.org/2024/12/12/8...

Song No. 1: "Seven Nation Army" by The White Stripes

The White Stripes' "Seven Nation Army" is a song of scorned determination and an unbreakable part of the 21st century's pop cultural DNA.

xpn.org

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Heather Lanier @heatherklanier.bsky.social · Dec 10

Aww, Nikki Giovanni! One of my first favorite poets. www.npr.org/2024/12/09/n...

Renowned poet and Black arts movement icon Nikki Giovanni dies at 81

The poet and activist was a leading figure of the Black Arts Movement. Giovanni was working on her upcoming book of poetry, set to publish in the fall.

www.npr.org

Reposted by Heather Lanier

Meidas Charise Lee 💙🌊🌴🥥🫘 @chariselee.bsky.social · Dec 9

PRINCETON, N.J. (AP) — New Jersey Democratic Gov. Phil Murphy signed a law Monday to prohibit public and school libraries from banning books in the state and to enshrine protections against civil and criminal charges for librarians who comply with the law.

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Heather Lanier @heatherklanier.bsky.social · Dec 4

Lately, when I scroll through Facebook and Instagram, I get off as soon as I see an ad. So far, I only make it through 1 or 2 real posts. How many posts do you see before an ad?

Heather Lanier @heatherklanier.bsky.social · Nov 27

I picked out a date and time to see WICKED with the fam, chose the seats, went to pay, saw the price, and slowly backed away from the computer, cackling like a green-faced witch. “There’s no place like cheap theaters of the 90s…”
#end-of-month-budget

Heather Lanier @heatherklanier.bsky.social · Nov 27

Love this. Yes. Someone should review @jackiedwrites.bsky.social 's forthcoming NO OFFENSE.

Heather Lanier @heatherklanier.bsky.social · Nov 27

"'Moby' just makes me think of early aughts techno. Should the white whale be reconciling more with his privilege?"

Heather Lanier @heatherklanier.bsky.social · Nov 27

Too many dashes. This hope metaphor is beak-less and, thus, unbelievable.

Heather Lanier @heatherklanier.bsky.social · Nov 27

Too many dashes. This hope metaphor is beak-less and, thus, unbelievable.

pumpkin spice Toddé @toddedillard.bsky.social · Nov 27

Workshop a famous piece badly: “Grass is already plural, why do you need to call it ‘Leaves of Grass.’ Also ‘leaves’ makes me think of trees’.”

Heather Lanier @heatherklanier.bsky.social · Nov 26

I highly recommend Brooke Champagne's essay collection, NOLA FACE! Every essay is a gem. ugapress.org/book/9780820...

Nola Face

Early in Brooke Champagne’s childhood, her Ecuadorian grandmother Lala (half bruja, half santa) strictly circumscribed the girl’s present and future: bec...

ugapress.org