| This Week from The Rumpus |
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Publisher Update: Help Us Reach Our $25K End-of-Year Fundraising Goal by Dec. 31!
We want to express our gratitude to the 184 generous donors who have contributed to The Rumpus since September 30. Thanks to you, we’ve raised $16,701—67% of our $25K goal—with just $8,299 remaining to fill our 2024 funding gap by December 31. Your support means everything to us, and every donation counts!
If you haven't already given can you help us now, so The Rumpus can continue publishing original work 5 days a week in 2025 and (hopefully) beyond?
For those of you who have asked, if you're not concerned with the tax deduction (or are donating from outside the U.S.), you can make a contribution directly via PayPal, which has a much lower processing fee compared to our fiscal sponsor. For example, PayPal takes just 75 centson a $25 donation, while our fiscal sponsor takes $2.17.
We are incredibly grateful for your continued support during a very tough year.
With appreciation, Alyson Sinclair
Publisher, The Rumpus
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New Essays & Columns
Rumpus Original Fiction: "Sun-Up" by Michael Keenan Gutierrez
“It’s weird, but I don’t think I’ve ever known someone who’s been murdered before. Like it’s one of those life things like prom or getting married or something.” |
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Letters to Adoption:
our 2nd annual series giving space to adoptee voices during National Adoption Month
Rumpus Original Essay: "Carry Me With You" by Aimee Seiff Christian
“This will ground you when you hear it and remind you that you might not have been planned, but you were not a mistake.”
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Interviews & Reviews
Deborah Copperud interviews Youngmi Mayer about I’m Laughing Because I’m Crying
“...when you have a traumatic incident, you become super vigilant and you remember the smells, the feeling of your shirt, what your body was doing, and the trees.”
Jules Fitz Gerald reviews Melanie Cheng’s The Burrow
“This is the pandemic book I didn’t know I needed.”
Cleyvis Natera interviews Glory Edim about Gather Me
“It became essential to let people know that I had these challenging things happen to me and that I used books to overcome those challenges.” |
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This holiday season, give a gift of a debut-authored book. We asked first time authors to describe who they might give their book to.
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Small Press Sunday: Catalyst Press
Dec. 1 @ 3:30 pm PT / 6:30 pm ET |
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| | Join The Rumpus, Catalyst Press, & Janet Rodriguez for the next Small Press Sunday on Dec. 1 at 3:30 PT / 6:30 ET! Janet will be interviewing Catalyst's Publisher, Jessica Powers, to get an in-depth look at Catalyst's innerworkings and to learn more about their #ReadingAfrica Week!
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| Help us break up with X (Twitter) |
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| | | It's them, not us. We just think it's time to go our separate ways. We're growing in different directions. We think it's time we lived our life on our own. You get it. If you get your Rumpus updates from X, consider following us elsewhere as we're currently phasing out the account. It's painful to give up 100,000+ followers, but how many of those are actually active, real life humans? If you're a human, follow us on: |
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| Click the image above or this link to learn more about Disquiet's International Literary Program in Lisbon, Portugal. |
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Available Now:
NEW TRAVEL MUGS!
*All merch orders should be placed by Dec. 17 to ensure delivery by X-Mas.
Psst . . . you can gift a Membership or Letters in the Mail subscription anytime |
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| | | The NEW "Write Like a Motherfucker" travel tumbler is elegant and classy AF! This is your new grownup high quality 16 ounce insulated MiiR brand to-go mug. MiiR is a certified B-Corp, and we're basically selling these at cost. This tumbler handles hot and cold beverages equally well. It fits great in a cup holder and in your hand. Black powder coated with Rumpus red etching. It's the classic design by Walter Green. “Write Like a Motherfucker” is a quote from one of the most famous Dear Sugar columns by Cheryl Strayed.
*Annual Rumpus Members, a reminder to log into your store account for 20% discount on all mugs and posters! |
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| Letters in the Mail (from authors!) |
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Letters in the Mail from authors is a Rumpus subscription in which you receive an actual, postmarked letter from one of our favorite writers in your IRL mailbox twice a month. All letters are non-promotional, include a creative prompt, and have a return mailing address in case you'd like to write the author back!
Up next, an author letter from . . .
December 15: Katerina Jeng (they/she) is an author, speaker, and creative coach. They are here to help guide humanity into a new paradigm world through humble service that is abundantly joyful, pleasurable, and free. Katerina’s writing explores love and power, and is inspired by their identity as a queer, neurodivergent, Filipina-Taiwanese-American femme. Their debut poetry collection, Gospel of a Whole Sun (Andrews McMeel, 2024), chronicles their journey of self-discovery over the course of three pivotal years, and is a poignant look at the relationship of art-making to personal & collective liberation.
Katerina’s work has been celebrated in People, PBS, CBS News, HuffPost, and Talks at Google. They were the 2023 Writing in Color Fellow at Lighthouse Writers Workshop. Born and raised in New York, Katerina holds degrees in English and music from Cornell University. You can follow their creative pursuits on Instagram (@katerinajeng) and Substack (katerinajeng.substack.com). Subscribe by December 14!
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| Two new columns, Collaborative Criticism and Close Reads are now open year-round!
Our new column Parallel Practice is open again for submissions. Read the call here before submitting.
We are open for Funny Women and Prose and Poetry Book Reviews submissions year-round.
Stay tuned: On Dec. 5 The Rumpus will announce our first ever calls for poetry, creative nonfiction, and short stories for a brand new contest! Special judges to be announced. Each genre category will have a $1,000 first prize and $200 honorable mention.
(Reminder, annual Rumpus Members can submit their work in any genre all year long.) |
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Reader Support Keeps The Rumpus Going! |
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Founded in 2009 in San Francisco, CA and now based in Asheville, NC with readers and editors all over the US and abroad, The Rumpusis one of the longest-running independent online literary and culture magazines. Our mostly volunteer-run magazine strives to be a platform for risk-taking voices and writing that might not find a home elsewhere. We lift up new voices alongside those of more established writers readers already know and love. Often, we are an emerging writer's first notable publication, which is something we’re really proud of. We believe that literature builds community—and if reading The Rumpus makes you feel more connected, please show your support! Our Membership and subscription programs along with tax-deductible donations made to The Rumpus through our fiscal sponsor, Fractured Atlas, help keep us going and brings us closer to sustainability.
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