| This Week from The Rumpus |
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[Publisher's note: Asheville, NC]
After 53 days, our drinking water is back (*with some reservations). I'm so excited to have a few hours of my week and the part of my brain back that were taken up by navigating the when/where to get clean water every week. Admittedly, it's really tough to spend weeks thinking "poison" and immediately switch to: "The water is clean. I trust it!" There are a lot of parallels with the COVID pandemic that I wish we weren't reliving. However, we are proud of our city's quicker than expected progress. It truly has been incredible to see the engineers, the EPA, and our water department problem solving so quickly.
To our readers and supporters who are following along, we want to share our gratitude to the supporters who have donated to The Rumpus since Sept. 30. With the help of 172 mostly small donors, we have raised $15,636 of our $25K end-of-year goal. That's 62% of our goal with $9,364 to go. You're incredible and the donations are adding up.
If you haven't already given can you help us now, so The Rumpus can continue into 2025 and (hopefully) beyond? We've all seen what happens when people don't show up for each other and expect imaginary benevolent billionaires to save us.
And since a few folks asked . . . If you don't need the tax-deduction (or it doesn't apply to you because you're outside of the US), you can also support us directly via Paypal, which takes a much lower processing fee out of funds The Rumpus receives. (Example: Paypal takes 75 cents from a $25 donation, our fiscal sponsor take $2.17 from a $25 donation.)
Your support helps us: - Pay 300+ contributors a standard flat rate
- Prioritize new voices, risk-takers, and historically underrepresented writers and artists
- Have open, no-fee reading periods in each genre 1-3 times a year
- Read and respond to thousands of submissions every year (over 90% of the work we publish comes from open reading periods)
- Offer editorial recommendations and promote writing by and for humans, because algorithms can limit our sense of true discovery, wonder, and connection
- Pay our bills! Web hosting, subscription services, maintenance, etc. all cost money.
If you show up for us, we'll continue to show up for writers, readers, and the literary community. We'll continue to show up for one another.
With appreciation, Alyson Sinclair
Publisher, The Rumpus
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| Thank you to the Rumpus supporters who helped us reach 62% of our goal: |
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| A Kaiser Abeer Hoque Adrienne Kitaeff Alexandra Silvas Alexandra Watson Alice Kaltman Alyssa Burgart Andrea Greer Andrew Poster Anna Carey Annelies Zijderveld Annie Bartos Annie Penfield Appadurai Muttulingam Ashley Rubell Aubrey Stanton Barbara Huntington Bookshop Dot Org Brett F Lauer Bunkong Tuon Caity Smith Camille Griep Candace Walsh Catherine Svehla Cathy Mellett Celia Knapp Charles Stinner Chris Schmidt Christina Boertje Christina Rivera Cindy Fazzi Colleen Rodgers Cynthia Weiner Deborah Filanowski Dede Cummings Derrick Jefferson Diana Arterian Elizabeth Reed Elmaz Abinader Eric Stinton Erin Bank Eve Ettinger Fiona Hankenson Frances Roth Frederica Morgan Davis Gabrielle Civil Gail Kubrin George Warco Grace Prasad Holly M Wendt Janet Bowdan Janis Haag Jason Malamud Jennifer Waters Jill Bronfman
Josh McCall Katharine Broad |
| Kathleen Schmidt Kathleen Seltzer Kelly McMasters Kirsten Sundberg Lunstrum Kristen Millares Young Laura Green Lauren Oertel Laurie Siegel Lena Valencia Linda Button Lisa Kammerud Lisa Mecham Lisa Taggart Liz Borkowski Lori Wald Lou Dunham Lyra Halprin Maggie Hill Margaret Carter Marissa Korbel Mary Jo Bang Maureen Simons Melissa deSa Melissa Elliotte Melissa Hoagland Meri Johnston Michaela Chan Michelle Campagna Nicole Schiro Magee Nina Schuyler Norma Cole Peter Roth Rabihah Mateen Rachel Mans McKenny Rani Monson Rhonda Britten Roanna Flowers Samuel Ashworth Sandy Miloy Sarah Baldwin Sharon Selberg Sofie Harsha Stacey Lewis Stevie Trujillo Susan Ito Susan Lewis Susan Mason Scott Suzanne Watt Teresa Burns Gunther Terese Svoboda Terrie Wurzbacher Vahni Kurra Vanessa Hua Veronica Abreu
*and 62 donors who gave privately |
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New Essays & Columns
Rumpus Original Poetry: Three Poems by Hayun Cho
“At the flowering heart of empire, as I clean my / bathroom and open the window to summer wind, / fold my laundry, stop my ears / at any indication of death, / I fantasize about ways to make all this more delicious.”
Rumpus Original Column Close Reads: "Sugar Factory" by Joelle Kidd
“The sound was energetic and synthy, without the impenetrableness of techno. The lyrics were perfect for a malcontent on the cusp of teenagerhood.”
Rumpus Original Column Voices on Addiction: "Harm Reduction" by Kathryn McLaughlin
“...now the pill bottles have my name on them. I let them roll around in my passenger seat and don’t worry about getting pulled over. Suboxone. Valium. Adderall. I feel so adult. Like a housewife in the fifties." |
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Letters to Adoption:
our 2nd annual series giving space to adoptee voices during National Adoption Month
Rumpus Original Essay: "To My First Mother" by Ryanne Kap
“Maybe you wanted me to be pure. If you’re alive, I don’t know how you don’t miss me enough to find me.”
Rumpus Original Essay: "Letter to My Dad" by Amanda Blair
“Where your frame was stout and athletic, my body was lanky and angular, with arms too long and thighs thick with disproportion.” |
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Interviews & Reviews
Gabrielle Grace Hogan interviews Ruben Quesada about Brutal Companion
“This idea of putting my mother in this situation, an impending death, in the book, in many ways is self-projection. I’m imagining my own mortality.”
Jamie Lulamae Moore reviews Yaccaira Salvatierra’s Sons of Salt
“I found myself deeply moved by these poems and connected to them as a daughter-who-mothers, as someone who also knows the sensation of sinking.”
Barrett Bowlin interviews Cal Louise Phoenix about Studies in Lechery
“...it was important for the reader to feel that kind of anxiety and that kind of tension, the same anxiety and tension I felt when I was writing those entries.”
Erin Vachon reviews Poupeh Missaghi’s Sound Museum
“Who celebrates the silence of the dead, and who celebrates the sound of a people and their laughing children, even in the face of unspeakable devastation?”
The First Book: Del Sandeen on publishing This Cursed House
“I’ve been fortunate to meet some incredible writers.... They gave me the support and encouragement I needed to not only write a good story but also believe in that story.”
Sketch Book Reviews: Kateri Kramer reviews Jennifer Ackerman's What An Owl Knows
“When things in the world feel particularly scary or hopeless, I find it very difficult to read books about humans.” |
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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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| 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, if you'd like to pre-order at a 20% discount. |
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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 1: Christy Tending (she/they) the author of High Priestess of the Apocalypse (ELJ Editions) and Sobriety Through the Major Arcana (kith books). Their work has been published in Longreads, The Rumpus, and Electric Literature, and received a notable mention in Best American Science and Nature Writing 2023. They live in Oakland, California with their family. You can learn more about their work at www.christytending.com or follow Christy on Twitter @christytending. Subscribe by November 30! |
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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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