B. Pladek
@bpladek.bsky.social
Ben. Literature scholar & writer; Ass. Prof. of English at Marquette University. He/him. Debut DRY LAND out now from UWP: https://uwpress.wisc.edu/Books/D/Dry-Land
website: bpladek.net
website: bpladek.net
Pinned
B. Pladek
@bpladek.bsky.social
· Jan 9
Tell Them a Story to Teach Them Kindness - Lightspeed Magazine
USER: this is a message for Milwaukee Elementary’s curator Jude Towers, I hope this is the right address. anyway thanks for the story you had RIGHTR generate for my 10th graders’ Empathy Week. it was ...
www.lightspeedmagazine.com
New story from me @lightspeedmagazine.com, maybe the bleakest I've ever written. It's about:
-AI’s effect on teaching literature
-what literature can (& can't) actually teach us
-trans fatherhood
-the road to hell being paved with white saviorism
www.lightspeedmagazine.com/fiction/tell...
-AI’s effect on teaching literature
-what literature can (& can't) actually teach us
-trans fatherhood
-the road to hell being paved with white saviorism
www.lightspeedmagazine.com/fiction/tell...
Frighteningly similar to what's been happening at Marquette, albeit (so far) on a smaller scale.
utotherescue.blogspot.com/2025/11/anat...
utotherescue.blogspot.com/2025/11/anat...
Anatomy of a Fall: The Case of Indiana University (Guest Post)
Indiana University on November 3, 2025 by Johannes Türk Chair of Germanic Studies, Indiana University, Bloomington Indiana Universit...
utotherescue.blogspot.com
November 24, 2025 at 3:56 PM
Frighteningly similar to what's been happening at Marquette, albeit (so far) on a smaller scale.
utotherescue.blogspot.com/2025/11/anat...
utotherescue.blogspot.com/2025/11/anat...
Reposted by B. Pladek
Midwest queer scholars: if you’re at this year’s MMLA at Marquette, I’m giving a paper on my mild obsession Bryher, the 20thc transmasc bajillionaire semi-known for being H.D.’s wife-guy, funding every Modernist ever, & saving people from nazis… www.midwest-mla.org/digital-prog...
November 9, 2025 at 10:55 PM
Midwest queer scholars: if you’re at this year’s MMLA at Marquette, I’m giving a paper on my mild obsession Bryher, the 20thc transmasc bajillionaire semi-known for being H.D.’s wife-guy, funding every Modernist ever, & saving people from nazis… www.midwest-mla.org/digital-prog...
my beloved "sad man tries to crack dream-Mary Renault's egg and she says no" story from 2024's @strangehorizons.bsky.social just got a lovely podcast treatment, produced by the excellent @darthj.uno and read absolutely beautifully by @ardenfitzroy.bsky.social!
strangehorizons.com/wordpress/po...
strangehorizons.com/wordpress/po...
November 11, 2025 at 5:43 PM
my beloved "sad man tries to crack dream-Mary Renault's egg and she says no" story from 2024's @strangehorizons.bsky.social just got a lovely podcast treatment, produced by the excellent @darthj.uno and read absolutely beautifully by @ardenfitzroy.bsky.social!
strangehorizons.com/wordpress/po...
strangehorizons.com/wordpress/po...
Midwest queer scholars: if you’re at this year’s MMLA at Marquette, I’m giving a paper on my mild obsession Bryher, the 20thc transmasc bajillionaire semi-known for being H.D.’s wife-guy, funding every Modernist ever, & saving people from nazis… www.midwest-mla.org/digital-prog...
November 9, 2025 at 10:55 PM
Midwest queer scholars: if you’re at this year’s MMLA at Marquette, I’m giving a paper on my mild obsession Bryher, the 20thc transmasc bajillionaire semi-known for being H.D.’s wife-guy, funding every Modernist ever, & saving people from nazis… www.midwest-mla.org/digital-prog...
Tonight!!
WI/Madison folks: come out to @roomofonesownbooks.bsky.social next Wed, Nov 5 at 6 pm to celebrate the magnificent new short story collection from @syr.bsky.social, WHAT A FISH LOOKS LIKE, out now with @stelliform.press!
It includes an OPEN MIC, so come read! <3
roomofonesown.com/event/2025-1...
It includes an OPEN MIC, so come read! <3
roomofonesown.com/event/2025-1...
November 5, 2025 at 4:33 PM
Tonight!!
Reposted by B. Pladek
WI/Madison folks: come out to @roomofonesownbooks.bsky.social next Wed, Nov 5 at 6 pm to celebrate the magnificent new short story collection from @syr.bsky.social, WHAT A FISH LOOKS LIKE, out now with @stelliform.press!
It includes an OPEN MIC, so come read! <3
roomofonesown.com/event/2025-1...
It includes an OPEN MIC, so come read! <3
roomofonesown.com/event/2025-1...
October 27, 2025 at 12:04 AM
WI/Madison folks: come out to @roomofonesownbooks.bsky.social next Wed, Nov 5 at 6 pm to celebrate the magnificent new short story collection from @syr.bsky.social, WHAT A FISH LOOKS LIKE, out now with @stelliform.press!
It includes an OPEN MIC, so come read! <3
roomofonesown.com/event/2025-1...
It includes an OPEN MIC, so come read! <3
roomofonesown.com/event/2025-1...
WI/Madison folks: come out to @roomofonesownbooks.bsky.social next Wed, Nov 5 at 6 pm to celebrate the magnificent new short story collection from @syr.bsky.social, WHAT A FISH LOOKS LIKE, out now with @stelliform.press!
It includes an OPEN MIC, so come read! <3
roomofonesown.com/event/2025-1...
It includes an OPEN MIC, so come read! <3
roomofonesown.com/event/2025-1...
October 27, 2025 at 12:04 AM
WI/Madison folks: come out to @roomofonesownbooks.bsky.social next Wed, Nov 5 at 6 pm to celebrate the magnificent new short story collection from @syr.bsky.social, WHAT A FISH LOOKS LIKE, out now with @stelliform.press!
It includes an OPEN MIC, so come read! <3
roomofonesown.com/event/2025-1...
It includes an OPEN MIC, so come read! <3
roomofonesown.com/event/2025-1...
UKL award shortlist was absurdly good this year, and @vajra.me’s RAKESFALL is a masterpiece that richly deserves this honor. Please go read it if you haven’t yet! also the rest of that shortlist!
Congratulations to Vajra Chandrasekera (@vajra.me), recipient of the 2025 Ursula K. Le Guin Prize for Fiction for Rakesfall!
Chandrasekera's book was chosen by authors Matt Bell, Indra Das, Kelly Link, Sequoia Nagamatsu, and Rebecca Roanhorse.
Chandrasekera's book was chosen by authors Matt Bell, Indra Das, Kelly Link, Sequoia Nagamatsu, and Rebecca Roanhorse.
October 21, 2025 at 4:28 PM
UKL award shortlist was absurdly good this year, and @vajra.me’s RAKESFALL is a masterpiece that richly deserves this honor. Please go read it if you haven’t yet! also the rest of that shortlist!
MKE, if you're seeing the Marcus Center's Les Misérables this fall, I'm doing a Q&A on the novel before the Tues, Oct 28 show.
Come on out to learn about Hugo's 1300-page treatise on prison abolition, police brutality, & the necessity of perpetual revolution!
www.marcuscenter.org/event/les-mi...
Come on out to learn about Hugo's 1300-page treatise on prison abolition, police brutality, & the necessity of perpetual revolution!
www.marcuscenter.org/event/les-mi...
Les Misérables
Set against the backdrop of 19th century France, Les Misérables tells an enthralling story of broken dreams and unrequited love, passion, sacrifice and redemption – a timeless testament to the surviva...
www.marcuscenter.org
October 15, 2025 at 2:29 PM
MKE, if you're seeing the Marcus Center's Les Misérables this fall, I'm doing a Q&A on the novel before the Tues, Oct 28 show.
Come on out to learn about Hugo's 1300-page treatise on prison abolition, police brutality, & the necessity of perpetual revolution!
www.marcuscenter.org/event/les-mi...
Come on out to learn about Hugo's 1300-page treatise on prison abolition, police brutality, & the necessity of perpetual revolution!
www.marcuscenter.org/event/les-mi...
surprised to discover that Le Guin's Orsinian Tales are some of her best work, a melancholy exploration of what the 20th century, esp the Cold War, meant to central Europe. Its closest peer is Jan Morris's masterpiece Hav (you know something's good if I compare it to Hav, which has no real rivals)
September 1, 2025 at 12:10 AM
surprised to discover that Le Guin's Orsinian Tales are some of her best work, a melancholy exploration of what the 20th century, esp the Cold War, meant to central Europe. Its closest peer is Jan Morris's masterpiece Hav (you know something's good if I compare it to Hav, which has no real rivals)
such a clear statement of intent that the US is only invested in Palestinian death, nothing else, not even death as cover for a land-grab, just death
⚠️ US suspends visas for ALL Palestinian passport holders
“The new measures affect visas for medical treatment, university studies, visits to friends or relatives and business travel, at least temporarily.”
www.nytimes.com/2025/08/31/w...
“The new measures affect visas for medical treatment, university studies, visits to friends or relatives and business travel, at least temporarily.”
www.nytimes.com/2025/08/31/w...
U.S. Suspends Visas for Palestinian Passport Holders, Officials Say
www.nytimes.com
August 31, 2025 at 10:29 PM
such a clear statement of intent that the US is only invested in Palestinian death, nothing else, not even death as cover for a land-grab, just death
Now available everywhere!! this is my favorite of @isabelcanas.bsky.social's marvelous novels yet (!!! it's a crowded list!!!), and it has my absolute favorite villain she's written so far! GO BUY IT SO YOU CAN MEET HIM 🖤 💀
August 20, 2025 at 6:11 PM
Now available everywhere!! this is my favorite of @isabelcanas.bsky.social's marvelous novels yet (!!! it's a crowded list!!!), and it has my absolute favorite villain she's written so far! GO BUY IT SO YOU CAN MEET HIM 🖤 💀
Reposted by B. Pladek
this week's (free) post is about the adage "deescalate all conflict that isn't with the enemy" and what it means to be an enemy, and don't worry I manage to reference both Sun Tzu and Tolkien so I've still got it
margaretkilljoy.substack.com/p/we-know-wh...
margaretkilljoy.substack.com/p/we-know-wh...
August 20, 2025 at 2:18 PM
this week's (free) post is about the adage "deescalate all conflict that isn't with the enemy" and what it means to be an enemy, and don't worry I manage to reference both Sun Tzu and Tolkien so I've still got it
margaretkilljoy.substack.com/p/we-know-wh...
margaretkilljoy.substack.com/p/we-know-wh...
nearly all of the best new books I've read so far this year have been by trans writers, please keep making them
I don't believe in the "oppression creates art via pressure like a diamond" myth: you all are just that brilliant regardless of the fascism. keep it up
I don't believe in the "oppression creates art via pressure like a diamond" myth: you all are just that brilliant regardless of the fascism. keep it up
It is easy to feel this way but I truly think, for trans writers at least, writing books now is urgent. Write good books about your friends, get them printed, get them widely distributed, get them in the world. There has never before been an opportunity like the one we currently possess to do this.
is there anything more pointless right now that writing a book? feels that way to me
August 14, 2025 at 1:22 AM
nearly all of the best new books I've read so far this year have been by trans writers, please keep making them
I don't believe in the "oppression creates art via pressure like a diamond" myth: you all are just that brilliant regardless of the fascism. keep it up
I don't believe in the "oppression creates art via pressure like a diamond" myth: you all are just that brilliant regardless of the fascism. keep it up
Reposted by B. Pladek
It’s my birthday and I shamelessly would love you to buy my novel bookshop.org/p/books/okps...
Okpsyche
Check out Okpsyche - <p><b>★ "DeNiro's novel is a lyrical, emotionally powerful story . . . of queer parenthood, of the reality of the sharp fear of trans lives, and of complicated self-discover...
bookshop.org
August 6, 2025 at 2:50 PM
It’s my birthday and I shamelessly would love you to buy my novel bookshop.org/p/books/okps...
Reposted by B. Pladek
"Every Ghost Story" is out in @reactorsff.bsky.social today! Edited by @jonathanstrahan.bsky.social, with art by @babswebbart.bsky.social.
Incredibly excited to share this one (what do you mean I may be slightly obsessed with ghosts?)
reactormag.com/every-ghost-...
Incredibly excited to share this one (what do you mean I may be slightly obsessed with ghosts?)
reactormag.com/every-ghost-...
Every Ghost Story - Reactor
Following a mysterious world-wide event that makes ghosts visible, a young woman is invited to attend Ghost Camp.
reactormag.com
August 6, 2025 at 3:17 PM
"Every Ghost Story" is out in @reactorsff.bsky.social today! Edited by @jonathanstrahan.bsky.social, with art by @babswebbart.bsky.social.
Incredibly excited to share this one (what do you mean I may be slightly obsessed with ghosts?)
reactormag.com/every-ghost-...
Incredibly excited to share this one (what do you mean I may be slightly obsessed with ghosts?)
reactormag.com/every-ghost-...
Reposted by B. Pladek
Last check no support in a DAY for 6 families to eat...(The support today came from bold folks who clicked "weekly" or "monthly," which is often the only support we get.)
We keep trying. We keep going. They're counting on us to eat & stay sheltered. 2205/2500 by Friday. chuffed.org/project/hope...
We keep trying. We keep going. They're counting on us to eat & stay sheltered. 2205/2500 by Friday. chuffed.org/project/hope...
Keep Hope Alive: a Gaza Giving Circle
We are a team of volunteers in the US and UK, led by two sisters passionate about helping our friends on the ground keep their families and neighbors alive with food, water, & shelter. We saw that…
chuffed.org
July 23, 2025 at 7:00 PM
Last check no support in a DAY for 6 families to eat...(The support today came from bold folks who clicked "weekly" or "monthly," which is often the only support we get.)
We keep trying. We keep going. They're counting on us to eat & stay sheltered. 2205/2500 by Friday. chuffed.org/project/hope...
We keep trying. We keep going. They're counting on us to eat & stay sheltered. 2205/2500 by Friday. chuffed.org/project/hope...
it would be very nice to be less exhausted all the time
July 10, 2025 at 2:22 PM
it would be very nice to be less exhausted all the time
Reposted by B. Pladek
The V*mpire was shortlisted for the World Fantasy Award:
locusmag.com/2025/07/2025...
Congratulations to all the other finalists!
locusmag.com/2025/07/2025...
Congratulations to all the other finalists!
2025 World Fantasy Awards Finalists
The World Fantasy Awards ballot for works published in 2024 has been announced. The awards will be presented during the 2025 World Fantasy Convention, scheduled for October 30 – November 2, 2…
locusmag.com
July 7, 2025 at 7:11 PM
The V*mpire was shortlisted for the World Fantasy Award:
locusmag.com/2025/07/2025...
Congratulations to all the other finalists!
locusmag.com/2025/07/2025...
Congratulations to all the other finalists!
Props to my local paper for covering the threats to trans youth care well. www.jsonline.com/story/news/h...
Wisconsin does not ban trans youth care. U.S. Supreme Court ruling opens door.
Advocates are nervous, because Wisconsin's status as a purple state means it could swing one way or the other after any major election.
www.jsonline.com
July 1, 2025 at 3:18 PM
Props to my local paper for covering the threats to trans youth care well. www.jsonline.com/story/news/h...
I hadn't come across the term "economy of genocide" before; it's such a concise way of capturing the global financial infrastructure supporting this evil. www.ohchr.org/en/documents...
A/HRC/59/23: From economy of occupation to economy of genocide - Report of the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian territories occupied since 1967 (Advance edited ve...
This report investigates the corporate machinery sustaining Israel’s settler-colonial project of displacement and replacement of the Palestinians in the occupied territory. While political leaders and...
www.ohchr.org
July 1, 2025 at 11:52 AM
I hadn't come across the term "economy of genocide" before; it's such a concise way of capturing the global financial infrastructure supporting this evil. www.ohchr.org/en/documents...
Deeply honored that my @strangehorizons.bsky.social story-of-my-heart "The Spindle of Necessity" is here! Thank you so much, @cypayseur.bsky.social and @rykaaoki.bsky.social <3
Adore this TOC--amazing list w some of my fav working writers--& the stunning cover art by @mspencerdraws.bsky.social!
Adore this TOC--amazing list w some of my fav working writers--& the stunning cover art by @mspencerdraws.bsky.social!
We're delighted to share the cover (by @mspencerdraws.bsky.social) and announce the table of contents for WE'RE HERE: THE BEST QUEER SPECULATIVE FICTION 2024, selected by editor @rykaaoki.bsky.social and working with series editor @cypayseur.bsky.social!
www.neonhemlock.com/news/were-he...
www.neonhemlock.com/news/were-he...
June 29, 2025 at 9:29 PM
Deeply honored that my @strangehorizons.bsky.social story-of-my-heart "The Spindle of Necessity" is here! Thank you so much, @cypayseur.bsky.social and @rykaaoki.bsky.social <3
Adore this TOC--amazing list w some of my fav working writers--& the stunning cover art by @mspencerdraws.bsky.social!
Adore this TOC--amazing list w some of my fav working writers--& the stunning cover art by @mspencerdraws.bsky.social!
speaking of buying trans fiction: go read this brilliant interview with @nassos.bsky.social about his new novel Sour Cherry & then buy the book, which is equally brilliant! electricliterature.com/sour-cherry-...
"Sour Cherry" Reinvents a Classic Tale to Interrogate Cycles of Abuse - Electric Literature
Natalia Theodoridou discusses systemic violence, agency, and "the mercy of the fairytale"
electricliterature.com
June 27, 2025 at 10:40 PM
speaking of buying trans fiction: go read this brilliant interview with @nassos.bsky.social about his new novel Sour Cherry & then buy the book, which is equally brilliant! electricliterature.com/sour-cherry-...
A/S/L is the best new book I've read this year, a formal tour-de-force with masterful character work. I hope it gets the plaudits it deserves (close runner-up/tie is Isaac Fellman's Notes from a Regicide, tho comparing them is apples & oranges).
tl;dr spite SCOTUS, buy trans fiction
tl;dr spite SCOTUS, buy trans fiction
You should always be reading trans fiction, but now feels like an even more important time to be reading our stories and supporting our art. Good thing 2025 has already served up some absolutely incredible novels by trans authors!
7 New Trans Novels To Read This Summer
2025 has already amassed an absolutely stellar line-up of trans novels.
www.autostraddle.com
June 27, 2025 at 10:26 PM
A/S/L is the best new book I've read this year, a formal tour-de-force with masterful character work. I hope it gets the plaudits it deserves (close runner-up/tie is Isaac Fellman's Notes from a Regicide, tho comparing them is apples & oranges).
tl;dr spite SCOTUS, buy trans fiction
tl;dr spite SCOTUS, buy trans fiction