Elizabeth McCracken
@elizmccrack.bsky.social
Complete fiction
As a teacher of undergraduate writing--writing workshops also teach young people how to respectfully give and gracefully receive criticism on work that means something to them, an invaluable skill in any line of work.
This is actually a good example of why the customer model is wrong.
I wouldn't have chosen poetry writing, but UNC made me take a class. And it absolutely made me become a much better writer, with an eye to concision and an ear now trained to the rhythm of words. I'm a better historian as a result.
I wouldn't have chosen poetry writing, but UNC made me take a class. And it absolutely made me become a much better writer, with an eye to concision and an ear now trained to the rhythm of words. I'm a better historian as a result.
If you are providing me with an education that is low utility in the world then it’s a disservice. My composition class spent four weeks on poetry. I’m sorry, but that only would’ve been useful if I wanted to be a poet. I don’t need to know iambic pentameter in order to be a victim advocate.
December 9, 2025 at 9:07 PM
As a teacher of undergraduate writing--writing workshops also teach young people how to respectfully give and gracefully receive criticism on work that means something to them, an invaluable skill in any line of work.
I am in England with my family and we are watching The Old Dark House.
December 7, 2025 at 9:29 PM
I am in England with my family and we are watching The Old Dark House.
Reposted by Elizabeth McCracken
If you see this please share (i.e. repost, not just like)! The Barbellion Prize is a unique award for writers with disabilities. We need to raise £20k to secure its future, so please make a donation, no matter how large, no matter how small, here: barbellionprize.org/donate/ Thank you!
donate | The Barbellion Prize
barbellionprize.org
December 6, 2025 at 2:38 PM
If you see this please share (i.e. repost, not just like)! The Barbellion Prize is a unique award for writers with disabilities. We need to raise £20k to secure its future, so please make a donation, no matter how large, no matter how small, here: barbellionprize.org/donate/ Thank you!
Reposted by Elizabeth McCracken
The 22 new books out today include titles by Elizabeth McCracken, Olga Tokarczuk, Olivia Nuzzi, and more!
Elizabeth McCracken, Olga Tokarczuk, Olivia Nuzzi, and more: 22 new books out today!
December marks the winding down of the year’s releases, but there’s still a lot to be excited by. Elizabeth McCracken has released a craft memoir, a gift to anyone who isn’t lucky enoug…
buff.ly
December 2, 2025 at 6:30 PM
The 22 new books out today include titles by Elizabeth McCracken, Olga Tokarczuk, Olivia Nuzzi, and more!
Also: I am appearing tonight with my dearest dearest Paul Lisicky & Yiyun Li at the 92nd Street Y.
www.92ny.org/event/elizab...
www.92ny.org/event/elizab...
December 2, 2025 at 1:36 PM
Also: I am appearing tonight with my dearest dearest Paul Lisicky & Yiyun Li at the 92nd Street Y.
www.92ny.org/event/elizab...
www.92ny.org/event/elizab...
Hello! Today is the publication day of my new book, A Long Game: Notes on Writing Fiction.
To celebrate, I have already received an email from a fake book club, offering to feature it in their Saturday Showcase.
(You can order it here: bookshop.org/p/books/a-lo...)
To celebrate, I have already received an email from a fake book club, offering to feature it in their Saturday Showcase.
(You can order it here: bookshop.org/p/books/a-lo...)
A Long Game: Notes on Writing Fiction
Notes on Writing Fiction
bookshop.org
December 2, 2025 at 12:46 PM
Hello! Today is the publication day of my new book, A Long Game: Notes on Writing Fiction.
To celebrate, I have already received an email from a fake book club, offering to feature it in their Saturday Showcase.
(You can order it here: bookshop.org/p/books/a-lo...)
To celebrate, I have already received an email from a fake book club, offering to feature it in their Saturday Showcase.
(You can order it here: bookshop.org/p/books/a-lo...)
It was complete joy to talk to my dear pal, the brilliant Benjamin Dreyer, to whom I am ever grateful.
At long last, here's my conversation with wonderful @elizmccrack.bsky.social, whose wonderful new A Long Game goes on sale (at least in the US) next week!
A Long Game
[my conversation with Elizabeth McCracken]
open.substack.com
November 28, 2025 at 10:21 PM
It was complete joy to talk to my dear pal, the brilliant Benjamin Dreyer, to whom I am ever grateful.
I have just learned of the word impassible. It is very beautiful, I think.
November 28, 2025 at 11:13 AM
I have just learned of the word impassible. It is very beautiful, I think.
Delta Airlines has thanked me for my understanding & told me they value my trust at a time when I do not understand, and do not trust them.
November 26, 2025 at 6:54 PM
Delta Airlines has thanked me for my understanding & told me they value my trust at a time when I do not understand, and do not trust them.
Looking for a gift? Edward Carey (my ball-&-chain) is selling original drawings of birds (grackle, barn, owl, even curlews) here:
edwardcarey.bigcartel.com?utm_source=i...
edwardcarey.bigcartel.com?utm_source=i...
EdwardCarey
Original art by Edward Carey, author of Little, The Swallowed Man, Iremonger Trilogy, Edith Holler and B: A Year in Plagues and Pencils.
edwardcarey.bigcartel.com
November 26, 2025 at 2:34 PM
Looking for a gift? Edward Carey (my ball-&-chain) is selling original drawings of birds (grackle, barn, owl, even curlews) here:
edwardcarey.bigcartel.com?utm_source=i...
edwardcarey.bigcartel.com?utm_source=i...
Verdict: silly & entertaining. Peter Lorre at his most adorable, Fritz Feld, & a very young & magnetic John Carradine.
The Peter Lorre movie in which he lusts after Lobster Thermidor has been identified as I'll Give A Million by the estimable @johnmoe.bsky.social & @dahosek.bsky.social
November 25, 2025 at 10:39 PM
Verdict: silly & entertaining. Peter Lorre at his most adorable, Fritz Feld, & a very young & magnetic John Carradine.
The Peter Lorre movie in which he lusts after Lobster Thermidor has been identified as I'll Give A Million by the estimable @johnmoe.bsky.social & @dahosek.bsky.social
November 25, 2025 at 7:56 PM
The Peter Lorre movie in which he lusts after Lobster Thermidor has been identified as I'll Give A Million by the estimable @johnmoe.bsky.social & @dahosek.bsky.social
ME: Don't blame me, I'm just trying to be hip.
NEWLY 17-YEAR-OLD KID: You can't be hip if you're in danger of breaking one.
NEWLY 17-YEAR-OLD KID: You can't be hip if you're in danger of breaking one.
November 24, 2025 at 6:48 PM
ME: Don't blame me, I'm just trying to be hip.
NEWLY 17-YEAR-OLD KID: You can't be hip if you're in danger of breaking one.
NEWLY 17-YEAR-OLD KID: You can't be hip if you're in danger of breaking one.
Reposted by Elizabeth McCracken
Help us keep a Dorset painting in Dorset!
A rare 15th-century painting has been discovered in Dorset. Can you help @dorsetmuseum.bsky.social buy it so it will be on show to everyone? All donations small and large very welcome!
www.crowdfunder.co.uk/p/qr/VlDoEVE...
A rare 15th-century painting has been discovered in Dorset. Can you help @dorsetmuseum.bsky.social buy it so it will be on show to everyone? All donations small and large very welcome!
www.crowdfunder.co.uk/p/qr/VlDoEVE...
Fund to purchase Sherborne Almshouse Triptych
Help us secure the rare 15th-century Triptych and keep this extraordinary artwork accessible to all.
www.crowdfunder.co.uk
November 24, 2025 at 10:54 AM
Help us keep a Dorset painting in Dorset!
A rare 15th-century painting has been discovered in Dorset. Can you help @dorsetmuseum.bsky.social buy it so it will be on show to everyone? All donations small and large very welcome!
www.crowdfunder.co.uk/p/qr/VlDoEVE...
A rare 15th-century painting has been discovered in Dorset. Can you help @dorsetmuseum.bsky.social buy it so it will be on show to everyone? All donations small and large very welcome!
www.crowdfunder.co.uk/p/qr/VlDoEVE...
One thing I realized during an early morning hotel fire alarm: my clothing looks like pajamas but my pajamas do not look like clothing.
November 24, 2025 at 11:12 AM
One thing I realized during an early morning hotel fire alarm: my clothing looks like pajamas but my pajamas do not look like clothing.
I brought Lipton's Onion Soup Mix to England to make my grandmother's Coca-Cola brisket for my kid's birthday, but alas Delta has misplaced my bags.
November 24, 2025 at 9:21 AM
I brought Lipton's Onion Soup Mix to England to make my grandmother's Coca-Cola brisket for my kid's birthday, but alas Delta has misplaced my bags.
Reposted by Elizabeth McCracken
More on this—quite a lot more on this—soon, but in the meantime:
If you're a writer of fiction (and/or maybe simply a writer or a person), you really need to preorder @elizmccrack.bsky.social's A Long Game, which is both enthralling and inspiring. (And sharp as a stiletto.)
If you're a writer of fiction (and/or maybe simply a writer or a person), you really need to preorder @elizmccrack.bsky.social's A Long Game, which is both enthralling and inspiring. (And sharp as a stiletto.)
A Long Game
From bestselling and award-winning author and professor Elizabeth McCracken comes an irresistible look at the art of writing.
Writing can feel like an endle...
www.harpercollins.com
November 8, 2025 at 11:15 PM
More on this—quite a lot more on this—soon, but in the meantime:
If you're a writer of fiction (and/or maybe simply a writer or a person), you really need to preorder @elizmccrack.bsky.social's A Long Game, which is both enthralling and inspiring. (And sharp as a stiletto.)
If you're a writer of fiction (and/or maybe simply a writer or a person), you really need to preorder @elizmccrack.bsky.social's A Long Game, which is both enthralling and inspiring. (And sharp as a stiletto.)
Reposted by Elizabeth McCracken
I just think it’s cool when someone who isn’t an elderly racist wins
November 5, 2025 at 4:25 AM
I just think it’s cool when someone who isn’t an elderly racist wins
The matchup we've been waiting for.
October 27, 2025 at 12:03 AM
The matchup we've been waiting for.
Reposted by Elizabeth McCracken
Two local stories, four days apart: Greg Abbott sends his goons out to "clean" homeless encampments in Austin; homeless people get pushed into creeks, creeks flood, homeless people drown. The governor of Texas literally is literally, intentionally, flushing the unhoused down the sewers.
October 26, 2025 at 3:00 PM
Two local stories, four days apart: Greg Abbott sends his goons out to "clean" homeless encampments in Austin; homeless people get pushed into creeks, creeks flood, homeless people drown. The governor of Texas literally is literally, intentionally, flushing the unhoused down the sewers.
I am chuffed to the point of unpleasantness to have a story in this year's Best American Short Stories, chosen by the wonderful @pronounced-ing.bsky.social!
October 21, 2025 at 10:06 PM
I am chuffed to the point of unpleasantness to have a story in this year's Best American Short Stories, chosen by the wonderful @pronounced-ing.bsky.social!
This morning the American Express representative thanked me for several decades of membership, & my "love and trust."
You misunderstand our relationship, thought I.
You misunderstand our relationship, thought I.
October 17, 2025 at 2:01 PM
This morning the American Express representative thanked me for several decades of membership, & my "love and trust."
You misunderstand our relationship, thought I.
You misunderstand our relationship, thought I.