Matt Bell
@mdbell79.bsky.social
Writer, teacher. Out now: APPLESEED, a novel (2021, @marinerbooks). REFUSE TO BE DONE, a guide to novel revision (2022, @soho_press). He/him.
Pinned
Matt Bell
@mdbell79.bsky.social
· Sep 8
I just found out that REFUSE TO BE DONE is going into its 8th printing! I've heard so many stories from writers whose projects have been helped along by this little yellow book over the past three years. Nothing makes me happier!
Reposted by Matt Bell
I had to wait to read @mdbell79.bsky.social's excellent review of Jonathan Miles's latest novel, ERADICATION: A Fable until I filed mine. Now that I have, I'm happy to see we agree in our assessment. Look for my review for @bookreporter.bsky.social here later this week.
My review of Jonathan Miles's excellent new novel ERADICATION is live at the @nytimes.com! I loved reading and thinking about this book, and I think it's a strong addition to the climate fiction genre. Give it a look!
Thanks to Dave Kim for his wise edits and advice on this one!
Thanks to Dave Kim for his wise edits and advice on this one!
5 Weeks Alone on an Island, With a Rifle and a License to Kill
www.nytimes.com
February 10, 2026 at 2:27 PM
I had to wait to read @mdbell79.bsky.social's excellent review of Jonathan Miles's latest novel, ERADICATION: A Fable until I filed mine. Now that I have, I'm happy to see we agree in our assessment. Look for my review for @bookreporter.bsky.social here later this week.
Reposted by Matt Bell
Im teaching Clarion West this summer. Not too late to join us!
If you're still thinking about applying for the 2026 Six-Week Workshop, applications close on Friday, February 13 at 12:00 PM PT (Noon!).
The 2026 workshop is virtual with instructors @taracampbell.bsky.social, @indrapramitdas.bsky.social, David Thomas Moore, and @rebeccaroanhorse.bsky.social!
The 2026 workshop is virtual with instructors @taracampbell.bsky.social, @indrapramitdas.bsky.social, David Thomas Moore, and @rebeccaroanhorse.bsky.social!
February 10, 2026 at 2:31 AM
Im teaching Clarion West this summer. Not too late to join us!
Today was "switch the manuscript into Times New Roman" day for the new novel, which means things are getting serious around here...
February 9, 2026 at 7:09 PM
Today was "switch the manuscript into Times New Roman" day for the new novel, which means things are getting serious around here...
My review of Jonathan Miles's excellent new novel ERADICATION is live at the @nytimes.com! I loved reading and thinking about this book, and I think it's a strong addition to the climate fiction genre. Give it a look!
Thanks to Dave Kim for his wise edits and advice on this one!
Thanks to Dave Kim for his wise edits and advice on this one!
5 Weeks Alone on an Island, With a Rifle and a License to Kill
www.nytimes.com
February 9, 2026 at 3:13 PM
My review of Jonathan Miles's excellent new novel ERADICATION is live at the @nytimes.com! I loved reading and thinking about this book, and I think it's a strong addition to the climate fiction genre. Give it a look!
Thanks to Dave Kim for his wise edits and advice on this one!
Thanks to Dave Kim for his wise edits and advice on this one!
"I’ve never liked thinking back, going back in time, reviewing the day or the week or the life. To crush and gut. To eviscerate. Power works best when there’s no memory attached. Ramrod straight." —Don DeLillo, Cosmopolis
February 8, 2026 at 4:55 PM
"I’ve never liked thinking back, going back in time, reviewing the day or the week or the life. To crush and gut. To eviscerate. Power works best when there’s no memory attached. Ramrod straight." —Don DeLillo, Cosmopolis
100% this.
What limits AI is the same thing that inspires real artists: failure. Everyone starts off trying to copy the things they love, and their distinctiveness begins where that imitation falls short.
February 8, 2026 at 4:50 PM
100% this.
It was a beautiful dawn in Flagstaff for following a woman, a dog, and a moon across the landscape.
February 7, 2026 at 1:00 AM
It was a beautiful dawn in Flagstaff for following a woman, a dog, and a moon across the landscape.
Reposted by Matt Bell
When you’re writing a novel and have multiple chaos lines going this is called a chaosii
February 7, 2026 at 12:00 AM
When you’re writing a novel and have multiple chaos lines going this is called a chaosii
"All of it a light beyond anybody's ability to manage. The Massachusetts sunlight lies comfortably on the maples. The Pittsburgh lamps inside of him make it look maybe not good enough." —Jack Gilbert, “Carrying Torches at Noon”
February 7, 2026 at 12:50 AM
"All of it a light beyond anybody's ability to manage. The Massachusetts sunlight lies comfortably on the maples. The Pittsburgh lamps inside of him make it look maybe not good enough." —Jack Gilbert, “Carrying Torches at Noon”
Reposted by Matt Bell
According to Greil Marcus: "Thelonious Monk apparently once left the stage in a morose mood. He was very dissatisfied with the music he had just played. On being asked why this was so he replied that he had made all the wrong mistakes."
February 5, 2026 at 6:35 PM
According to Greil Marcus: "Thelonious Monk apparently once left the stage in a morose mood. He was very dissatisfied with the music he had just played. On being asked why this was so he replied that he had made all the wrong mistakes."
"I spend the days deciding on a commemorative poem... A quiet poem to establish the fact of me. As one of the incidental faces in those stone processions. Carefully done. Not claiming that I was at any of the great victories. But that I volunteered." —Jack Gilbert, "Convalescing"
February 5, 2026 at 6:24 PM
"I spend the days deciding on a commemorative poem... A quiet poem to establish the fact of me. As one of the incidental faces in those stone processions. Carefully done. Not claiming that I was at any of the great victories. But that I volunteered." —Jack Gilbert, "Convalescing"
Reposted by Matt Bell
How to Plant a Billion Trees comes out in two weeks. I am so honored that the book is graces with an endorsement from Luis Alberto Urrea: "Nicole Walker’s How to Plant a Billion Trees gives me hope. It has resonance and life, and will always be on my shelf."
February 5, 2026 at 6:11 PM
How to Plant a Billion Trees comes out in two weeks. I am so honored that the book is graces with an endorsement from Luis Alberto Urrea: "Nicole Walker’s How to Plant a Billion Trees gives me hope. It has resonance and life, and will always be on my shelf."
"I think the best parts of books are the stuff I wrote borne out of 'What would be the funniest or most interesting thing to happen here? What would make my friends laugh? What if I included the idea that I at first disregarded as seeming too silly or dumb or nonsensical but that makes me smile?'"
really loved getting to have this chat with @keersteemack.bsky.social for @xraylitmag.bsky.social. and she's incredibly kind in the intro!
"Tacoma has all the hallmarks of a Burch book—nostalgia, magic, fun, optimism, friendship, and more heart than almost any other writer doing it today."
"Tacoma has all the hallmarks of a Burch book—nostalgia, magic, fun, optimism, friendship, and more heart than almost any other writer doing it today."
IT'S KINDA PUNK ROCK TO WRITE ABOUT JOY: AN INTERVIEW WITH AARON BURCH by Kirsti MacKenzie
Part of the fun of being a writer, and learning from other writers, is seeing what others leave of themselves on the page. To follow their work and discover their signature—the intangible that makes s...
xraylitmag.com
February 3, 2026 at 5:36 PM
"I think the best parts of books are the stuff I wrote borne out of 'What would be the funniest or most interesting thing to happen here? What would make my friends laugh? What if I included the idea that I at first disregarded as seeming too silly or dumb or nonsensical but that makes me smile?'"
One advantage to being an overwriter who cuts back is that a huge part of revision is just removing all the bad parts. More than half the time a paragraph is already pretty good, once you clean all the grime and barnacles and rust and shit off it.
February 3, 2026 at 4:30 PM
One advantage to being an overwriter who cuts back is that a huge part of revision is just removing all the bad parts. More than half the time a paragraph is already pretty good, once you clean all the grime and barnacles and rust and shit off it.
Seu Jorge singing his Portuguese versions of the David Bowie songs he sang in The Life Aquatic, done here as a tribute to Bowie ten years after his death. This is the most beautiful thing I've seen in a while.
Seu Jorge - The Life Aquatic ( David Bowie Tribute)
YouTube video by Seu Jorge
youtu.be
February 2, 2026 at 11:39 PM
Seu Jorge singing his Portuguese versions of the David Bowie songs he sang in The Life Aquatic, done here as a tribute to Bowie ten years after his death. This is the most beautiful thing I've seen in a while.
Reposted by Matt Bell
My book, TACOMA, is out next week!
Heard from a few people over the weekend that they got their preorders! I'm excited for people to read it! It was some of the most fun I've ever had writing. I think it is a kinda uniquely fun read. Thanks. 🧨 🎆
autofocusbooks.com
Heard from a few people over the weekend that they got their preorders! I'm excited for people to read it! It was some of the most fun I've ever had writing. I think it is a kinda uniquely fun read. Thanks. 🧨 🎆
autofocusbooks.com
February 2, 2026 at 1:50 PM
My book, TACOMA, is out next week!
Heard from a few people over the weekend that they got their preorders! I'm excited for people to read it! It was some of the most fun I've ever had writing. I think it is a kinda uniquely fun read. Thanks. 🧨 🎆
autofocusbooks.com
Heard from a few people over the weekend that they got their preorders! I'm excited for people to read it! It was some of the most fun I've ever had writing. I think it is a kinda uniquely fun read. Thanks. 🧨 🎆
autofocusbooks.com
Thanks to @neonpajamas.bsky.social for organizing this excellent AWP reading! Really looking forward to being with this great crew.
AWP 💥 BALTIMORE 🚨 Mark your calendars‼️
It’s all happening on March 4. See you there?
It’s all happening on March 4. See you there?
![Neon Night Mic
AWP Offsite Reading
Hosted by [neonpajamas]
Alina Stefanescu
Jose Hernandez Diaz
Michael Martone
Annelyse Gelman
Nicky Beer
Chen Chen
Johannes Goransson
Alina Pleskova
Katie Jean Shinkle
C.T. Salazar
David Simmons
David Wojciechowski
Kenyatta Rogers
Henry Goldkamp
Matt Bell
Grant Wamack
Jon Woodward
@ Old Major
900 S. Carey St.
Batimore
Wednesday, March 4
Doors: 6:00pm
Readings: 7:00pm-10:00pm](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:4fapzml6rxabrqbw3ih36msj/bafkreiepeaauzto4iwcc36jhftudeuo2oelfpsuq5sg6iahpklvairgbii@jpeg)
February 2, 2026 at 3:56 PM
Thanks to @neonpajamas.bsky.social for organizing this excellent AWP reading! Really looking forward to being with this great crew.
My pizza menu for last night, cooked on the wood-fired Ooni in a friend's backyard: Pepperoni and hot honey. Chicken sausage and hot peppers. Pistachio and red onion. Ricotta, parmesan, mozzarella, and arugula. Tikka masala paneer with a garlic drizzle. Fig and prosciutto. All so good!
February 1, 2026 at 11:27 PM
My pizza menu for last night, cooked on the wood-fired Ooni in a friend's backyard: Pepperoni and hot honey. Chicken sausage and hot peppers. Pistachio and red onion. Ricotta, parmesan, mozzarella, and arugula. Tikka masala paneer with a garlic drizzle. Fig and prosciutto. All so good!
The students in my generative novel-writing course are tasked with writing at least 2500 new words every week. I'm revising my own novel so in the first two weeks I've managed to delete 5500 words. So much work to make the words. So necessary to let them go. Someday we'll all have 65000 good words.
January 31, 2026 at 8:01 PM
The students in my generative novel-writing course are tasked with writing at least 2500 new words every week. I'm revising my own novel so in the first two weeks I've managed to delete 5500 words. So much work to make the words. So necessary to let them go. Someday we'll all have 65000 good words.
I ran a 15-mile loop in the desert this morning, my first time completing this favorite course in a year. I'd purposely backburnered running a bit last year to focus on other goals—I haven't ran over 10 miles since my 100K last February—but it's felt so good to start bumping up the distance again.
January 30, 2026 at 11:08 PM
I ran a 15-mile loop in the desert this morning, my first time completing this favorite course in a year. I'd purposely backburnered running a bit last year to focus on other goals—I haven't ran over 10 miles since my 100K last February—but it's felt so good to start bumping up the distance again.
Reposted by Matt Bell
I wrote an essay about menopause, writers block, and being a late bloomer. You can also find it in the newly released anthology, The Big M, edited by Lidia Yuknavitch: electricliterature.com/menopause-wr...
Menopause, Writer’s Block, and Being a Late Bloomer - Electric Literature
I’m supposed to believe my womanhood is ending but instead, I have been handed a new beginning
electricliterature.com
January 30, 2026 at 2:27 AM
I wrote an essay about menopause, writers block, and being a late bloomer. You can also find it in the newly released anthology, The Big M, edited by Lidia Yuknavitch: electricliterature.com/menopause-wr...
Congratulations to @asuenglish.bsky.social MFA alum @haydenmcasey13.bsky.social, whose debut collection SHOW ME WHERE THE HURT IS is a finalist for the PEN/Robert W. Bingham Prize for Debut Short Story Collection!
January 29, 2026 at 6:30 PM
Congratulations to @asuenglish.bsky.social MFA alum @haydenmcasey13.bsky.social, whose debut collection SHOW ME WHERE THE HURT IS is a finalist for the PEN/Robert W. Bingham Prize for Debut Short Story Collection!
I've spent almost the entire day rehashing this excellent Tom Waits lyric, which seems applicable to everything: "You got it buddy / The large print giveth / And the small print taketh away"
January 28, 2026 at 11:27 PM
I've spent almost the entire day rehashing this excellent Tom Waits lyric, which seems applicable to everything: "You got it buddy / The large print giveth / And the small print taketh away"
Reposted by Matt Bell
Once upon a time you could go into a drug store and buy books with titles like this. Now you have to buy drugs.
January 28, 2026 at 11:20 PM
Once upon a time you could go into a drug store and buy books with titles like this. Now you have to buy drugs.
My favorite pan of a future classic: "The stories are neurasthenic, as though Johnson hopes the shock value of characters fatally overdosing in the presence of lovers and friends will substitute for creativity and hard work from him. Even the dialogue for the most part lacks Johnson's usual energy."
January 28, 2026 at 10:44 PM
My favorite pan of a future classic: "The stories are neurasthenic, as though Johnson hopes the shock value of characters fatally overdosing in the presence of lovers and friends will substitute for creativity and hard work from him. Even the dialogue for the most part lacks Johnson's usual energy."