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melisfluous.bsky.social
Melissa Ren
@melisfluous.bsky.social
2.8K followers 260 following 1.4K posts
SFF & literary | Chinese-Canadian
Tin House | senior editor @augursociety.bsky.social | publicity @psychopomp.com

linktr.ee/MelissaRen
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melisfluous.bsky.social
Melissa Ren @melisfluous.bsky.social · Sep 12
Some news! 👀

In a crazy ass turn of events, I have somehow found myself ✨AGENTED!✨ I'm THRILLED to now be represented by Hana El Niwairi @hel-no-wai.bsky.social. I cannot wait to see what shenanigans we get up to together. 🥰
cookemcdermid.bsky.social CookeMcDermid @cookemcdermid.bsky.social · Sep 12
We are so thrilled to welcome @melisfluous.bsky.social to CookeMcDermid! She is represented by Hana El Niwairi.
A black and white photo of Melissa Ren from the middle of her face down with a dark grey border around it. In the upper left corner, white bold sans-serif font in all caps reads "Welcome to CookeMcDermid," followed by, in a white serif font in all caps, "Melissa Ren." In the background, the photo of Melissa Ren blurred out with a dark grey filter overtop. On top of that, white serif font reads: "Melissa Ren is a Chinese-Canadian writer whose narratives tend to explore the intersection between belonging and becoming. She is a prize recipient of Room Magazine's Fiction Contest, a Tin House alum, and a senior editor at Augur Magazine. She is a grant recipient of the Canada Council for the Arts, the Ontario Arts Council, the Toronto Arts Council, and the Access Copyright Foundation. Find her at linktr.ee/MelissaRen or follow @melisfluous on socials. She is represented by Hana El Niwairi."
Reposted by Melissa Ren
psychopomp.com
thanks for all the kind words 🖤🥲

thank you to everyone that showed up to support @thedeadlands.com via Patreon

this is how we keep publishing that zine, with your support

🙏🏻🖤💀

if you want to support us + read great death fiction/poetry/nonfic, here is the link:

psychopomp.com/deadlands/pa...
Get more from The Deadlands on Patreon
a zine containing fiction, nonfiction, and poetry about Death
psychopomp.com
November 22, 2025 at 11:09 AM
melisfluous.bsky.social
Wow, this is bad ass.
hugobookclub.bsky.social An Unofficial Hugo Book Club Blog @hugobookclub.bsky.social · 4d
Canada is releasing a set of stamps celebrating the nation's graphic novelists.

These stamps feature Kate Beaton, Jimmy Beaulieu, Guy Delisle, Julie Doucet, Bryan Lee O’Malley and Michael Nicoll Yahgulanaas, alongside some of their famous works.
Stamps featuring Kate Beaton, Jimmy Beaulieu, Guy Delisle, Julie Doucet, Bryan Lee O’Malley and Michael Nicoll Yahgulanaas
November 24, 2025 at 2:08 PM
Reposted by Melissa Ren
brandoncrilly.bsky.social
In two days! Join me, @valerievaldes.bsky.social @premeemohamed.com @gregoryawilson.com as we dive into how Canadian vs American authors are navigating economic and political uncertainty, staying connected across the border, and more.

9 pm EST on www.twitch.tv/arvaneleron

#Booksky
A poster for the event "Crossing the 49th: Canadian and American Authors Talk Shop." There are four headshots for four different authors on a pink background.
November 23, 2025 at 1:42 PM
melisfluous.bsky.social
Psssssst, this is my agent 😊😊
canconsffh.bsky.social Can*Con @canconsffh.bsky.social · 5d
We are very excited to announced that our 2026 Agent Guest of Honour will be @hel-no-wai.bsky.social!

Hana is a Literary Agent and Rights Manager at Cooke McDermid and a co-founder of BIPOC Publishing in Canada.

We are super thrilled that Hana can join us next fall!
Graphic advertising Can*Con 2026 Agent Guest of Honour Hana El Niwairi. Dates of the con are October 16-18, 2026.
November 23, 2025 at 4:14 PM
melisfluous.bsky.social
Psychopomp is one of the best publishing teams on the planet and I love being a part of it.

They consistently put out amazing work. But most of all, they are such good people.

Please support The Deadlands if you're able. We can't lose another. ❤️❤️
November 22, 2025 at 1:23 PM
Reposted by Melissa Ren
stanchion.bsky.social
Stanchion Book Club members will be receiving a stunning, hand-sewn Moran Press journal with their copy of An Honour & a Privilege by @lindzmcleod.bsky.social later this month. So happy to put $100 into the pocket of an indie maker & bookbinder, and to give members a unique handmade journal.
November 15, 2025 at 2:46 PM
Reposted by Melissa Ren
lindzmcleod.bsky.social
Oh hey! You can now add An Honour and A Privilege—our extremely fun AND educational collaborative craft book—to your Goodreads list!
An Honour & a Privilege
Discover and share books you love on Goodreads.
www.goodreads.com
November 14, 2025 at 9:35 PM
melisfluous.bsky.social
The moon, though.
November 5, 2025 at 2:38 AM
Reposted by Melissa Ren
melisfluous.bsky.social
Oh hello, I am in this 🫣
stanchion.bsky.social Stanchion @stanchion.bsky.social · 25d
@lindzmcleod.bsky.social's collaborative craft writing book An Honour & A Privilege "offers us both a testimony as to what can be done together and a guide on how to do it."

This is a craft book like no other. It will amaze you and inspire your writing.

www.stanchionzine.com/product-page...
I spent a while trying to figure out how to classify An Honour & a Privilege. Viewed through one lens it might not seem an important question: classification is mostly helpful for shelving decisions. But genre also dictates how one reads a thing. Whether you think of this book as an anthology (many authors), a collection (one common author), or a craft book (the reflective duets) may affect your perception of the whole. I struggle to compare this work to any of those three genres. The project in front of you reveals more about its craft than other anthologies. It's more authentically connected to strong exemplar material than other craft books. It's more heteroglossic than any collection I recall. The best way to think of An Honour & a Privilege may be to regard it as a genre all its own, one which depends significantly on its many interconnections, one which marks both an occasion and an invitation, one which offers us both a testimony as to what can be done together and a guide on how to do it.
October 31, 2025 at 3:14 PM
Reposted by Melissa Ren
thesuiway.bsky.social
a new month, a new giveaway!!

my publisher is giving away 75 print ARCs of The Iron Garden Sutra!

enter by November 15th! 👇

www.goodreads.com/giveaway/sho...
A bright yellow book is depicted against a dark space background. An orange banner has the words "75 winners" on it. The poster is promoting a goodreads giveaway for 75 print ARCs of The Iron Garden Sutra. Enter the giveaway by November 15th for your chance to win. Open to US entrants only.
November 1, 2025 at 11:43 AM
Reposted by Melissa Ren
lindzmcleod.bsky.social
Also, the pre-order is on sale atm! Get it while it's hot!
An Honour & A Privilege | Stanchion
In collaboration with eleven writers, including The Handmaid's Tale screenwriter Lynn Renee Maxcy, Sunday Times bestseller Thomas D. Lee, and Nebula/WFA finalist Eugenia Triantafyllou, award-winning a...
www.stanchionzine.com
October 31, 2025 at 3:16 PM
melisfluous.bsky.social
Oh hello, I am in this 🫣
stanchion.bsky.social Stanchion @stanchion.bsky.social · 25d
@lindzmcleod.bsky.social's collaborative craft writing book An Honour & A Privilege "offers us both a testimony as to what can be done together and a guide on how to do it."

This is a craft book like no other. It will amaze you and inspire your writing.

www.stanchionzine.com/product-page...
I spent a while trying to figure out how to classify An Honour & a Privilege. Viewed through one lens it might not seem an important question: classification is mostly helpful for shelving decisions. But genre also dictates how one reads a thing. Whether you think of this book as an anthology (many authors), a collection (one common author), or a craft book (the reflective duets) may affect your perception of the whole. I struggle to compare this work to any of those three genres. The project in front of you reveals more about its craft than other anthologies. It's more authentically connected to strong exemplar material than other craft books. It's more heteroglossic than any collection I recall. The best way to think of An Honour & a Privilege may be to regard it as a genre all its own, one which depends significantly on its many interconnections, one which marks both an occasion and an invitation, one which offers us both a testimony as to what can be done together and a guide on how to do it.
October 31, 2025 at 3:14 PM
Reposted by Melissa Ren
brandoncrilly.bsky.social
Can*Con is done, but another event looms! In Toronto!

Join me and @thescreambean.bsky.social as we talk messy found families at @bakkaphoenix.bsky.social on November 15. This'll be my first bookstore event for CASTOFF, and my first ever event at Bakka!
October 26, 2025 at 2:12 PM
Reposted by Melissa Ren
angelaliu.bsky.social
This is my longest (and favorite) story out this year. Would love if you checked it out 🙏

What if you could relive your favorite memories through a haircut? What if you were the one cutting the hair? This is a story about class, intergenerational trauma, and how far we’d go for the perfect cut.
October 22, 2025 at 8:23 PM
Reposted by Melissa Ren
ecatherine.com
Have you SEEN this issue? Come grab it in digital for $2, or print for $5. www.patreon.com/the_deadlands
Issue 40 of The Deadlands, guest edited by Vajra Chandrasekera, cover art by Carly A-F, a golden maze of coins stretches toward a skull against a scarlet sky.
October 19, 2025 at 5:01 PM
Reposted by Melissa Ren
sillysyntax.bsky.social
I'm a big fan of Terese and I can't wait to read all the stories in this book. Canlit and Canspec should get right behind this. A speculative anthology filled with Black writers from Canada?

Let's go.
uguelphcwmfa.bsky.social University of Guelph Creative Writing MFA @uguelphcwmfa.bsky.social · Oct 16
Congratulations to Guelph MFA alum @teresempierre.bsky.social on the release of #ASTHEEARTHDREAMS (House of Anansi), out now!

Edited by Terese Mason Pierre, this groundbreaking anthology of speculative fiction uplifts the spectacular imaginings, reflections, and hopes of Black writers in Canada.
[Image description: The book cover of AS THE EARTH DREAMS: BLACK CANADIAN SPECULATIVE STORIES is centered against a vibrant purple background with bees decorating the corners of the image. At the top, turquoise text reads “OUT NOW WITH HOUSE OF ANANSI.”]
October 16, 2025 at 10:58 PM
Reposted by Melissa Ren
mariebilodeau.bsky.social
We are getting close to @canconsffh.bsky.social and I am taking a moment to say that I have the best crew anyone could ever ask for. Ever. Lemme go on for a bit. You need to know how amazing they are, and they deserve it to be seen.
October 14, 2025 at 12:49 AM
Reposted by Melissa Ren
sillysyntax.bsky.social
My unhinged literary opinion is that you should buy all my small press and indie pub friends books.

ALL.
October 13, 2025 at 11:51 PM
Reposted by Melissa Ren
stanchion.bsky.social
Last book of '25 is by @lindzmcleod.bsky.social + a cast of collaborators incl The Handmaid's Tale screenwriter Lynn Renee Maxcy, Sunday Times bestseller Thomas D. Lee & Nebula/WFA finalist Eugenia Triantafyllou.

Pre-order now with UK Saver Shipping to save £! www.stanchionzine.com/product-page...
October 10, 2025 at 5:13 PM
Reposted by Melissa Ren
thedeadlands.com
it's here, The Deadlands fundraiser 💀

buy your very 2026 coin for the ferryman and help support us

we've got signed books, deadlands issues + psychopomp book bundles, and more coming soon!

please like + RT this to help spread the word

psychopomp.com/the-deadland...

behold!
Illustration of a white skull partially obscured by colorful mushrooms and plants. Different fungi sprout from and around the skull, including red mushrooms with white spots, yellow fan-shaped mushrooms, gray cluster mushrooms, and orange bulbous mushrooms, with green and purple plants filling the background. A ribbon at the bottom of the skull reads “ADMIT ONE.”
October 6, 2025 at 8:04 PM
Reposted by Melissa Ren
lmanusos.bsky.social
ICYMI I finally dove back into my newsletter, in which I talk about my novella's birthday, @psychopomp.com awesomeness, and some most excellent short fiction recommendations.
October 4, 2025 at 1:53 PM
melisfluous.bsky.social
Cyberpunk love... ♥️
lkcreations.art LK @lkcreations.art · Sep 18
Serenity is not freedom from the storm, but peace amid the storm.
💙❤️

#art #artsky #procreate #cyberpunk #digitalart #artist #photo #photography #noai #kpop #aespa
Digital portrait of a woman with short hair looking down. The background blends into the portrait. It's a collage of digital paintings and photos of city life. Red and blue tones. Cyberpunk style. Digital paintings made on Procreate Collage made on Affinity Photo Photos taken with an Olympus camera
September 21, 2025 at 12:06 AM
melisfluous.bsky.social
Obsessed.
kingcobey8.bsky.social Cobey | Commissions open! @kingcobey8.bsky.social · Sep 18
Artist! Quote with your night art! 🌌
September 21, 2025 at 12:05 AM
Reposted by Melissa Ren
angelaliu.bsky.social
ICYMI. Reading tonight at 9PM EST!
angelaliu.bsky.social Angela Liu @angelaliu.bsky.social · Sep 13
Excited to join the launch for @fabulistmag.bsky.social’s weird romance anthology STAR CROSSED on 9/17!

I’ll be reading from my story "The Angel Talks of Beethoven's Genius,“ about someone who sleeps with an angel, alongside other wtf bizarre love stories. Sign up for the free virtual event here:
Launch party — STAR CROSSED vol. 1: Tales of Strange Love & Weird Romance
Join our livestream, with readings by Angela Liu, Loren Rhoads, Elizabeth Stix, Jenny Bitner, Jyotsna Sreenivasan, Alethea Eason and more!
www.eventbrite.com
September 17, 2025 at 1:09 PM