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Reposted by Jana M. Perkins

Bluesky @bsky.app · 1d

we hit 2 billion posts today! 🥳

Reposted by Jana M. Perkins

Jana M. Perkins @janajm.com · 6d

For Women of Letters, I had the great pleasure of talking with @corinnelow.com.

We discuss her new book, the economics of women’s lives, why she left a job at the top consulting firm in the world, becoming a tenured professor at Wharton, & so much more. 📚💙

womenofletters.substack.com/p/corinne-low

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Having It All: In Conversation with Corinne Low

"I really did not want my book to gaslight women about the real challenges that we face in making it all add up. I wanted to be really honest about my own struggles to make that all work."

WOMENOFLETTERS.SUBSTACK.COM

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Fast-forward to today. How did the path to what you’re doing now unfold?

CL: I majored in economics while I minored in kind of my true passion of writing.

I loved economics, and I thought it was a really elegant and beautiful way to understand the world. I didn’t necessarily know what a career in economics looked like, but a lot of my friends were interviewing for consulting positions. So, at the same time as I was deciding, like, maybe writing isn’t what’s going to pay off my student loans, my friends were interviewing for these consulting positions. They were like, “Oh, you get a signing bonus— it’s great!” And I was like, “I’ll just give it a try. I’ll interview.”

“You’re not going to be able to plan it out from the beginning. But how are you setting yourself up for that next step?”

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In her meticulously researched, newly published book, Corinne brings her years of expertise as a Wharton professor and an economist studying gender to answer the age-old question: is it possible for women to have it all?

From parenting to partnership to career planning to self-care, she offers a wealth of accessibly articulated and data-rich insight into so many subjects central to women’s lives—including a detailed account of the many reasons why, historically, ‘having it all’ has been such an elusive goal. If there was one book published on this topic in the last year I would recommend as essential reading, it would be this one.

Jana M. Perkins
 Founder, Women of Letters

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Jana M. Perkins @janajm.com · 6d

For Women of Letters, I had the great pleasure of talking with @corinnelow.com.

We discuss her new book, the economics of women’s lives, why she left a job at the top consulting firm in the world, becoming a tenured professor at Wharton, & so much more. 📚💙

womenofletters.substack.com/p/corinne-low

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Jana M. Perkins @janajm.com · 28d

Her debut memoir, the importance of having mentors, the decision to open a bookstore and write full-time, & so much more—

A wide-ranging interview with LAMBDA Literary Nonfiction Fellow Nikkya Hargrove. 📚💙

womenofletters.substack.com/p/nikkya-hargrove

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"  In conversation with Nikkya Hargrove

"I am a hopeful person, and determined too, and my hopeful determination has never led me astray."

WOMENOFLETTERS.SUBSTACK.COM"

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“Fast-forward to today. How did the path to what you’re doing now unfold?

NH: I loved asking questions as a kid, and always found myself wondering what the ‘true’ answer was… curious about the nuts and bolts of the big questions in life.

I, naturally, loved my honors English class and my teacher Mr. Troller, who had a way with words that I admired. My writing skills improved because of him. Then one day, I sat talking with my grandfather while in high school, and he said, “I think you’ll be a journalist one day,” which felt like a statement out of the blue.

Today, I am a published author, write for my local paper, and own a bookstore in my town. I am exactly where I am meant to be, even if I never thought of myself as a journalist or reporter.”

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“Editor’s note

Nikkya’s writing in Mama, her first book, is visceral and punctuated in its vulnerability. She recounts each of the emotionally saturated events that frame her memoir with open-hearted precision, including her mother’s incarceration, the adoption of her half-brother, and the experience of falling in love with her now-wife.

“We keep the conversation light,” she recalls of visiting her mother in jail as a teenager. “We do not go deep. We do not ask about fears, wants, or needs.” Her book, however, does exactly that, venturing into all of the above and more. It was a privilege to get to speak with her about some of the stories behind those stories.

Jana M. Perkins 
Founder, Women of Letters”

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Reposted by Jana M. Perkins

Mary Hrovat @maryhrovat.bsky.social · 29d

Photograph of five yellow flowers with dark centers, visible between the bars of a fence. Other plants in the background.

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Jana M. Perkins @janajm.com · Sep 1

Can we also just take a moment to appreciate this little guy

The tiniest bunny you have ever seen in your life crossing the sidewalk of a city street

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Jana M. Perkins @janajm.com · Sep 1

Hi from your friendly neighbourhood flower paparazzi

Large pink flowers in a small landscaped flowerbed

Bright orange flowers, with some smaller purple flowers, in a curbside flowerbed

Pink, purple, and white flowers in a medium-sized flowerbed

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Jana M. Perkins @janajm.com · Aug 29

You want me to update this spreadsheet? Taylor Alison Swift just announced that she’s engaged to be married and you want me to update this spreadsheet??

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Reposted by Jana M. Perkins

M.F. Corwin @eudaemonist.bsky.social · Aug 7

John Constable, Cloud study with birds in flight, 1821; a low line of land above which four birds sour, small and high, against a partly cloudy sky

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Reposted by Jana M. Perkins

Lidija Hilje @lidijahilje.bsky.social · Aug 25

So excited about this interview @lareviewofbooks.bsky.social! Thank you @vesnajaksiclowe.bsky.social for asking such insightful questions! And enormous thanks to @lareviewofbooks.bsky.social 🤍

Los Angeles Review of Books @lareviewofbooks.bsky.social · Aug 25

"Learning to write in another language is humongously difficult. But I feel it gives me uniqueness in expressing myself." Vesna Jaksic Lowe interviews Croatian author Lidija Hilje about her debut novel, “Slanting Towards the Sea.” https://lareviewofbooks.org/article/we-are-born-with-a-homing-beacon/

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Reposted by Jana M. Perkins

Mary Hrovat @maryhrovat.bsky.social · Aug 28

I love the light and shade on these flowers.

Many yellow flowers with dark centers. A pool of sunlight lies on the flowers near the center of the photo.

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Jana M. Perkins @janajm.com · Aug 27

It’s exciting to see these ideas gaining more traction. Or, rather, *regaining* traction — public-facing writing didn’t always carry the stigma that it now does, and we lost something important along the way when it started to 🧪

Nicole Rust @nicolecrust.bsky.social · Aug 27

Some scientists haven't yet internalized the "why" behind science writing for the public - not just as a service, but for themselves. (I didn't always get it). In this piece for @natrevneuro.nature.com, I draw on the neuroscience of curiosity & decision making to unpack its value.

rdcu.be/eCGr7

The unexpected value of communicating science to the public

Nature Reviews Neuroscience - As a group, our scientific community has a responsibility to unpack the ‘what’ and ‘why’ behind our work for the public, not least because much...

rdcu.be

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Jana M. Perkins @janajm.com · Aug 26

A fantastic interview between Iris Jamahl Dunkle and @rebeccaromney.com on the women who influenced Jane Austen’s work

Finding Lost Voices: Do You Love Jane Austen? Well, Guess What? There Are More Writers Like Her! A Conversation with Rebecca Romney About Jane Austen's Bookshelf

A weekly email that brings back the voices of those who have been forgotten or misremembered

irisjamahldunkle.substack.com

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Reposted by Jana M. Perkins

Women of Letters @womenofletters.org · Aug 19

“When I was working on Wall Street, I felt an intense chronophobia—the fear of the passing of time—afraid that I wouldn’t be able to do everything I wanted to do in this life. I felt that my days did not belong to me. Today, somehow, I feel time-rich.”

Our conversation with Carrie Sun continues ⬇️

Jana M. Perkins @janajm.com · Jul 31

For @womenofletters.org, I had the great pleasure of talking with Carrie Sun.

We discuss her widely acclaimed memoir, working at one of the most prestigious hedge funds in the world, why “process over outcome” is bad advice, & so much more. 📚💙

womenofletters.substack.com/p/carrie-sun

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“There are two kinds of writers: those who write what they know and those who write what they don’t know. I’m in the second camp. I wake up excited to ask questions that confound me and to find answers that surprise me.”

Jana M. Perkins
A measure of worth: In conversation with Carrie Sun

WOMENOFLETTERS.SUBSTACK.COM

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“Where do you feel the most scarcity in your life? Where do you feel the most abundance?

CS: I have a newborn at home, so the obvious answer might be that I feel a scarcity of time. It’s interesting. While objectively I have no time (I’m writing these answers in the middle of the night as I nurse), I feel, oddly, an abundance of time. I think it has to do with control and agency.

When I was working on Wall Street, I felt an intense chronophobia—the fear of the passing of time—afraid that I wouldn’t be able to do everything I wanted to do in this life. Even though then I could take long showers and go out with friends, neither of which I have time to do now, I felt that my days did not belong to me. I felt time-poor. Today, somehow, I feel time-rich. I own my days. I also feel an abundance of gratitude to be in this position and, unexpectedly, a scarcity of anxiety: it no longer matters so much what happens in the future because I’m doing everything I want to do in the present.”

$A screenshot of text that reads: “Editor’s note Among the most compelling memoirs are those that offer a window into experiences so singular they would otherwise remain known to only a fraction of humanity. Literary treasures of this kind are scarce not because extraordinary experiences evade us, but because we so rarely encounter the writer who can transmute those experiences into essential reading. Carrie is one of those writers, and Private Equity is one of those memoirs. Named one of TIME Magazine’s must-read books of the year, one of Vogue’s best books of the year, and the work memoir of the year by Harper’s Bazaar, it chronicles, as its central focus, her time spent working at one of the most prestigious hedge funds in the world. Yet to say that Private Equity is a memoir about Wall Street, the financial industry, or even a professional coming-of-age is to fail to capture the breadth of insight it offers across so many intensely interesting subjects. As Carrie explains below, “A decision is only risky if what’s at stake is valuable.” I learned a lot about decision-making, risk, and value from her propulsively readable memoir, and it was a privilege to get to learn more about her in this interview. Jana M. Perkins Founder, Women of Letters”$

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Reposted by Jana M. Perkins

Mary Hrovat @maryhrovat.bsky.social · Aug 19

Monday's sky.

Clouds of various shapes and sizes in a blue sky.

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Jana M. Perkins @janajm.com · Aug 15

Alright, Bsky — I think I just discovered our new favourite website.

@dlazaro.ca built the coolest thing: if you go to sky.dlazaro.ca, you can get a snapshot of what the sky currently looks like at your approximate location as a gorgeous CSS gradient.

Here’s mine from this morning ☀️

A light blue gradient, fading into white

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Reposted by Jana M. Perkins

Julie Park @juliepark.bsky.social · Jul 31

My essay on how the early modern camera obscura brought us more deeply into our interior lives is now live @publicdomainrev.bsky.social

publicdomainreview.org/essay/the-ea...

Watching the World in a Dark Room: The Early Modern Camera Obscura

Centuries before photography froze the world into neat frames, scientists, poets, and artists streamed transient images into dark interior spaces with the help of a camera obscura. Julie Park explores...

publicdomainreview.org

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Jana M. Perkins @janajm.com · Jul 31

Major congrats, Ena!! What wonderful news! 💙

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Jana M. Perkins @janajm.com · Jul 31

I always feel so glued to the page whenever I read her work—there’s so much richness in every paragraph that I don’t want to move on to the next one until I can feel confident in having picked up on everything she’s put into it. I felt that in reading her memoir, & I felt it again reading this

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Jana M. Perkins @janajm.com · Jul 31

For @womenofletters.org, I had the great pleasure of talking with Carrie Sun.

We discuss her widely acclaimed memoir, working at one of the most prestigious hedge funds in the world, why “process over outcome” is bad advice, & so much more. 📚💙

womenofletters.substack.com/p/carrie-sun

$A screenshot of text that reads: “Editor’s note Among the most compelling memoirs are those that offer a window into experiences so singular they would otherwise remain known to only a fraction of humanity. Literary treasures of this kind are scarce not because extraordinary experiences evade us, but because we so rarely encounter the writer who can transmute those experiences into essential reading. Carrie is one of those writers, and Private Equity is one of those memoirs. Named one of TIME Magazine’s must-read books of the year, one of Vogue’s best books of the year, and the work memoir of the year by Harper’s Bazaar, it chronicles, as its central focus, her time spent working at one of the most prestigious hedge funds in the world. Yet to say that Private Equity is a memoir about Wall Street, the financial industry, or even a professional coming-of-age is to fail to capture the breadth of insight it offers across so many intensely interesting subjects. As Carrie explains below, “A decision is only risky if what’s at stake is valuable.” I learned a lot about decision-making, risk, and value from her propulsively readable memoir, and it was a privilege to get to learn more about her in this interview. Jana M. Perkins Founder, Women of Letters”$

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The Booker Prizes @thebookerprizes.com · Jul 29

From fresh voices to Booker Prize alumni, here's everything you need to know about this year's longlist.

thebookerprizes.com/everything-y...

Everything you need to know about the Booker Prize 2025 longlist | The Booker Prizes

From a vast range of global experiences to books brimming with long-held secrets, from fresh voices to Booker Prize alumni, here’s the lowdown on this year’s longlist

thebookerprizes.com

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Jana M. Perkins @janajm.com · Jul 29

The difference between “Hi Jana,” and “Hi Jana!” is everything

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Jana M. Perkins @janajm.com · Jul 29

Never not living for the moment when someone’s emails to me shift from hi-comma to hi-exclamation-mark

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Jana M. Perkins @janajm.com · Jun 30

For @womenofletters.org, I had the great pleasure of talking with Kapka Kassabova.

We discuss her experience of growing up in Bulgaria, her award-winning Balkan quartet of books, creating her own literary genre, & so much more. 📚💙

womenofletters.substack.com/p/kapka-kassabova

An image of Henri-Edmond Cross’s “Landscape” painting, which features a lush and brightly coloured impressionistic landscape.

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“Fast-forward to today. How did the path to what you’re doing now unfold?

KK: It’s been quite surprising, really. And I think ‘path’ is a good word. It turns out that paths have been much more important to me as a creator and as a soul, as an evolving soul in this lifetime, than roads. Paths rather than roads.

When I started researching and writing about people and places, which happened with Border, I found my voice. And I found my voice thanks to the transformative encounters with people in those places that I had. And that was thanks to paths. Paths are away from roads. Paths are on the periphery of the center of power. The center of power is very fond of roads and other large infrastructure.

And after all the roads that I had traveled as an adult — you know, as someone who emigrated more than once, changed countries more than once, changed languages, sort of acquired various cultural identities along the way — in the end, the most important journey has been a journey of paths. In a way, researching Border, which was the book where I really felt that I found myself and I found my genre — I created my own literary genre and continued from there — it coincided with a life event, which was that I moved from the city to the countryside. And in doing that, I started to shed some of the baggage that we’ve just been talking about.”

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“Editor’s note

The only word that can be used to adequately describe Kapka’s work is ‘mesmerizing.’ The effect either of reading her writing or of listening to her speak is one of being swept into what feels like an alternate dimension, where everything is tinged with a kind of numinosity and wonder.

To experience the vividness of her perspective once is to seek its repeated encounter — and, fortunately for us, it can be found throughout what are currently more than a dozen of her published books and countless interviews. I’m delighted, with our conversation, to have added to this rich collection of transporting exchanges.

Jana M. Perkins 
Founder, Women of Letters”

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Women of Letters @womenofletters.org · Jul 8

“ Place is such a central thing in my work and in my life. It’s the great love of my life. I couldn’t really spend 2 years researching a book in a place unless I’m in love with that place.”

Read or listen to our full interview with Kapka Kassabova here:

Jana M. Perkins @janajm.com · Jun 30

For @womenofletters.org, I had the great pleasure of talking with Kapka Kassabova.

We discuss her experience of growing up in Bulgaria, her award-winning Balkan quartet of books, creating her own literary genre, & so much more. 📚💙

womenofletters.substack.com/p/kapka-kassabova

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