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Robbie Maakestad @robbiemaakestad.bsky.social · 1d

At @therumpus.net, we pay $100 for prose. Send us your best essay! We're excited to read it.
therumpus.submittable.com/submit

The Rumpus Submission Manager

We have paused submissions for fiction and poetry, so we can catch up. We'll re-open for these categories on 10/15/2025.The Rumpus publishes original fiction, poetry, literary humor writing, comics, e...

therumpus.submittable.com

Robbie Maakestad @robbiemaakestad.bsky.social · 1d

Here's a thread of the nine #RumpusEssays that we published at @therumpus.net across the summer: bsky.app/profile/robb...

Robbie Maakestad @robbiemaakestad.bsky.social · 21d

This summer @therumpus.net published some truly stunning essays via our Essays section. Here's a #RumpusEssays thread:

Starting things off, @josiahroberts.bsky.social's "To Adopt a Grandparent"
therumpus.net/2025/05/06/t...

To Adopt a Grandparent - The Rumpus

“In every interaction there’s someone with power and someone without. If you are the latter, your two most important virtues are patience and persistence.”

therumpus.net

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Robbie Maakestad @robbiemaakestad.bsky.social · 1d

Here's a thread of the 10 #RumpusEssays that we published at @therumpus.net in September:
bsky.app/profile/robb...

Robbie Maakestad @robbiemaakestad.bsky.social · 2d

In September 2025, we published 10 siiiiicccck essays at @therumpus.net so here’s a #RumpusEssays thread:

We kicked things off with Celia Bell’s “Unwriting the Great American Novel: Helen DeWitt’s ‘Your Name Here’”—an essay about Helen DeWitt’s novels.
therumpus.net/2025/09/09/u...

Unwriting the Great American Novel: Helen DeWitt’s "Your Name Here" - The Rumpus

The myth of the PDF is this: it is an unpublishable novel, circulated online after DeWitt despaired of getting it out by conventional channels. When I talked to my old coworker, it seemed shrouded in ...

therumpus.net

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Robbie Maakestad @robbiemaakestad.bsky.social · 1d

FYI, @therumpus.net is still open for essay submissions! If you want to get an idea of what we publish, check out the #RumpusEssays threads below.
therumpus.submittable.com/submit

The Rumpus Submission Manager

We have paused submissions for fiction and poetry, so we can catch up. We'll re-open for these categories on 10/15/2025.The Rumpus publishes original fiction, poetry, literary humor writing, comics, e...

therumpus.submittable.com

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Robbie Maakestad @robbiemaakestad.bsky.social · 2d

We closed out the month with “Transubstantiations” by Caitlin Hoerr, who writes about Renaissance art and bleeding.
@therumpus.net #RumpusEssays
therumpus.net/2025/09/26/t...

Transubstantiations - The Rumpus

I study artworks made for the cells and dining spaces in nunneries, paintings whose colors have lost their pigment, faded with age and decay, the gold leaf flecked with brown stains. A problem distrac...

therumpus.net

Robbie Maakestad @robbiemaakestad.bsky.social · 2d

In David Adey’s “Groomed By the Church: How The Clash Saved My Soul,” he examines grooming in the church and how music saved him.
@therumpus.net #RumpusEssays
therumpus.net/2025/09/25/g...

Groomed By the Church: How The Clash Saved My Soul - The Rumpus

I didn’t realize it at the time, but the irreverence of The Clash was like a double-dose vaccine of skepticism, inoculating my soul against far more infectious and dangerous forces that flew into our ...

therumpus.net

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Robbie Maakestad @robbiemaakestad.bsky.social · 2d

Next, we published Yasmine Ameli’s “Be Clean, Be Loved”—an essay about washing dishes and gender.
@therumpus.net #RumpusEssays
therumpus.net/2025/09/25/b...

Be Clean, Be Loved - The Rumpus

Recently, I asked my mother what she would purchase with the prize money if she won the lottery: new dishwasher, she said, or facelift. When she reminds me they do not make them the way they used to, ...

therumpus.net

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Robbie Maakestad @robbiemaakestad.bsky.social · 2d

In “Mutiny,” Brian Broome shares a gripping rumination on alcoholism and sobriety.
@therumpus.net #RumpusEssays
therumpus.net/2025/09/11/m...

Mutiny - The Rumpus

This is a story about mutiny on the ship that is me. When I drink, different versions of myself storm the deck, determined to take over

therumpus.net

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Robbie Maakestad @robbiemaakestad.bsky.social · 2d

Midway through the month, we published Delight Ejiaka’s “At My House, We Don’t Bleach”—a stunningly-good essay about skin bleaching.
@therumpus.net #RumpusEssays
therumpus.net/2025/09/11/a...

At My House, We Don't Bleach - The Rumpus

After my punishment, I dusted my knees, returned to my friends, and continued the crime of noise-making. To make up for lost time, I invented an over-exaggerated story of the drunk bus conductor and o...

therumpus.net

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Robbie Maakestad @robbiemaakestad.bsky.social · 2d

Next, Teri Elam’s “Traveling My Way Forward: Carrie R. Moore’s ‘Make Your Way Home.’”
@therumpus.net #RumpusEssays
therumpus.net/2025/09/10/t...

Traveling My Way Forward: Carrie R. Moore’s "Make Your Way Home" - The Rumpus

This story made me think of a mystery that shrouds my patriarchal bloodline—a sort of family malediction passed down like a flawed hand of cards in a high-stakes poker game: a mind that plays tricks o...

therumpus.net

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Robbie Maakestad @robbiemaakestad.bsky.social · 2d

We published a brilliant flash essay—“Porcelain” by @alextretbar.bsky.social—about stealing sparkplugs.
@therumpus.net #RumpusEssays
therumpus.net/2025/09/10/p...

Porcelain - The Rumpus

We didn’t know that the Volkswagen belonged to a monk. It just stood out: a powder blue Beetle in a stillness of dead leaves. The northwest quadrant of

therumpus.net

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Robbie Maakestad @robbiemaakestad.bsky.social · 2d

Next up, BC Kim’s “Waterline”—an essay about summer conditions in a state prison.
@therumpus.net #RumpusEssays
therumpus.net/2025/09/09/w...

Waterline - The Rumpus

The water guy here at the Parnall Correctional Facility is Todd. His actual name is Tariq, but everyone calls him Todd. I guess it's easier for the Midwestern tongue to pronounce—and the psyche to han...

therumpus.net

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Robbie Maakestad @robbiemaakestad.bsky.social · 2d

In September 2025, we published 10 siiiiicccck essays at @therumpus.net so here’s a #RumpusEssays thread:

We kicked things off with Celia Bell’s “Unwriting the Great American Novel: Helen DeWitt’s ‘Your Name Here’”—an essay about Helen DeWitt’s novels.
therumpus.net/2025/09/09/u...

Unwriting the Great American Novel: Helen DeWitt’s "Your Name Here" - The Rumpus

The myth of the PDF is this: it is an unpublishable novel, circulated online after DeWitt despaired of getting it out by conventional channels. When I talked to my old coworker, it seemed shrouded in ...

therumpus.net

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Robbie Maakestad @robbiemaakestad.bsky.social · 2d

We had an amazing @plnuwritingma.bsky.social Visiting Writers Series with @samuelashworth.bsky.social. He ran a masterclass on student drafts, read from THE DEATH AND LIFE OF AUGUST SWEENEY, and delivered a lecture titled “The Art of Telling.” Such a generous, wise human!

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Robbie Maakestad @robbiemaakestad.bsky.social · 6d

Pumped to have @samuelashworth.bsky.social visiting the @plnuwritingma.bsky.social program today to talk about THE DEATH AND LIFE OF AUGUST SWEENEY. In-person and live-stream tickets are still available plnu.universitytickets.com

Point Loma Nazarene University | Ticketing - Ticket Office Home

plnu.universitytickets.com

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Reposted by Robbie Maakestad

X-R-A-Y Literary Press @xraylitmag.bsky.social · 7d

it's tha 1st of tha month, submissions are open

thanks !

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Robbie Maakestad @robbiemaakestad.bsky.social · 7d

Thrilled to have @samuelashworth.bsky.social joining the @plnuwritingma.bsky.social Visiting Writers Series tomorrow!!! Get your streaming and in-person tickets here: plnu.universitytickets.com

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Robbie Maakestad @robbiemaakestad.bsky.social · 8d

An honor to be featured on episode 94 of THE WRITTEN SCENE podcast. I had a lovely conversation about writing with the host, Adam Greenfield.
open.spotify.com/episode/5qFk...

Episode 94: Robbie Maakestad

open.spotify.com

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Robbie Maakestad @robbiemaakestad.bsky.social · 15d

We're relaunching ROBBIE & JAMES TALK MUSIC:
-Short episodes
-Two songs per episode
-Me: talking creative writing
[email protected]: talking film
-Availability on pretty much every listening platform.

Give it a listen! We're proud of this relaunch.
robbieandjamestalkmusic.podbean.com

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Robbie Maakestad @robbiemaakestad.bsky.social · 16d

I've been in the same 12-team fantasy baseball franchise league since high school. Starting in 2015, I placed 3rd 9 out of 10 years. Again, this is a 12-team league.

But this year, I finally won. THE MONKEY IS OFF MY BACK, Y'ALL.

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Robbie Maakestad @robbiemaakestad.bsky.social · 21d

Closing out the summer (and this #RumpusEssays thread), we published Riley-Grace Huggins’ “White Tongue”—an essay about desiring to connect to one’s heritage via language.
@therumpus.net
therumpus.net/2025/08/29/w...

White Tongue - The Rumpus

It was senior year of high school, and a statistics study session slowly devolved into a friend and I commiserating about the shortcomings of Duolingo: there was no Tagalog course for English learners...

therumpus.net

Robbie Maakestad @robbiemaakestad.bsky.social · 21d

We closed out July, with Maya Dobjenskey’s “In Search of Light,” which details a journey through miscarriage and a desire to see the Northern Lights.
@therumpus.net #RumpusEssays
therumpus.net/2025/07/29/i...

In Search of Light - The Rumpus

Jacob and I drive up into the rocky plateau surrounding town, then wander further along the highway until the lights of homes vanish. Still unfamiliar with the geography of the town, we’re unsure wher...

therumpus.net

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Robbie Maakestad @robbiemaakestad.bsky.social · 21d

In July, we published @misternagel.bsky.social's "Orientation"—a hilarious/poignant essay about caring for a father-in-law who suffered a stroke.
@therumpus.net #RumpusEssays
therumpus.net/2025/07/17/o...

Orientation - The Rumpus

At the time, though, I couldn’t make much sense of anything. So I accepted everything with the detached nonchalance of a guy who has no idea what’s going on.

therumpus.net

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Robbie Maakestad @robbiemaakestad.bsky.social · 21d

Mid-June, we published Ifeanyichukwu Eze's "Finding Baldwin"—an essay about discovering a beloved writer.
@therumpus.net #RumpusEssays therumpus.net/2025/06/17/f...

Finding Baldwin - The Rumpus

The books are on the floor, side by side. I begin to pick them up one by one. Lying beneath two old books is this one. The author’s name screams in white on a red strip at the top of the front cover.

therumpus.net

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Robbie Maakestad @robbiemaakestad.bsky.social · 21d

Next up, @bennysummerhill.bsky.social's THE RUMPUS PRIZE IN NONFICTION winning essay, "‘Tell Me When to Go’ Had Just Dropped and I Was from Oakland"—truly stunning!
@therumpus.net #RumpusEssays
therumpus.net/2025/06/05/r...

The Rumpus Prize in Nonfiction, First Place: Daniel B. Summerhill - The Rumpus

A tight plot of land with poverty gripping the neck of its residents even tighter. The same way America held off on recognizing street gangs as an issue until blood was spilt outside of the hood in 19...

therumpus.net

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