Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Benjamin Woodard

@woodardwriter.bsky.social

850 followers 600 following 360 posts

benjaminjwoodard.com

Posts Media Videos Starter Packs

Pinned

Benjamin Woodard @woodardwriter.bsky.social · Jul 14

Pleased as punch to have a new story in the latest issue of @funfunfunicular.bsky.social! Big thanks to everyone involved. The issue looks terrific.

Cover of Funicular magazine. Artwork depicts a female astronaut in an orange space suit blowing a pink bubble gum bubble.

Opening lines to my story, "A Soft Seduction"

2 3 15

Reposted by Benjamin Woodard

Benjamin Woodard @woodardwriter.bsky.social · 13h

Now that the @nationalbook.bsky.social finalists have been announced, revisit my @bombmag.bsky.social interview with Ethan Rutherford from April:

bombmagazine.org/articles/202...

BOMB Magazine | Ethan Rutherford by Benjamin Woodard

Whaling ships, spectral visitors, and the haunting pull of the sea.

bombmagazine.org

1 2 3

Benjamin Woodard @woodardwriter.bsky.social · 13h

I also talked with Ethan about his debut collection 12 years ago: numerocinqmagazine.com/2013/07/07/m...

My God, what have I done? | Interview with Ethan Rutherford --- Benjamin Woodard | Numéro Cinq

One of the great things about writing fiction is that you can sit down and ask yourself: where do I want to go today? The answer for me is always: out to sea. But the challenge, of course, comes when ...

numerocinqmagazine.com

Benjamin Woodard @woodardwriter.bsky.social · 13h

Now that the @nationalbook.bsky.social finalists have been announced, revisit my @bombmag.bsky.social interview with Ethan Rutherford from April:

bombmagazine.org/articles/202...

BOMB Magazine | Ethan Rutherford by Benjamin Woodard

Whaling ships, spectral visitors, and the haunting pull of the sea.

bombmagazine.org

1 2 3

Reposted by Benjamin Woodard

Dina L. Relles @dinalrelles.bsky.social · 2d

it’s been a minute since i’ve published anything, so i’m especially grateful that @matchbooklitmag.bsky.social gave this little musing on love + leavings a home.

you can read the full piece here: matchbooklitmag.com/mb/relles/departures

Departures
by Dina L. Relles
handed you the promised coffee with an apology: no sugar, no milk, I’m sorry.

I don’t need those things, you said, and I fell in impossible love with you all over again.

I’d come from my room carrying everything I wanted to happen that didn’t. Now the lobby was too bright and smelled like grapefruits and your face was weary in a way that felt intimate.

You spoke quietly to me in the taxi, then held me twice at the terminal, which I took to mean you loved me too, despite.

14 23 81

Reposted by Benjamin Woodard

Craig Engler @craigengler.bsky.social · 4d

Do YOU want a mysterious Halloween puzzle 🎃🧩 that changes as you build it, with a podcast that gives you clues and tells you about the history of Halloween? Then back The Great Halloween Puzzle and help bring it to life. 🖤👻🧡

www.kickstarter.com/projects/448...

The Great Halloween Puzzle & Podcast

A Halloween mystery puzzle that changes as you build it, with a podcast that gives you clues and tells you about Halloween history.

www.kickstarter.com

Benjamin Woodard @woodardwriter.bsky.social · 3d

Ordered ours the other day! Looks great.

1 1

Benjamin Woodard @woodardwriter.bsky.social · 4d

"I'm so sore from making aliens all day," I say to myself as I continue to make more aliens for the front yard.

Benjamin Woodard @woodardwriter.bsky.social · 6d

October 2: Leaving poetry feedback, covered in a blanket, watching Scream, as it should be.

Reposted by Benjamin Woodard

Merriam-Webster @merriam-webster.com · 7d

We are thrilled to announce that our NEW Large Language Model will be released on 11.18.25.

650 8.2K 25K

Benjamin Woodard @woodardwriter.bsky.social · 11d

Is this me in today's Clues by Sam? I am going to say yes. cluesbysam.com

Emoji of a man, with blond hair and glasses, standing in front of a blackboard. He is labeled "Ben, teacher"

Benjamin Woodard @woodardwriter.bsky.social · 14d

Also, a student brought in 2 dozen donuts for our peer review class session (her family owns a local donut shop). So dang delicious.

Benjamin Woodard @woodardwriter.bsky.social · 14d

Two recent story acceptances. Feels good.

2 7

Benjamin Woodard @woodardwriter.bsky.social · 16d

I was talking to one of my students about this last week. As a poor college student, I could still afford to go to a show or two every week. Now, I go to a single concert and feel like I need to take out a bank loan.

1 2

Reposted by Benjamin Woodard

South 85 Journal @south85journal.bsky.social · 19d

1 3

Reposted by Benjamin Woodard

National Book Critics Circle @bookcritics.bsky.social · 19d

NBCC member Benjamin Woodard reviewed "Absence" by Issa Quincy and "The Hairdresser's Son," written by Gerbrand Bakker and translated from the Dutch by David Colmer, for On the Seawall:

on Absence, a novel by Issa Quincy & The Hairdresser’s Son by Gerbrand Bakker, translated from the Dutch by David Colmer – On the Seawall

Post navigation

buff.ly

1 1

Benjamin Woodard @woodardwriter.bsky.social · 19d

*Looking at the price of comic books in 2025*

comic book.

Benjamin Woodard @woodardwriter.bsky.social · 19d

I will say, canceling subscriptions each time a corporation bends the knee leaves more money in my wallet for bubble gum and comic books.

1 4

Benjamin Woodard @woodardwriter.bsky.social · 19d

See ya, Hulu.

1 1 4

Benjamin Woodard @woodardwriter.bsky.social · 20d

This is such terrific news!

1 1

Benjamin Woodard @woodardwriter.bsky.social · 20d

It's weird* to teach creative writing and to encourage students to proudly use their voices when every day it seems another prominent voice is muzzled in this country by corporate cowards.

*sad, frustrating, upsetting, demoralizing, etc. etc. etc.

Benjamin Woodard @woodardwriter.bsky.social · 23d

Tomorrow!

Benjamin Woodard @woodardwriter.bsky.social · 24d

In 2 days!

Benjamin Woodard @woodardwriter.bsky.social · 25d

I can count on one hand the number of students who voluntarily come to my office hours each semester (or, frankly, year).

Benjamin Woodard @woodardwriter.bsky.social · 26d

Connecticut friends: Join me in celebrating @jasondiamond.bsky.social's new novel, Kaplan's Plot, this Tuesday at RJ Julia in Madison.

More info: rjjulia.com/event/jason-...

Promo for RJ Julia event. Jason Diamond in conversation with Ben Woodard. Tuesday, September 16 at 6:30pm.

1 1

Benjamin Woodard @woodardwriter.bsky.social · 26d

on The Hairdresser’s Son by Gerbrand Bakker, translated from the Dutch by David Colmer

Dutch author Gerbrand Bakker’s novel, The Hairdresser’s Son, first published in 2022 and now superbly translated for anglophone audiences by David Colmer, uses a real-life air disaster as an impetus to meditate on the kinds of solitude and loneliness felt all too often — yet rarely discussed — by generations of men. Bakker centers his novel on Simon, a 40-something hairdresser living in present day Amsterdam, as well as Simon’s father, Cornelis, who deserted his family in 1977 to abscond with another man and was presumed dead in a plane crash months before Simon’s birth. Simon now runs Chez Jean, a small salon handed down to him by his grandfather, Jan; against that elder’s wishes, he leaves the salon door’s sign turned to fermé most days. He opts to work with clients on an individual, pre-scheduled basis, rarely speaking and interjecting with a simple “hm” or “gosh” as he snips away. Outside of conversing with Jan during his monthly appointments, the single client Simon halfheartedly chats up is an unnamed male writer, who asks to observe Simon at work for his latest novel. Simon agrees, but otherwise, he lives an introverted life in the apartment above the salon, surrounded by framed posters of famous swimmers he once tried to emulate.