A Rumpus Poetry Gift Guide
Poetry for everyone
...more
RUMPUS POETRY BOOK CLUB EXCERPT: GARDEN by Gabrielle Bates
An excerpt from The Rumpus Poetry Book Club’s January selection, JUDAS GOAT by Gabrielle Bates forthcoming from Tin House Books on January 24, 2023
...more
American Mothers are Screaming: A conversation with Jessica Grose
I think people want more unstressed time with their kids. I think so much of the time we are spending with our kids we are exhausted, and we have all this other stuff on our minds that’s mentally draining, physically draining. But the answer is not always more childcare.
...more
Space to Breathe
We inhale when we’re born, then breathe and breathe and breathe until one day we exhale our final breath.
...more
The Art of Attention: Jill Christman’s If This Were Fiction: A Love Story in Essays
“If you really want to look at someone, then your only option is to look at yourself, squarely and deeply.”
...more
Rumpus Original Fiction: Chicken
I used my fingers on the neighbor and he liked it.
...more
Boys and Oil: Taylor Brorby on Making Space for Queer Stories on the Great Plains
I developed two books. One I called “The Gay Book,” and one I called “The North Dakota Book.” Well, those are the same book, as you can imagine.
...more
Voices on Addiction: Whatever Fatal Thing
D— was dreamy in the precise manner of Neil Young circa 1974. Long, dark hair; green eyes; great butt; nice smile. He was sweet, funny, just tall enough. Wore a felt hat with a hatband he’d beaded himself, and a feather. Drove a forty-year-old turquoise-and-white Ford pickup with a broom and shovel in the gun […]
...more
Threats of Violence: Discussing Pain, Form, and Cinema du Corps with Author Stephanie LaCava
There is a hyper self-awareness in all my work that acknowledges—teases itself, maybe—what it is addressing and from what entry point. I once modeled in a campaign for socks I designed for a skate label and on the box there was a small excerpt from one of my books.
...more
The Last Book
The poet goes to the supermarket for peanut butter. The poet cleans the toilet. The poet responds to emails.
...more
When Writing about Pain is Political: In Sensorium by Tanaïs
In In Sensorium . . . Tanaïs inhabits their pain fully and seeks new ways to describe and transcend it through scent, rather than just words.
...more
From the Archive: Rumpus Original Fiction: Mr. Burley
My favorite was usually the smallest, the most alive.
...more
Embracing the Half-Wild Creature: A Conversation with Sara Moore Wagner
That giant “unknown” that we’re hurtling towards is so vast. One day we’ll be torn apart by it.
...more
RUMPUS BOOK CLUB EXCERPT: USERS BY Colin Winnette
Subscribe by January 15 to the Poetry Book Club to receive this title and an invitation to an exclusive conversation with the author via Crowdcast
...more
Revising Time: Nonlinear Memory in Brian Tierney’s Rise and Float
I’m getting too close to the poems, but Tierney’s collection demands a closeness.
...more
I want their view of the world altered for the better: A conversation with Zein El-Amine
I believe that we wield whimsy to gain the malleability to adjust to the harshness of the human condition, and this is especially true when you live in war torn countries.
...more
Indiana Anomie: Budi Darma’s People from Bloomington
a portrait of the American tendency to keep the suffering of others at arm’s length as if misfortune were contagious, or to ruthlessly eliminate it entirely
...more
Rumpus Original Fiction: Prepare a Table Before Me, Anoint My Head with Oil
Before I understood that I was a girl, I understood that I was a body.
...more
I’m a Firm Believer in Timing: An Interview with Rubén Degollado
For me, it is actually harder to write a book that is grounded in realism, as that is not how I see the world or how my family sees the world.
...more
Halloween Costumes That Say: “I Understand And Am Definitely Not Threatened by Gen Z”
Absolutely, definitely not threatened at all.
...more
We Need 600 Members by Dec. 31
Today we’re asking you to show your support for The Rumpus by becoming a Member or gifting a Membership to a favorite writer in your life.
...more
Signs I Want to Wear On My Forehead: An Aro Ace Diary
To be real, what I like in bed is soft-ass blankets
...more
December Spotlight: Letters in the Mail
Twice a month, The Rumpus brings your favorite writers directly to your IRL mailbox via our Letters in the Mail programs.
...more
We Are More: I Can’t Tell
It’s February 1991, and I can’t tell you where the Middle East is on a map, or why it’s called the Middle East. But my family eats Syrian bread with every meal (I can’t tell you the difference between Syrian bread and pita, but I know they’re not the same).
...more
Finding Conviction in Chaos: Talking with Prince Shakur
When we act and what language we use to defend ourselves matters; on a craft level, this is useful to know because this very logic reveals character. What do you care about? And how does that show up in your life?
...more
The Rumpus Book Club Chat with C. Russell Price
The Rumpus Book Club chats with C. Russell Price about his poetry collection Oh You Thought This Was a Date?! (Triquarterly Books, June 2022), playlists, and the ongoing end- of-the-world.
...more
The Verdant Heart of a Mythic Neighborhood: Cleyvis Natera’s Neruda on the Park
In Natera’s masterful debut novel, a simple New York City park becomes the verdant heart of a mythic neighborhood, where fire escapes are like golden staircases and the community goodwill of friends and neighbors becomes a nurturing flame that sustains its members’ hearts and souls.
...more
Rumpus Original Fiction: The Bridal Set
The salad was plump, squealing things I couldn’t understand. I remembered feeling a deep sadness that everything in the world wasn’t painted green, the best color. I hungered for green. The gift of sunlight flecked on leaves, the pale chartreuse of American money.
...more
Centering, Appropriation, and Satire: A conversation with Chinelo Okparanta
. . . for me, a true ally makes me feel safe by actually hearing me out, by not dismissing my experiences or immediately jumping to the defense of the other party. Such an ally admits their limitations while also holding themselves accountable.
...more
