Substacks recommended by MFA Lore

Recommended by MFA Lore

Jenna's Substack - Author + Agent + Human

Hi, and welcome to my newsletter! I'm an author and literary agent, here to talk about all things publishing: the good, the bad and the ugly. So glad you're here!

A Side of Freud

By Vanessa Scaringi

Social commentary and critiques through the lens of a psychologist...

Behind the Chapters

By Connie Briscoe

A New York Times bestselling novelist's candid look at the creative process, storytelling craft, and publishing.

Connie Briscoe is a pro! If you want to know what it's like to be a prolific bestselling author, this stack's for you!

- MFA Lore

The Art of Being There

By Edward Humes

The Art of Being There is about narrative nonfiction and immersion journalism and their vital role in this age of democracy and press freedoms under siege.

Bluestocking Bombshells

By Laura Durnell ♿️ ♀️

A Literary, Art, Sociocultural and Political Salon Hosted by a Fed-Up Feminist

The Resilient Creative

By Jen Knox

Let's explore how to navigate the world as a creative person, find new ways of seeing, and cultivate resilience both on and off the page.

Smart insights into the challenges of creativity from a seasoned pro.

- MFA Lore

The Path to Creativity: The Practice of Seeing

By Charity Hume

In The Path to Creativity Substack, I share my photographs and the reflections they sometimes inspire. I hope this space will offer moments of inspiration and refuge as you explore your own creative path.

Photographs, reflections, inspiration from a true creative!

- MFA Lore

SubMakk

By Rebecca Makkai

Rebecca Makkai's Substack: mostly writing and books! but also Zillow, true crime, etymology, food, general inanity

I am so excited to discover Rebecca Makkai on Substack! Brilliant fiction writer with valuable craft insights.

- MFA Lore

ancestory

By Lisa

Your family has a story. Your family were makers of history. ancestory is the place where family stories and history meet.

Gorgeous writing about the narrative treasures our ancestors' legacies hold for us.

- MFA Lore

Feeding Bliss

By Lily Chien-Davis

A writer's journey towards bliss by feeding her brain with nutrient-dense "food" (writings, recipes, audio and more) for optimal mental and metabolic health.

Learn about life after getting an MFA -- the writing life and all the other lives that writers--especially women writers -- must cultivate to feed their souls! Thank you for adding your voice to Substack, Lily!

- MFA Lore

Man-pleasing Recipes

By Kitty Sheehan

Join me on a trip through vintage Seventeen magazines to review the male gaze that shaped our self-images through advertising.

Writing in the Dark with Jeannine Ouellette

By Jeannine

For people who do language. Writing saved my life—so I teach writing as if it can save yours.

Living in 3D

By Amy Brown

Life lessons in embracing desire in every decade from a late-blooming woman in her 60s, still in the process of becoming. We thrive by planting our roots in all three dimensions at once: mind, body and spirit.

No More Going High with Johnny

By Johnny Palmadessa

Just a Gen-Z activist on a mission to challenge the far-right agenda and create real change.

Ellen’s World

By Ellen Wallace

Life in a Swiss landscape: notes and longer reads on wine&food, gardens, hikes, books, world travels. Subscribe to the newsletter and/or occasional separate long reads.

What a heavenly war to vicariously savor the life and wines of Switzerland!

- MFA Lore

Seymour Hersh

It's worse than you think

Footnotes and Tangents

By Simon Haisell

Slow reads of great books. Book guides and a reading community to help you get more from the best stories.

Anthony Christian

Focused on narrative, messaging, and cutting through the noise. Writing what leaders won’t say, and what people need to hear.

Writing Family Histories

By Sarah Einstein

my writing to recover lost family history, with prompts so you can, too.

Goal: beautiful lyric memoir writing with a deep dive into family history. How do we do that? Follow this journey.

- MFA Lore

Publishing Confidential

By Kathleen Schmidt

News and analysis about the book publishing industry that you won't read anywhere else.

Amy Martin's–Crashworthy

Essays on surviving, thriving, and becoming our most intrepid, resilient selves in an unstable world.

Sieran Lane

A gay trans nonbinary (he/him) writer and psychotherapist. Check out my blog here: https://sieranlane.ghost.io

Liminal with Jennifer Steil

Award-winning author and ovarian cancer wrangler Dr. Jennifer Steil talks writing, reading, recurrence, and remission as well as life in the fertile territory between countries, sexualities, identities, cultures, languages, and homes.

Your Motley Stories

By MotleyStories

Motley Stories is about our past & present experiences. The world we live in continues to change, and our daily lives will soon become part of history. It's important to preserve our stories for future generations.

Kate Motley is providing a vital service -- helping us protect our memories, archives, legacy. She reminds us that the evidence of our lives is now largely digital and can be gone with a click unless we take care to curate and keep it as we live it. Before it's too late!!!

- MFA Lore

The Word Cave

By Lilly Dancyger

Short essays and missives about writing, reading, and art from Lilly Dancyger, author of First Love and Negative Space. Plus occasional writing course listings.

My Dead Flowers

By My Dead Flowers: By Buku

Writer /photographer in Paris Books: Not Quite A Disaster, Poetry (Fall '25) |Monograph: Photowali Didi | Screenplay: The Shameless | Works in/at NYRB, n+1, ZYZZYVA, 3penny, Art Basel Miami | P/t Faculty ICP

unbound

By Justina Chen

Thoughts, tips, and techniques about finding and freeing your voice in these tumultuous times from an author and former speechwriter who has worked with dozens of senior leaders.

Dear Democracy

By Katy Dalgleish

Dear Democracy, You need us for your success. Sincerely, Public Schools

A Writer's Notebook

By Summer Brennan

essays, art, and inspiration from an American writer in Paris

Dispatches From Stricklandia

By Mike Strickland

Musings about speculative fiction and writing craft, along with occasional publication news, from award-winning author Mike Strickland.

I love Michael Strickland's Dispatches-- especially his MFAdventure series as he gets his low-residency MFA! Wonderful idea!

- MFA Lore

SHE WHO STIRS THE STORM

By Gloria Horton-Young

Poet, painter, storyteller, rabblerouser–a tempest in red lipstick. Expect provocative opinions, spirited rants, and laughter. This is my playground: rules rewritten daily.

5AM StoryTalk

By Cole Haddon

A community of artists and art lovers trying to make sense of the 21st century together - through the lens of film, TV, music, novels, and fine art.

The (Mostly) Unplanned Life-Kerry Madden-Lunsford

By The (Mostly)Unplanned Life-Kerry Madden-Lunsford

Story-catching and the day to day

Kerry turns the daily stories of life into tales on the page.

- MFA Lore

Constant Commoner

By Ramona

Essays from the cultural hinterlands. I'm in the boonies but I have Internet and a working BS meter. My country is on the skids right now and I'm trying to get it back on track. Other things are on my mind, but not often.

Views Through a Policy Prism

By Dana Dolan

Weekly policy analysis that blends breaking news with frameworks that actually explain what's happening. Subscribers across 20+ states and 12 countries.

Dana's presentation of politics and policy through the prism of frameworks is essential to understanding the world today. It's also an essential tool for creative writers struggling to create narratives about our world. The frameworks of politics and the frameworks of stories go hand in hand.

- MFA Lore

REASONS FOR LIVING with Esmé Weijun Wang

Step into a sanctuary curated by Esmé, featuring guest contributors like R.F. Kuang & Jenny Odell. Each edition presents essays & prompts exploring the beauty/complexity of being alive. Unlock 2 monthly essays & bonus resources with a paid subscription.

The Enthusiast by Tom Teicholz

A Culture Maven Reports from Tommywood

The View from Rural Missouri by Jess Piper

My name is Jess and I was a high school Literature teacher for 16 years until I decided to run as a Democrat in a rural, red district in Missouri. I bring you news and politics from Missouri and beyond from a rural progressive point of view.

Poetic Outlaws

A place for the outlaws of poetry and the written word.

Immigrant Strong by Vesna Jaksic Lowe

By vesna jaksic lowe

Writing by—and children of—immigrants and refugees. The struggles, the triumphs, and the quirks.

Chapter Break

By Alyssa Matesic

Writing advice and book publishing insights from industry leaders and established authors put together by your friendly neighborhood book editor!

This Might Go Terribly | Amy Bee

Stories About Performing Anyway. Join Amy Bee, a lifelong anxious misfit, as she learns to tell true stories onstage—one "look-at-me but don't-look-at-me but why-aren't-you-looking-at-me-dammit" scaredy-cat step at a time.

Writing Magic

By Alice Hoffman

with Alice Hoffman

Writers' Haven by Christine Wolf

By Christine Wolf_The Latest

Trauma-informed memoir coach and teacher of expressive writing practices. I’ve studied the research, taught the method, and lived the outcomes.

Notes from a Small Press

By Anne Trubek

Think of these as signatures, unbound. Thoughts, explanations, and screeds about the publishing industry by Anne Trubek, founder of Belt Publishing. For the bound version, pick up "So You Want To Publish A Book?" Belt Publishing, July 2020.

The Armchair Journalist

By Nancy Jainchill

Commentaries and observations about what matters to me, often unexpected.

Homi Hormasji

Ask An Author

By Kate Broad

GREENWICH is now available from St. Martin's Press! People Magazine Best New Book | Amazon Editor's Pick | Vanity Fair Summer Read. Answering questions from authors at all stages of writing, publishing, and hand-wringing.

Bookish

By Christine Sneed

Books & book-adjacent topics, taking the long view, the writing life, and related resources. Posts every 5-6 days.

Kate’s Substack

By Kate Gale

My personal Substack

Kate Gale is a literary force in book publishing. The power behind Red Hen Press, she is also a vibrant poet and author in her own right. Her Substack gives us a personal peek into the complicated world that created and nourishes this icon of independent publishing.

- MFA Lore