The Hot Literati
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Essays, interviews, and dispatches from the community.
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Literature
Why I love Mondays
Actually, I Really Like Writing
Art & Culture
Beauty Parlour
Art & Culture
Swirl Girl
A Barnard senior who deleted Instagram, paints big, and makes folk music with friends. Meet Swirl Girl.
Hotter Literati
Short-form Chicago
Art & Culture
New Mexico & Faith’s Paradox
Events
If Murakami Did it, So can U
and events in NYC and Chicago
Events
Flirty Fall & WHIM Magazine Launch
A Flirty Fall Bucketlist
Events
Find Hot Literatis in Your City
Events
We threw a Steinbeck Party
Literature
A Platform for Writers that's Actually for Writers
Hotter Literati
How to Fall in Love
Introduce Yourself
Hi, I'm Marissa
Life
The Business of Dating
long ramble
Life
Late to the Dance Floor
Dating apps vs. meeting IRL
Hotter Literati
How to find Artistic Mentors
and how I found mine
Hotter Literati
I think We've Moved On
Introduce Yourself
Hi, I'm Bassey
Events
Getting Into the Toni Morrison Mindset at Grand Cru Chicago
Hotter Literati
But I don't want to be a Snob Anymore
The Hottest Literati
Kitty Lever
Introduce Yourself
Hi, I'm abi
By Hot Literati
Get a degree in being (hot and) smart!
Hotter Literati
The Global Decline of the Scroll
Events
Pickleball and Kalshi
By Hot Literati
Rat House
Events
The Pros at the Parliament
Events
New York Poetry Prize Party
Events
Secret Agent Reading
Hotter Literati
Generative Economies are HOT
Manifesto
The Hot Literati Manifesto
Beauty can save the world, but fun is what makes it a party.
Introduce Yourself
Carla Literati
Introduce Yourself
Julia Literati
Hey! My name is Julia Francis. I was born in the lovely state of Massachusetts, where I have lived my whole life so far except for a few solo sidequests. I was raised on fresh air, dirt, library books, and 70s and 80s music. I have always loved pursuing a thousand different creative projects and…
Introduce Yourself
Shanice Literati
My name is Shanice and I was born and raised in Barbados. I want my running toward my desires to make my forbearers nod their heads in understanding. Musts protein some silence! music/a good singing session wining this waist a fascinating book Loves waffles a sinuous Mugler piece! a sickening…
Events
Blue Afternoon by Georgia McCann
Hotter Literati
How to Set Boundaries
Literature
Who is Chris Jesu Lee
Welcome to The Hottest Literati Every month, we choose one cool artist from anywhere in the world to highlight and to support. The August 2026 Hottest Literati is... Chris Jesu Lee He is a... New York-based writer and lawyer, who is currently revising his first novel. He writes regularly on his…
Hotter Literati
hailo's rules for Dating in New York
1. When you move to New York, you are going to go insane and feel hyper-social and like everything is magical -- especially if it is your first time living in a walkable city. You should lean into that and make art while you do. 2. Then, you are probably going to have one insane situationship…
Introduce Yourself
Michaela Literati
Hi all! My name is Michaela and I grew up in Oakland, California, and recently moved back after spending two years in Spain. Hit me up if you have a thing for women's coming of age stories, want to exchange manuscripts, or get a coffee at Baker & Commons. Musts side by side reading time vent…
Events
Farmers Market at Lore
On July 25th, I, hailo, went to Lore-- a new sauna in Noho for The Bathhouse Block Party event. Lore is one of many new saunas in New York as the wellness industry continues to expand and clubbing begins to dwindle. I am no better than the headlines. I am a member of Gen Z who gets off on being in…
Events
A woman, alone, abroad.
On March 25, 2026 I, Julia, stepped off the plane and onto the tarmac, immediately flooded by unfamiliarity. I had already booked my trains from city to city, starting tomorrow morning, but for now it was past my bedtime and I had no idea how to get to my hostel in the center of Warsaw. Some signs…
Hotter Literati
How to Make Adulthood Fun
Lately I've been thinking a lot about college students I've met and recent grads adjusting to adult life. I myself am not super far past twenty-two, so I remember all of the feelings of being 22/23. What I have to say today, I think is not only important, but life-changing. You can't just go…
Events
Anaïs Nin Night
On Tuesday, July 21st Hot Literati Member and writer Marissa Vivian lead our New York Chapter through Anaïs Nin Night. Hot Literatis never flake It was a crazy day in New York, as a storm broke and we all got notifications of a tornado warning! But still, we gathered as a group to celebrate life,…
Events
The New Critic Launch Party
On July 18th, 2026 I, hailo, went to a literary party. As I write this, I am drinking coffee on the couch and intermittently reading The Idiot. I'm on page 407. The New Critic is a literary magazine founded by some recent Ivy League grads looking to create a space where Gen Z can write anything,…
Events
The Whitney Biennial
On Sunday, July 12th I, hailo, went to the Whitney to see the Biennial. The first time I ever heard about the Whitney Biennial was through an artist I used to date. A piece he was working on was being considered. An "almost" is what he was left with, I think. I didn't plan on going to the Whitney…
Art & Culture
Kim Kalesti ♡ The Full Interview
Events
Hearth is one of New York's Hottest Restaurants
Plus Steamed Chicken, La Cabra, & my DMs are closed (unless you are a brand or an invitation) hello party girls I don't check Hot Literati's DMs very much because I've been prioritizing engaging with members on the website-- members who post, come to book club, and more. But I did check them…
Events
I Will Move Back to Wichita when it's Walkable
I love Wichita. It is my hometown and is the reason I am who I am in many ways. However, every time I come home I remember why I keep leaving. Wichita has a slight problem with the diversification of its economy-- a problem that business and community leaders and tackling head on. For an ambitious,…
Literature
Deadly Male Ambition
Teddy Wayne's 'The Au Pair' and the dilemma of disappointed men Jacques-Louis David, The Coronation of Napoleon, 1805-1807 For the last ten years of his literary output, Teddy Wayne has grappled with the question of what is to be done about men these days, and what is their place in society? It was…
Events
Niche Culinary Institute
On July 6th, 2026 I, hailo, headed to downtown Wichita to visit NICHE's Culinary School. Photo by Kevin Colborn Niche is a part of Wichita State's Technical School, training the next generation of chefs, restaurant operators, and others suited to disrupt the hospitality industry. Hospitality is an…
Art & Culture
Kim Kalesti's Rules for Art
Welcome to The Hottest Literati Every month, we choose one cool artist from anywhere in the world to highlight and to support. The July 2026 Hottest Literati is... Kim Kalesti Q: What made you want to make things? A: It’s our nature to be creative. Q: A favorite you hold sacred? A: All Life visible…
Events
Sunset Run Club with Sun Cruiser
On Wednesday, July 8th, I, hailo, went on a run with Dylan Efron! That morning, I got on a plane in Wichita, Kansas, my hometown, and flew through Minneapolis to La Guardia. I called a car straight to Pier 66 where I joined a group of runners, influencers, and journalists to run around three miles…
Events
Walk Literati
or, Why I'm going to make Wichita walkable When you are a Child ,in school they will show you videos of people like Martin Luther king jr and Albert Einstein and tell you that you can change the world. When you are an adult and you say that you want to change the world they will tell you that you…
Events
Kismet Launch Party
On July 30th, 2026 I, hailo, went to Church. I went to the big Church on Bowery for the launch of Kismet's latest issue. Photo by Chris Jesu Lee I had walked by the church and eyed it for a very long time. It is beautiful, the way big churches are. Kismet is a literary magazine that explores…
Introduce Yourself
Joe Literati
I'm Joe deLannoy I'm from Salt Lake City, Utah. I am 27 years old and I'm a first year Medical Student! I'd self identify as a fun person who is curious and loves to learn. I can be a bit stoic at times but that's something I'm working on. Musts YouTube Premium Hot tea in the morning (Mate usually…
Art & Culture
Who is Kim Kalesti
Welcome to The Hottest Literati Every month, we choose one cool artist from anywhere in the world to highlight and to support. The July 2026 Hottest Literati is... Kim Kalesti She is a... Singer, songwriter, and painter based in New York. What's coming this month This is the first edition of The…
Introduce Yourself
hailo Literati
Hello I am Hailey Denise Colborn, but a lot of people call me "hailo." I was born in Wichita, Kansas. I've been in New York for around four years, though long-term I'd like to split my time between Kansas, New York, and France. I'm a retired beauty queen and I identify as quiet. I like speaking…
Hotter Literati
Virginia Woolf Should have Done More Karaoke
Dear Hot Literatis, I hope you all had a beautiful weekend. I just ran seven miles, I love an evening summer run. At the end, I popped into AWOL on 25th street to sing exactly one karaoke song. I was thinking about how so much of life is keeping yourself entertained and moving toward a goal you can…
Hotter Literati
All Love All Pride
Dear Literatis, It’s been a while since I’ve been over on this side of the tracks, i.e. my home away from home. If you don’t know me, I’ve been a part of Hot Literati since 2024. That year I created a column called Wayward Wonderland through which I recorded my queer life and its queer quirks.…
Hotter Literati
My Raymond Carver Cult
I love you maniacs I have this artistic fantasy/urge of going into people
Events
Watch The Game With Hot Literati
& a Job for Creatives that Pays $80-$110k/yrhello beautiful Hot Literatis around the world I
Hotter Literati
Nabokov Night
On Tuesday, June 9th we gathered 20 Hot Literati at LES Wine on the Lower East Side to discuss Vladimir Nabokov, Lolita, and life.Each group put together their own take on Lolita as a love story, a horror story, and/or a comedy.Here
Hotter Literati
Cafe Katja
It
Hotter Literati
Life Is A Good Word
hello beautiful Hot Literatis!Happy Monday, I controversially love Mondays and early mornings. Maybe I enjoy beginnings. This morning, I wrote 1500 words on a draft of a second novel. I have a manuscript of a first sitting at home in Kansas that exactly one person has read. On Friday, I had lunch with one of my mentors, who encouraged me to treat writing like more of a job, sitting down at the same time every day before all of the other life stuff gets in your head, as opposed to only doing it w
Hotter Literati
Hot Literati At The Box
Tonight I went to the box for the first time. The first time I heard about the box was from a classmate in my eating club back in 2022 after they attended a party there with a former mayor, lots of models, and other A-list sorts. That world felt so glamorous and aloof to me and a year later that same friend would bring me into their world here in New York and I would begin writing about clubbing online and begin accquiring an audience and something like momentum. An open bar and lots of literary
Hotter Literati
Can Engineering Be Hot
Little Deaths/Delights 94Writing WeekI
Hotter Literati
"Erupcja" as a coming of age film
Myth and ritual performed by Charli XCX and Lena GóraI saw Erupcja in the iconic Kino Pod Baranami in Krakow. The theatre itself opened in 1969, but this screening was in the Niebieski Sala, which felt far too vintage and communist-era to have been built in just 2003. The vibe was perfectly funky; this is exactly how Charli would want it, I thought as I settled in for the 90 minutes.Having spent the last eight months in Poland, and being in active preparation for my second brat summer, I was obv
Hotter Literati
It's All a Matter of Perspective
Hello my beautiful angels, cuties, and lovers. I think it
Events
Hot Literati At Miu Miu
Last night, I, hailo, went to Miu Miu on 57th st to celebrate Joey King
Hotter Literati
An Appetite For Life
Glow Up Week: Let Yourself Have DesiresWelcome back to your weekly reset inside of Hot Literati <3Glow Up WeekOne question I
Hotter Literati
Invitation To A Beheading
and the hard problem of consciousnessI remember realizing the hard problem of consciousness at around 6 years old. I was playing with Barbies beside the bookshelf my grandfather built me and It just struck me, all at once, that everybody had their own mind and that that made a lot of minds in the whole entire world. It was one of those ideas that scared me so much as a child that I sort of walked back from it, in my own mind. I think perhaps, this mutual obsession is one of the things that draws
Hotter Literati
Stop Trying To Fall In Love
If you want to get anything donehello my beautiful angels,I am writing this at 10:34 in the evening. Tonight I got dinner with my lovely friend who just moved to New York from London, and then we popped into a karaoke bar to sing Like a Prayer by Madonna together. It astonishes me how some people are too shy for karaoke, but then I look back at myself two years ago and I was too shy for karaoke. On Labeling YourselfI used to be very shy, actually. Sometimes I still can be, but one lesson I
Hotter Literati
Hot Literati At On The Rag
hello all of my beautiful Hot Literatis. i have an undying love of the morning. I love the mornings. Fresh brain, and the way light is pure when it hits the trees, even in a place as urban as New York. I
Hotter Literati
Charles
I met Charles on a street in Charlotte Amalie about a week after I arrived in the Virgin Islands with two hundred dollars and no plan. He was Haitian, a contractor, and by the end of the conversation he had pointed me to a structure behind his house. Eight feet by ten, pieced together from boards that had never seen a lumberyard. “You stay there,” he said. “We work first. We figure the rent later.”The next morning he took me to the dump. The Bovoni landfill, where the island’s discards waited fo
Hotter Literati
God Save the Scene!
hello beautiful angels, princesses, and other people of the Hot Literati Universe. I’m so happy you’re here. Tomorrow, I
Hotter Literati
My Day As Not A Puppy But An Angel
hello beautiful angels, princes, and people of the Hot Literati Digital and irl universe I guess the thing that i
Hotter Literati
I am nothing if not an influencer
hello beautiful angels of the Hot Literati Universe.I hope that you are happy and also having a nice time. I
Hotter Literati
Hot Literati Gets Laser Hair Removal
hello party girls and boys I trust that you are having a good April. We are going to go back to one summer day last year, before I ran away to Europe for two months with little notice. This is the story of the first time I got laser hair removal. I
Hotter Literati
Introductions
It
Hotter Literati
I Love Life I Love Kansas I Love New York
hello cuties and beautiful angels of the Hot Literati Universe. I am in Kansas visiting my parents for a few days. Whenever I’m in New York and I tell someone that I’m from Kansas, their jaw sort of drops. At the door to clubs, I used to make jokes like clicking my heels and a few Halloween’s ago, I even dressed up at Dorothy for an eventful night at Knockdown. My heels were red and my feet bled, but I had a really good time. What’s a blister or two?Overall, I’m always happy to meet people and t
Hotter Literati
I Don't Feel Like Myself
Spring Cleaning!shop my closet here -- all items are available until 2pm ET Thursday! And then I will be travelling and won
Events
Hot Literati in Wichita, Kansas
hello beautiful people of the Hot Literati Universe. For those of you that don
Hotter Literati
Hottie Hotline
Dear Hot Literatis,Do you have burning, unanswered questions you’d like to seek counsel on? Is there a problem that you think might be solved with a good book?We’d like to help you, following in the footsteps of many agony aunts before us, offering our literary-informed advice to your heartache, friend dilemmas, and all the adventures and misfortunes that appear in this era of your life.If this resonates with you, please comment your questions and concerns, and we will do our best to support you
Hotter Literati
Hot Literati at Jean's
hello cuties, angels, and lovers. If you know me, then you know that I strongly believe that life is about walking around and saying hello to a lot of people. That being said, I am going to resume telling you about some of the places I went and the people I saw! Starting with Jean
Hotter Literati
I Am Not a Runner (And Yet)
An English and Econ major who doesn
Hotter Literati
A Case for Dilettante Spring
hello cuties angels and lovers I spent most of today flyering for Hot Literati. It
Hotter Literati
How I became an Angel
Or how to become a better youHailo is a bit of a character to me, she is someone who I become when life gets hard or when I need to do something brave. As ridiculous as it is, I think alter ego or persona building is extremely effective, and more importantly fun.My Princeton boyfriend began calling me hailo during our relationship. The name took other shapes like “swailo.” I began using hailo as an online name early on TikTok, then again when I became a discord moderator at my first sit down job
Hotter Literati
There Are So Many Men in the World Who Are Nicolas Cage but Aren't Nicolas Cage
I get certain phrases stuck in my head sometimes, and this one about nicolas cage has been there for years. I used it as an instagram caption a year or two ago and eventually deleted every photo before deleting my entire account for a month. Most decisions like this, I make out of curiosity, not fear, or shame. I think joy and curiosity are good places to root anything and most of the time, even though not all, you can decide how you react to and feel about things. I let myself sulk sometimes, b
Hotter Literati
Comedy: American Style by Jessie Redmon Fauset
summaryComedy: American Style is a tragedy. The title is the first irony. Fauset
Hotter Literati
Influence: How to Exert It by Yoritomo-Tashi
Summary Influence: How to Exert It is a 1916 self-help classic with a literary mystery at its center. The book was published under the name "Yoritomo-Tashi" — presented to readers as the wisdom of a great Japanese Shogun — but scholars have since established that "Yoritomo-Tashi" was actually a fictional persona created by a French woman named Berthe Blanchard, who used "B. Dangennes" as one of her pseudonyms. Whether the book
Hotter Literati
Saturday Night
Saturday NightYour life is a series of big and small questions. Life is a word we gave for an amount of time that we have to do a lot of things, like walk around and say hello to a lot of people. Sometimes i have a hard time finding my place, and then i remember that life is trying to find your place and if you ever really found it, then you
Hotter Literati
How I Got Unbelievably Undeniably Hotter
During the summer of 2024, i was pretty unhappy with my life and i began to set all of these arbitrary rules for myself. Like the fact that I would run every morning and only listen to music that made me feel hot after a long stretch of depression rock and roll, and probably most importantly, that I wouldn
Hotter Literati
My First Real Sabbath
84. Little Deaths/DelightsHello beautiful people of the Hot Literati Digital Universe. I have taken up a mind to observe the Sabbath. My perceptions of the Sabbath are related to reading Little House on the Prairie as a child and identifying with the children
Events
Hot Literati at Sarah Lawrence
A couple of weeks ago, I had the honor of visiting Sarah Lawrence to read an essay and answer questions about Hot Literati and my writing practice. Huge thank you to Kulsum for organizing everything, and for the campus literary group Dark Phrases for hosting, and bringing such good, raw questions.I never thought that a single TikTok in 2022 would lead to Hot Literati, but it
Hotter Literati
My Day In The Verve Vault
In December, I had the honor of hanging at the office of a record label called Verve Records for a couple of hours. What I did to earn the honor? I have no idea, but hanging out is a skill that I didn’t develop until I stopped being addicted to my phone. And I like to think that I was invited because now, I
Hotter Literati
Is Your Media Diet Making You Ugly
91. Is Your Media Diet Making You Ugly?Have you changed your media diet in a significant way that
Hotter Literati
81 Little Deaths Delights
Their Eyes Were Watching God and Sarah LawrenceGood morning cuties, angels, and lovers. I am drinking "cowboy coffee," which is when you have one cup of grounds and hot water and let the grounds float to the bottom. I think cowboy coffee is a nice reminder that things can actually be really simple. On Friday, I gave a reading at Sarah Lawrence and answered a lot of questions about Hot Literati. They were wonderful hosts and I had an amazing time. This week we
Hotter Literati
How To Clean Up Your Life
How to Clean Up Your LifeOr, How to Clean Up Your LifeEvery since I was a little girl, I have been a hoarder of memories. I
Hotter Literati
The Back Room March Clubs
Happy Friday Beautiful people! I am extremely caffeinated and sitting in a beam of sunshine in a new apartment. Moving is a humble exercise, especially in a pre-war buidling. My hamstrings are sore. Last night, I attended a Substack event at The Back Room on the Lower East Side. The first time I went to the back room I was 22 or 23. They have a 25 and up door and I talked my way inside to wait for my date. We roamed around and after on a cool summer night and said goodbye. He later suggested we
Hotter Literati
Bringing Back Hot Literati Clubs
hello hello I
Hotter Literati
My First Big Literary Rejection
And some thoughts on the World Wide WebToday I received my first real literary rejection, which was an email that said "I
Hotter Literati
80 Little Deaths Delights
What to do When it Won
Hotter Literati
Three Ways Reading Dostoevsky Can Make You Hotter
Hope you guys enjoy! 3 Ways Reading Dostoevsky Can Make You HotterComment your fav Dostoevsky book and don
Hotter Literati
Dating in London
Hello! Today I
Hotter Literati
79. Little Deaths/Delights
Get out of your head to be HotterGood morning cuties, angels, and lovers. I hope that you all had a wonderful valentines day! I myself had a great one, I feel happy, well-fed, and relaxed. There
Hotter Literati
78. Little Deaths/Delights
Ballet, Computer Science, and Journaling hello hello good people of Hot Literati I hope you
Hotter Literati
The Allure of Decadence
Melancholia and Isherwood MusingsI first read Goodbye to Berlin last summer, months after my infatuation with the Kander and Ebb musical adaptation Cabaret began. I read the book during the summer where it rained nearly constantly, following the heatwave the year prior where London was so scorching the city almost seemed to be burning for its sins. That summer I’d take long walks to local parks. I’d frequent Golders Hill park then make my way to parts of Hampstead Heath. I had to walk far for a
Hotter Literati
Learning about Business made me less Cynical
Or, on interdisciplinary thinking. I
Hotter Literati
The Work of Life
2026: What do I want to work on? Work out? Work towards?Matter of fact, why do I ask myself these questions every year? I guess I want to understand how to spend my energy so I can move in a direction aligned with my higher self.Energy is precious. It’s a substance that cannot be created or destroyed, only transferred – that’s why they say energy is contagious. I like your energy! I like hers too.Energy is quantifiable: I have a lot of energy! I have no energy at all.But what makes energy great
Hotter Literati
How To Actually Have Fun
Weird Girls have Weird HobbiesFor one of my forty books of 2025, I read Thinking Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman. It was a bit heady and dense at some points, but full of interesting studies around the human brain and cognition. Toward the end, he explores something called a U-index that was a measure of unhappiness in people. In that section, he made a distinction between passive and active participation in something, claiming that those who did more passive participation were largely unhappie
Hotter Literati
The Wild Wild West End Girl
Lily Allen and the danger of misbehavingby Cara Ballingall“I often wonder who I am and where is my country and where do I belong and why was I ever born at all.”So says Antoinette Cosway in Jean Rhys’ The Wide Sargasso Sea, a novel that proposes the origin story for Bertha Mason, Mr Rochester’s madwoman wife in the attic in Jane Eyre, and, in doing so, opens up a voice against a status quo that seeks to disvalue unpalatable women. Antoinette, the sensuous and emotional daughter of a Jamaican pla
Hotter Literati
Weird Girl Winter Rituals
Hiii. Yesterday I re-read and annotated Audre Lorde’s essay Uses of the Erotic. Her writing almost always remains in that state of beauty and elusivity, so of course, there are concepts and sentences I am still grappling with. Nonetheless, the way she uses words to worship eroticism and its nature reminded me of my own personal practices….acting like a beautiful animal, making myself feel like a housewife awaiting a charming husband to motivate me to clean, and meditating to slow music in the da
Events
36 Hours in Plymouth/Provincetown
& Boston. America, I.R.L.IntroHello. I am back. I needed to hide from the internet for a little bit. I did this performance art piece last Halloween as a girl in a glass box. I wrote a story that it was based on. And then I lost the file :o Three hours into the piece, I suddenly wanted to hide. Didn’t want to be looked at. I felt like that for a bit, I think. But hello, I am back.I’ve struggled with depression on and off ever since I was a little girl. Around twelve, I think was the age. I think
Hotter Literati
Get Naked More
Listen to the post: Get Naked MoreMost girls (and boys) become aware of their bodies as sites of sexual attention as secondary sex characteristics begin to emerge. This awareness usually comes long before they’ve developed a clear understanding of what their new bodies mean, socially. An unfortunate part of this developmental stage are the emotions that surface after confronting the perversity of media, culture, and some adults.Weaving, 193I know that now as a twenty-two-year-old woman. But, as
Literature
A Conversation With Rob Franklin
I sat down with Rob Franklin to talk about the writing process, side hustles, MFA programs, Anna Nicole Smith, and his debut novel GREAT BLACK HOPE.Rob Franklin and I met on a surprisingly sunny day at Spicy Village, one of his favorite spots in Chinatown. He came dressed in breezy, all-white linen pants and shirt. I was running late, moving as quickly as I could from the port authority bus terminal. Rob was gracious and kind. I was thrilled to meet with a debut novelist who could provide insigh
Events
Othership An Obsession Worthy Sauna
As social clubs lose relevance (and members), yet Americans are hungrier for connection now, more than ever before, a new space in the market has opened up to facilitate human connection and intention through locale, hobbies, and shared belief. In March, Robbie Bent– Othership Founder– and I sat in a corner of the central room of the Flatiron location. A place where you wait for a journey to begin or can sit and hang out between a sauna or a cold plunge. He has a great, welcoming energy. He was—
Events
54 Hours in Miami
without a smartphoneWRITTEN ON DAY 1Otw to the airportI’ve been saying (half joking, half not) for months now that “God has been telling me to go to Miami. I was at a pretty intimate music salon last weekend and I met this wonderful woman who told me, completely unprompted that she split her time between New York and Miami and that she was looking for someone to rent her place for a few remaining days in Miami. So alas, I took the days and booked a flight and called my father to tell him that I
Hotter Literati
The First Thing I Did When I Got To New York
Was buy a bunch of vegetables. A cauliflower. Two carrots. Red cabbage. I love red cabbage. I can
Hotter Literati
Rules For Stargirl Spring
Stargirl Spring, inspired by Jerry Spinelli
Hotter Literati
On Depression And Mail
I am going to the post office tomorrow.Sometimes you wake up and you
Events
36 Hours in Princeton, New Jersey
America, I.R.L.photos are all by Hailey CognettiI decided I wanted to go to Princeton the same way I discovered much of the world from my bedroom.A google search.I was a fourteen-year-old sophomore in high school. I’d just gotten back from New York for the first time, terrified that maybe I wasn’t cut out for ballet. I googled “best schools for writing to set a new dream. But in the process, I’d sort of given up on an old one. I’ve realized this recently and am back in ballet. I’ve been taking v
Hotter Literati
Stop Labeling Yourself as an Artist
The World Needs Your Artistic ExpressionHi guys! I
Hotter Literati
The Gospel According to A...
About meHelllllllllooooo Hot Literati Nation! I’m Anne (I’m a lot more interesting than my name – Ipromise). I
Hotter Literati
My Week in Poughkeepsie
On the artist
Hotter Literati
No Idols Tattoo
It is never too late to wake up and change your mind about who you are, or even who you can be. Jon Mesa is the case and point example of this. I saw him before I met him, passing by the shop on Orchard Street to Cafe Katja (one of my favorite restaurants in New York because it feels like home). One night I’d see him crafting a considerable piece on someone’s back, a week or so later I’d see him and a couple of the other artists seated in the brightly lit studio speaking into microphones. I sat
Hotter Literati
A Call For American Artists
To be really fucking sickWe, as a society are too in our heads and not enough in our hearts and bodies. We are perpetually performing for each other in real time, and everyone is worried about being right and getting famous instead of the peace of mind and safeties of their families and neighbors.In The Sirens of Titan, Vonnegut describes the purpose of life:“A purpose of human life, no matter who is controlling it, is to love whoever is around to be loved.”With the past 20 or so years of consum
Hotter Literati
Hot Literati is down with Verizon
Because they don
Hotter Literati
I Love Kansas I Love America
America, IRL with Hailo.I love America, Because I love Kansas An American childhoodI grew up playing in the street, occasionally veering off to run down this one ditch. I once let a mouse into it, after my father caught it in the garage. We gave it a piece of American cheese and released it into the big, wild world.My father had a wooden creeper to slide under cars, given to him by his father. Nevermind he traded his first car for a computer. I used to sit on the couch and read Doctor Seuss book
Hotter Literati
To Build a Home
The City According to Hot Literati: Cocina ConsueloI’ve been chasing home for a long time.I moved to New York in July. It’s always been a little complicated, though. Home was never really home growing up. And for the past four years I’ve been yo-yoing across coasts and between cities, my favorite certainties cut short by the blunt knife of academic calendars. Just as I’d begin to appreciate the warm suburban hum of East Cambridge or memorize the route to my favorite L.A. art ho coffee shop, the
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Hot Literati, A24
This past year more than ever I’ve loudly claimed my identification as a party girl. I party not just because I
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Self Soul And Spirit
1. Self is the ego and ego is the devil Nice to meet you, my name is (my name). I have brown hair and brown eyes, I am from Brooklyn, my birthday is in February. I listen to rock music. I read books. I always have chipped nail polish and I like it that way. My lashes are curled and I am hungry. I speak with excitement and when I’m extra excited I’m loud. Like when I say, We’re so disconnected from our bodies, especially women since the nine to five workday was adapted for the male’s hormone cycl
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Waffles At The Lv Cafe Initial Thoughts On The Luigi Discourse And A Quick Note On Wicked
WEEKEND RECAP + HOT LITERATI GIFT GUIDEGood morning. I
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A look back at Lover Girl Fall
Hello all of you, My dedicated, wonderful, kind, generous readers and subscribers. Not a day goes by that I don’t step back, grateful for your support, investment, and interest as I gab and philosophize on the internet. I was having a birthday meal with editor Sarah Sturm, a few days ago, and I was telling her that Hot Literati functions in seasons because that it quite literally how my mind works. Maybe it’s a byproduct of fashion cycles, going to the department store with my mother at the turn
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Cafe 82
THE CITY ACCORDING TO HOT LITERATIOver pancakes and coffee at Café 82, Ananya, Anderson II, and Nwakaego brought their perspectives to the table at Cafe 82. These three writers turned a casual brunch into a thoughtful exchange on creativity, storytelling, and the city that inspires it all.Located in the heart of the Upper West Side, Café 82 is a cozy diner known for its classic menu and iconic NYC charm—it even made an appearance in an episode of Sex and the City! Next time you visit, say hi fro
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I Don't Want a Boyfriend, but a Husband Would Be Nice
It came to my attention that I should be scouting for a mate before I knew what any of those words even meant. I began to twist the stems from my apple to the tune of the alphabet at a very young age. Whichever letter you say as the stem snaps off is the first initial of your future husband, I learned. My stem would inevitably snap at Q or some other inconvenient letter, and I’d sit in a huff about the rarity of such a rune. Now I am older and I know this is nothing but an old wives’ tale, but I
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Thanksgiving at Tiffany's
ON HOLLY GOLIGHTLYLast year, I went to the Paris Review Spring Revel. I didn
Fashion
Barbie Literati
A reflection, an immersive Barbie World, & a Contest I’ve always been obsessed with the Barbie website. Peak internet. I have a core memory of designing a dreamhouse on one of the games on the website, different from the computer game (cd rom I THINK) where I could give a more 3D Barbie a makeover and send her to some party. I remember choosing wooden floors and a beach-y window, thinking how exotic it felt compared to my carpeted life in Kansas. I was a Barbie girl alright, but I was a computer
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Change Is
Change is scary I live in Spain now. I wanted to. Blame it on epicurean fantasies of drinking cafe con leche con cigarrillos con beautiful, fabulous, chic ideas of what Europe is. Or blame it on the more respectable, and certainly genuine, goal of wanting to learn Spanish. Or blame it on my youth, ever fleeting, and the invincibility it purports to offer. Or blame it on all of the above. And it was all of the above that led me here. Bueno, here I am. I light my stove with a lighter. I get lost o
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Tapas In Les Trust Fund Chicken The Telfar Flagship Launch
THE NOORTWYCK, ERNESTO
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Le Café Louis Vuitton
LE CAFE LOUIS VUITTON According 2 Hot Literati MY FIRST LOUISI don
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Princess Babygirl
I had written a profile about Princess Babygirl months ago, after we curated an event for her called “Play Date.”We went to the park. On the way there, I got catcalled by a man who tried to cheat on his girlfriend with me (entirely unprovoked, unwanted) a month or so later. We brought the leftovers of the cake back to him and while I went home to change, Safy went to Daily Paper with another friend of ours, one who is internet famous and vivacious, but she told me months later “got shy.” Safy we
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Little Deaths Little Delights 1
Goodbyes are painful, but a cold beer on a colder day is not. On this most blessed of Sundays, I leave you in the warm wrists of miss Hailey Cognetti, who will surely carry you through to warmer patches of winter sun.Find me in stilted images elsewhere. I’ll find you, too!With burning loins,Mar Wolfgreetings are sweeter after i’ve drank; that’s why i’m sipping wine in delicate lace. i want you to tell me your deepest fears, while i confess mine. i want you to lay the truth bare, while i reveal w
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I Ate Every Dessert at Raf's
The first time I went to Raf
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41 Little Deaths Little Delights
Lordy, Lordy, Jan is certainly forty. This is what mid 20s feel to me.EastOnce you’ve rinsed cleanwe drive Oeste with my handsup and over, wonderingThis and that aboutthe mountain formationsthe calcium levelsthe ghosts andespeciallyWhy I am doing what I amHow hard it’d be to lose someone like youOr this can of beerAnd in this skew we’re passinga set of pastel castles in dirtDry greeneryA merry-go-roundAnd it’s all emptytoo big to be overgrown So I cryand we stareat it and we pretendI’m not feeli
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Echolocation of the Soul
How do you know when something is a sign?Last month, seven people gathered together for Hot Literati’s mmụọọnwa mmeme in DC. After an evening of conversations, eyeballing recipe measurements, an astrology primer led by two of my cherished mentors, and a quick bout of the wiki game, we settled into a comfortable lull. As our pies digested and energies settled, we began to discuss signs and manifestations. After a few exchanges on personal journeys and getting to a place where those things came na
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40 Little Deaths Little Delights
Water is WaterAt the waterfrontI sit in the car’s shade observing a storm roll over and dissipatethe break driving the Surfers back to their cars to sitDoors open peeling suits offWater is water,Is what one lady says to the next・゜゜・．I swam in the ocean only three times this summer. There was word of sharks, there was word of flesh-eating bacteria, there was word of my missing leopard print bikini bottoms washed up in Puerto Rico. You cannot believe everything, but it’s quite funny if you do. Spe
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The Way I See It The Final Stretch
Last night, I, Hailo went to the opening evening of “The Way I see It” selections from KAWS
Events
Sampling New York In 33 Hours Give Or Take
I, Nwakaego, visited New York for the first time two weeks ago, and I still can’t find the right words for the experience. Fun, of course. Stimulating. Boundary-toeing perhaps? Trying to write it all down leads to a long list that doesn
Events
3 Days in Jacksonville
Hello wonderful people. I am in the back of an airport taxi on the way back to Manhattan from the Newark airport. I spent the last three days in Jacksonville, Florida. I think it’s funny and endearing how much men love Jack Kerouac. I haven’t read any Kerouac, but he was hot, right? I think I get the whole writing about travel thing. It feels like documenting something and sharing it in a way that has real detail and life around it. Like building a map out of words in a way that is always a litt
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38. Little Deaths/ Little Delights
As I lay in bed, sick and vaguely irritated, I’ve been thinking about my dreams. Dreams are very similar to water, whether it’s the oceanic depth of multilayered dreams, or the rushing frigid jaws of rapidly shifting night terrors, or the shallow ponds of dreams that tiptoe the edges REM sleep. Once you’re in you’re submerged - floating in oblivion, waves crashing and tides leading you from one scenario to another. Your head goes under and reemerges thirty feet east of where you began. Again you
Events
6 Hours In Dc
And an A24 ScreeningI
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I'm Leaving New York
I
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I'm Headed Into Fall Trying Not to Figure It Out
How to lovergirl fall when your heart is broken and you are still learning to forgive and you feel you don’t own your sexuality?Can you love without sexuality?“The man in despair is not the man who writes.*”Saturday morning I listened to live jazz which always makes me want to fall in love and then I remembered I am in love with the friends beside me and the world around me and the color of the man’s guitar and the way his ring and bangle adds adornmentSaturday night I cried because the friends
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37. Little Deaths/ Little Delights
The first week of eclipse season was as turbulent as it was fulfilling, almost as if the turbulence was for the single purpose of unearthing signs to a beautiful transcendence. I got to host a Hot Literati event in DC and meet new and amazing people. It was nerve wracking, and in the style of every event to ever happen, everything that could have gone wrong leading up to it did with extreme prejudice. However, it was all necessary to arrive at the version of the event that was perfect. And with
Hotter Literati
Rules For Lovergirl Fall
One of my best friends just broke up with their boyfriend. And I am so happy for them, because I
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36. Little Deaths / Little Delights
Anderson ˏˋ°•*⁀➷ NwakaegoAnd just like that the long night comes to a close. The sun is cresting on the horizon, do you see it? When I look out into the night and glimpse the stars I like to imagine they’re eyes looking back down at me. I can’t decide if I’d rather they be your eyes or angels. It’s been a privilege and a blessing to write to you all, to share my perspective and my findings and my feelings. I hope I’ve been able to inspire or motivate or shake you. Today in the middle of my workd
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Are You In Love
Love in the City, Part 2: What can we learn from those who have what we
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NYFW & an Update on my Novel
Yesterday, when I’d woken up, I was prepared to embark on my regular weekend morning — nursing a hangover by drinking a ton of coffee in bed. And reading. I got up. Filled the pot, put the grounds in with a little dried eggshell (takes out the acidity). And turned it on. And minutes later, nothing. Nothing. Not even a spurt, not even a drip for my “drip” machine, as I tell the guy at the place where I pick up my coffee beans. I had to sit with myself and my hangover and the chaos of the night be
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35 Little Deaths Little Delights
We can
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Love Apptually
An alive girl reflection on love in the digital ageThis January, I swore off Hinge forever. I was attempting to shed a bad habit I’d picked up where I started my mornings by opening Hinge, swipe swipe swiping and then going right back to bed in an attempt to nap away the emptiness or disgust or whatever repressed feeling was brought up.After a week (or two. maybe three.) of letting this depreciative phase play out, I decided to put an end to it. I didn’t want to keep obliterating my daily outloo
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34 Little Deaths Little Delights
The maw of the night is open. The spectre of the summer still lingers among us. Do you feel it? Have you walked on the cobblestone? Still, there is the hot hunger. Still when I look into your eyes I can see: you
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I am deserving of a good thing
And a Salmon RecipeHello hello hello hello. I’m writing from a cafe in the West Village. NYU students are milling around with excitement and angst and fervor and life. I know there’s this condescending tone toward New York and the sentiment that everyone here is their own main character, and I get it, but I sort of love it and find it hilarious at the same time. Especially when I see people younger than myself, like this girl I was walking behind in Soho in the pouring rain, who was strutting. B
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From Night Report Silencio Silencio
Absolute erotica: a world made entirely of red. Doubled, duplicated, doppelegänger’d. I’d make a manifesto for crimson but Rothko already di
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Lovergirls Not Tradwives
A case for Lovergirl FallHello my wonderful liminal and irl community. I hope you’re enjoying each writer’s takeover of the Hot Literati Universe. We’ve had Miss Ananya explore tech and addiction and lead a group of thought daughters around WSP (more eventually). We’ve had Vic do a reading while getting a tattoo for about 15 minutes (her idea not mine!!!). And now we have Anderson II, and if you’ve been here for a bit, then you know that Anderson makes nothing if not an impression and then a sec
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A Portrait Of The Artist As A Young Clown
ART WHORESamaira and I pre-gamed the clown show at Joystick. This bar on Edgewood is arcade-themed and draws a niche crowd in the twilight hours. A man named Klass hovered by our table, droning about his wiLd weekend: Shaky Knees Music Festival, followed by a rave, a rave, another rave. Two women invited me to their game of Jenga. Samaira joined a 4-person Mario Kart tournament projected on the brick wall. We figured if we time it right, we’ll squeeze in a song when karaoke starts. Samaira asked
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33 Little Deaths Little Delights
Happy Sunday! Thank you for a wonderful three weeks <3 It’s been a fruitful journey and now I must return to the world of academia and New England. You’ll hear from me here and there over the next few months, but as more of a whisper or a quick, fever-like dream. There’s not much I can say to introduce your new babysitter because he, and his writing, is something you must give into/ indulge in/ experience alone. He is the main event. Every time I read his work my soul is reborn and my mind ages
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Literature is hardcore
hailo and vic podcast ep on Finding Wonderland event Finding Wonderland Postview#1 - read by victoria while hailo got "read" tattooed on her lip.20 feels like sixth gradewhen I heard my high school graduation year for the first time. Feels like getting my period and already knowinghow to put a tampon in. It feels like diving head first into dangerously cold water. it feels like getting dressed in an outfit that took me five minutesto pick out. It feels likethe first time I too
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The Tamagotchi That Won't Die
A Decade of Instagram and Self-ConsumptionFrom Dagny Tepper, Mommy of Pilot Magazine <3 I’ve decided to start this think piece by getting some of the dirtiest components out of the way. The thoughts that, if I neatly weave them into the rest of the essay, will just become diluted as my embarrassment actualizes. I’ve ordered them from: ‘weird and superficial’ to ‘I am a short-circuiting Cyborg’.If I don’t share my creative work on Instagram, how will I be able to have a successful career?If I don
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A Quick One Before the Cicadas Return
I’m going for a quick one before the cicadas return and the worms eat us all.I woke up earlier than anticipated with an unbelievable ache, and hit a two-step grapevine when padding out for water to vomit my brains out in the most biblical positioning imaginable. When flushing a bit later, I happened to notice a shrapnel of plastic, a micro-plastic, amidst the bile. I’d seen a few charged sentences online about micro-plastics, I understood we’re all just full of ‘em, but couldn’t quite remember i
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How 2 Party
Know your stuff. All light or all dark, or light and dark of the same one spirit. Drink at least one glass of prosecco or one pint of whatever is on tap. Bring lipstick or gloss, and perfume. Bring headphones. Drink and talk so much you forget to reapply your lipstick or gloss. Listen to music and stick your tongue out. Dance. Receive the compliment: “what are you on?” Drink water every time you find yourself standing still. Talk to the person at the bar who is there alone but doesn’t act like i
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32. Little Deaths/Little Delights
Thank you to everyone who came to Finding Wonderland on Friday <3 it was so wonderful to be with you all. Congratulations to Antonia for finding the MadHatter ;)This was my last weekend in New York before going back to school and I spent it with such special people. I
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looking for The Scene
This particular Friday night was born on Hailo’s roof with a bottle of sparkling and a bottle of red. I popped the bubbly open, because no one else knew how and because I desperately wanted to. The cork flew beyond the building into the street and I prayed it didn’t hit someone. We spoke of obedience, punishment, and the upcoming elections while simultaneously recording content in our Dostoevsky merch. It was sort of like a subconscious priority-setting ritual. We acknowledge the things before w
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31. Little deaths/Little delights
I went out twice this weekend after a calm few weeks. I go back to school in a little over a week which feels a bit unbelievable ,mostly because it
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S.1 EP. 7: An Invitation ;)
I was an anxious child and now I
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Love in Philly
As I mentioned in Sunday
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Find Yourself Online (stop looking)
I tried to make my first Youtube video around 10. It was a hair tutorial that my sweet, archival father definitely still has tucked away somewhere. 3 hairstyles. I don
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August (Interlude)
Where have you gone, sweetest summer? It is August and that is the worst news I’ve ever heard. August, already? You’ve gotta be kidding me! I’ve barely done the things I’ve been meaning to do, and the things I have done, I’ve not done how I meant to! The thing about time is that it moves fast. Before you’re done thinking that you’d like to enjoy June for more than thirty days, it’s July and then August and soon it is Autumn. And summer won’t come until next year. July is over and it’s a melanch
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30. Little deaths/Little delights
Everyone say, good morning VictoriaHi hi, Happy Sunday (Monday?Tuesday?). These past three weeks have been some of the most exciting ones of my life. It
Events
Cinderella @ the Substack Ball
I went to a Substack event and made it all about me + rules for a proper AugustI started this morning thinking about August. I want a proper August. I want one that is big and adventurous, one where I can hear the birds chirping. I want to splay out on a striped lawn chair and burn the sadness off my back. June was depraved. I spent every day in June crying about something or the other. Leaving my friends, leaving California, leaving higher education, just leaving. I talked about it at first (I
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One Bar, 3 Dates
The Mulberry in Nolita, 3 times overI never know if I’m addictive, or if I like routine, or if the answer is somewhere in between. It’s nice to have one thing to return to repeatedly, but it’s sort of scary and thrilling when that thing changes even amidst your routine. But that’s what the comedy of life is built on, no? Punchlines and divots and reminders that intention will always matter the most. I’ve been very into 3s. Partially because of the Holy Trinity. Partially because of this strange
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D.C. read the Literati summer manifesto
LITTLE DEATHS/DELIGHTSI woke up this morning on a friend’s sofa in the nation’s capital with a blanket magically draped over me, clutching a copy of The White Album. I made my way from couch to bathroom mirror and started auditing last night’s actions. I put my hair in pigtails. I don’t care if I look naive, I’ll mean mug my way out of it. And, anyways, I am a little naive.A friend told me once that I would like D.C. because everyone is always running. So that, I expected. But D.C. took me by su
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Play Date
by Hot Literati & Princess BabygirlHAILEY COGNETTIIt
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God is change and so must we
Little Deaths/Little Delights, Full Moon EditionHello hello hellooo!! This has been a wacky week both online and offline. I got the “Biden dropped out” text in the middle of writing this and I almost dropped my laptop. First presidential dropout via Twitter?I feel like I’ve lived a thousand lives since moving to the city and I’m gearing up to live a thousand more in the coming weeks. Been cartwheeling my way through a mix of emotions, mostly positive now. I came across this quote while reading u
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On Dostoevsky Night
But first, a quick note from Hailo: We
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I think I think about myself too much
Good evening, it’s 10 p.m. in New York and I am drinking Concoction Juice (a non-algorithm-based rec I may share soon) and thinking about writing and identity and graduation. Here’s something that’s been bouncing around in my head for a while. It was the beginning of summer 2023 and I was flirting with a cute CS major I met on Hinge who later won the nickname “Husband #1” in my household. Not one of my friends found this nickname, which I coined, as funny as I did. “It’s ironic,” I remember tex
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Next Book Club Picks
and other newsHello and good evening. I am still addicted to the sunset. I feel like I
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Hot Literati has a new Babysitter
Little Deaths/Little Delights, Dinner with Ex, Aging, and Free ShotsHappy Sunday. I bought paper towels from one grocery store and left them at the self checkout of another. When I get my most engaged in creating anything is when I get my spaciest. But it
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(re)Cognition Summer Syllabus
The following are books and readings that I think really capture and tackle and confront some of the social, philosophical, and societal issues that we
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alive girl diaries: week 3
The answer is bad systemsLast week I hopped on a 6 a.m. flight and hauled two suitcases with my life belongings across the country, which is why you didn’t hear from me for a bit. I’ve been getting settled in a very nice but humid city and using the move as a chance to radically redefine aspects of my life that need updating, which includes my relationship with tech/social media. During the week before the move, I fell off. I spent my nights laying in bed intermittently switching between Instagr
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Hailo Has Read
2025 BOOKS1. The Five Dysfunctions of a Team b(https://aihailo.substack.com/p/the-five-dysfunctions-of-a-team)y Patrick Lencioni(https://aihailo.substack.com/p/the-five-dysfunctions-of-a-team) 2. Ignite a Shift: Engaging Minds, Guiding Emotions and Driving Behavior by Stephen McGarvey 3. Talent is Overrated by Malcolm Gladwell (audio book) 4. The War of Art by Steven Pressfield 5. A New Earth by Eckhart Tolle 6. On Confidence by Alain de Botton (audio book) 7. The Art of Frugal Hedonism (audio b
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The Romance of The West: A Cowgirl Manifesto
They didn’t know what to call us before. Descendants of Artemis; some kind of moon fable brought to life with our nimble hands and wild hair. Keepers of the ranch. Almost cowboys. It was the “almost” that made us dangerous – the space between what we could do as women and what they thought only they could do as men was too small to see us as other. The horses we rode were the same, the rowels that spun on our boots were the same. The guns were too, but our kind used them in a different way. When
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Hungover Musings, Summer Flings
26. Little Deaths/DelightsFor better or worse, or better and worse, life always feels like some sort of dream to me. This comes up a lot in my fiction, and while I
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S.1 Ep 6. The (Black, lesbian) woman
I want to know what Hella’s room looks like. Is it small and caving like Giovanni’s? Forgettable and impersonal like David’s? I have a feeling that Hella’s room, like mine, is entirely in her head. Only a woman’s own mind can provide the kind of freedom Hella searched for because, after all, a woman’s place is in the private sphere, isn’t it?I began reading Baldwin’s novel while in Paris but did not get too into it until after I returned home. It felt too real to read it there; walking through t
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Hot75: (re)Cognition Summer Edition
Everything about life is sticky and tactile. Anything you brush against even slightly has a high chance of clinging to you. Sometimes we do it intentionally, weaving webs of connections and associations, but most times it is accidental.I attended an artist talk a few weeks ago at Inman Gallery. The artist, Alexis Pye, was in conversation with the Associate Curator of Modern and Contemporary Arts at the Museum of Fine Arts Houston, Dr. Anita Bateman. The show being discussed was titled, The Melan
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(re)COGNITION SUMMER: … Into the Anaxagoric Emerald
by AndersonI remember my future now. I am Caribbean royalty and all the big city is my proxy throne. I wear the waves on my back like a royal blue mantle. Treasures adorn me. The sea is as wide as my follies. I sweep everything away to make new choices and I keep choosing the same things. My mistress
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The World has its own Music
and God, his own schedule. Music has sounded so wonderful lately, because I have been listening to less. I
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I used to be scared of my own reflection
Until Hot Literati held the mirror for meThe semester was coming to an end when I interviewed to be an intern at Hot Literati. I calledout of work to meet Hailo at her neighborhood restaurant where the interview became more of aconversation.“I’m sorry, was there a question?” I asked at one point“No, just curious on your thoughts.” Hailo assuredI applied to this internship because I knew I could learn a lot of Hailo and everyone involved withHot Literati. I also had taken a long break from writin
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Intern, Writer (?)
I think my initiation into being a Hot Literati Intern was the mysterious book launch party Bella Ve wrote about. The party was a sea of gray hair, black and white business casual clothes, and caviar (which I was too scared to try in case I didn’t like it because I couldn’t see a trash can anywhere). I was clearly the youngest person there with my mini dress and red cowboy boots. I had to think about every move I made for at least five seconds beforehand so I could be absolutely certain the step
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alive girl diaries: week 2
Defanging Big Tech’s FrankensteinThere’s a recurring ad that I’ve been getting since I graduated high school. It first showed up on Youtube, but has since followed me across platforms, entering the digital landscape on my Instagram, TikTok and most recently even my Twitter. The copy usually reads something like: Tired of bras that don’t fit? Try <<REDACTED COMPANY>>, the solution for women with small breasts. If I’m lucky and I get a video ad, there will undoubtedly be a woman profusely detailin
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Can't Stop the Feelin'
“The body is hands and eyes”- an impermanent introduction to an intern. H-A-L-E-Y: happy, animal lover, leggings wearer, egg lover, yellow enthusiast Maybe two of those things were true when my 2nd teacher forced us to create an acronym out of our names based on our interests and characteristics. We could’ve chosen anything to describe ourselves as long as it was school appropriate and started with a letter of our name.
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Hello, Hailo
How I found belonging in Hot Literati... And when I say “Hailo”, I don’t just mean Hailo herself (although, yes…hello to the curly hair and flesh that is Hailo behind this screen. Thanks for giving me the space to write this). I am saying “Hello” to everything her community – the Hot Literati universe/world/digital space – embodies. Hello, fellow writers. Hello, other women with a love for classic literature and angel numbers. Hello, people who use internet slang in real life.
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Intern Week, Actually good NYC Vespers, Dating Column Meta Commentary
25. Little Deaths/DelightsLITTLE DEATHS • ♡ing being alone𓇢𓆸perhaps it
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Ask Hot Literati #10
How to stop being insecure, & other musings
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alive girl diaries: week 1
The Funky Bar Agenda
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Anatomy of an Oyster / Who’s buying my dinner tonight?
Dripping sweat from scalp to white lace panty line, it’s barely June and I’m wondering who’s buying my dinner tonight. The summers of my early twenties were bystanding ketamine races on Driggs and revenge bedtime procrastination. Mid 20s were feeding boys and men cherry Italian ice from Wawa in pickup trucks outside Philly, listening to Funkadelic tapes, red bile vomit on Jersey beaches. My financial bloodletting return to the city in the spring brought euro collision and wondrous amazement in c
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Are you Verified?
Mr. Chalamet (yes, he
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(re)Cognition Summer: Reconnecting with the Subway Car
Do me a favor. Next time you’re out running errands, existing in a liminal space, or in the coffee line, look around. Look with intention.I was riding the subway the other day. Every single person on my train car had bent necks, eyes locked on screens, and ears plugged with headphones. Every. Single. Person. Me included. This (Re)Cognition Summer at Hot Literati, we’re challenging ourselves to be uncomfortable. Moreso, we’re challenging ourselves to remember what it feels like to be uncomfortabl
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Influencers, We're Going Down Singing
Last night, I was a plus one to the most fascinating event. These things are more fun as a plus one. Just ask my friend, Griffin, who was mine to what we thought was a liminal charity event — for an org run by an Irish writer who loves scarves and attempting narratives that are not his own —, and what ended up being a two-hour Sting concert. "Watch him go on tour soon," Griffin said. Sting went on tour a few months later. I arrived thirty minutes into whatever... the pre-show? The mixer? I stood
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5 Dates, One Week (Again)
Hi Literatis.I hope you all have had a wonderful week and weekend. I have had what I like to call a "memory-dense" one. I started using this phrase when I heard it somewhere. I feel very strange about memory sometimes. I used to freak out whenever I
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I know a story about a Rose
I know a story about a Rose.If you don’t think I could talk about a single flower, you are wrong.She would wish for a rose, from anyone really. The roses she gave herself weren
Hotter Literati
LOVE, SEX, & LITERATURE #5
by AndersonLove, love, love. Venus is in Gemini now and everything is tinted by red-tinged heat. Are you in love? Do you want to be? Are you running from it? Is there a point to that? You will always arrive at the shore of that which you flee from. Everything awaits you across the red river. The depths are murky but your legs are long enough to get you there. They’ve carried you this far without stopping, haven’t they, and hasn’t your heart been so reliable, so brave, to keep pulsing on and on d
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A Summer Manifesto
Hi all <3 I
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Pour One Out for my Ex: Princeton Reunions
Early Saturday afternoon my mom drove me to Penn Station on her way to run some errands. We went through Times Square and laughed at the tourists who stressed about crossing the street while cars were piled up in traffic, blocking the white guidelines that tell them where to go. They hesitated while deciding whether to go in front or behind cars, pure terror in their eyes. Later in the day I would meet a Princeton man, Hailo’s friend, who now lives in New York and walks through central pa
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S1. EP 5: Dance with me?
One of my final projects for a course this semester was to throw a party for queers.
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Net Neutral on Wes Anderson
On Friday, I stayed in. Got a text from someone who had “wanted to see me,” but I don’t even know if I “wanted to see them.”
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Love (Sex) & Literature #4
Dating multiple people, unrequited love, and more.
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Hot Literati @ the Threshold
When I moved to L.A. three months ago to finish out my senior year of college...
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Party for Fyodor
Dancing, loving, thinking
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Launching Books and the Influencerfication of Art
Bella
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S.1 EP. 4: Sex Doll
This week I reflect on a year-old video project of mine, Sex Doll and it
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Hot Literati Kidnapped me and all I got was this Shirt
<3 Dostoevsky Lovers <3
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In defense of the girlhood essays
Creating respect for girlhoold & notes from book club.
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Some Clubs Close, Others Open
Anderson @ Goldbar closing and Fifi
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Baby's First Vape
Our first times hitting it.
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Peace, Love, Bird Club
I, Bella, have been wanting to go to Bird Club for a while now.
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Free the Cool Kids from the Looking Glass
I had the strangest evening last night. A friend who is a very talented filmmaker invited me to this party...
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Decentering Men Doesn't Mean U H8 Them
One of the funniest things to happen to me last year was someone commenting that my videos made them hate men less.
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A Case for Playgirl Spring
Still pursuing feminine agency
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I Didn't Meet the LOML at Ludlow House
I, Bella, have been to Ludlow House a few times now so I know the drill -- ring the doorbell, tell the pretty girl at the front your name...
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Nice Movies to watch with your Brother
We have the Oscars at home... does the Academy even tear up??
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S.1 Ep.1: Love, Duh.
In an effort to lay lush groundwork for this column, I’d like to start with love.
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Love (Sex) & Literature #3
“If two people have an on and off relationship, and one side is still feeling guilty...
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The Gospel According 2Ananya
Hi I’m Ananya 20smth brown girl from the Bay 🌉
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S.1 EP. Pilot: Welcome to Wayward Wonderland
Most basically, this column will serve as a depiction of present day, wayward lives just like yours and mine. My, and hopefully our, long term goal is to develop an immortal collection of right now. These narratives will range in topics from parties, sex, parents and parenting, childhood, rules, queer spectrums, boxy labels, academics, media, style, fashion, and beyond.
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The Gospel According to Mar
CHARISMA BLEEDS AND STAINS EVEN YOUR WORST ENEMY! BE CAREFUL! BUT, HAVE A BLAST!
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Aren't We All Just Reflections
Last but not least is Nwakaego. I met her digitally through book club. She participated in a few and every week she
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Hot Literati @ TLC Anti-Circumcision Event
I, Hailo, was at The Whitney when I got a text from Blake Parker telling me to come to this event because they the only Black person there. As I made my way through the new "Harold AI exhibit", Blake texted further furtive details about the event. Their friend would be performing soon, $5 stellas, and some doctor who kept using the world "flacid." As a friend, I would not let Blake continue to be the only Black person there, so I showed up at the provided address which was some basement which I
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Love (Sex) & Literature #2
gossip guy - i just started seeing someone (3 weeks in) after i
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Club Penguin Existential Crisis
A quick note from Hailo Now you all are going to meet Ananya. I was honestly done with the process of picking writers, but she reached out via Instagram and I took one look at her account and her writing and set up an interview. She has this extremely intentional honesty and intensity that makes her feel immediately likeable and real. She wasn
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Auctioned Sentience
Mar is very cool. Confident and honest in a way that
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Love (Sex) & Literature #1
Welcome to the newest addition to Hot Literati: Love, Sex, & Literature! Here you’ll find semi-regular answers to your deepest and darkest questions, all synthesized from the mind of an actual couples therapist, Real Lover, Real Yearner, Yours Truly, AKA Barry Bradshaw, Gemini Guru, Gossip Guy. Your situationship might lie to you, but I won’t. Let’s get into it.“I also got out of a 4-year relationship last year. I’m not ready to be in a new one, so how do I date without the other person expectin
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Hot Literati @ White Horse Tavern
I, Hailo, went to White Horse Tavern a couple of weeks ago after work. I didn
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The Gospel According to HaileyCognetti
About meI am Hailey Cognetti. I
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Hot Literati @ Blake Parker
I, Hailo, got on the J with my friend, comedian, and fellow retired beauty queen Victoria Chuah. The conductor announced that the doors were not closing because of the cold and the train doors did, in fact, stay open. Where is our $2.90 going?We arrived at Hart Bar in Bushwick to listen to our friend, and my bandmate Blake Parker. We pay $10 at the door. Real artists support other artists. We walk in, Fast Car Slow Car is wailing and thrumming on bass, using creative progressions, one of which e
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The Gospel According to Anderson
Personal Philosophy: Do what you want. Hurt no one, but accept that you will eventually disappoint everyone, and it is OK. Make meaning out of everything. Dance as often as possible. Only use kind words to describe yourself and others. Listen more. Nurture your inner child. Forgive everyone, starting with yourself. Let the past go and leave the future to your older self. Love Life The point of life is to love and be loved. Here are some tips I use to keep my love life flowing and abundant.
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Hot Literati @ The Whitney
Reflections on Harold Cohen: AARON
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Tile Bar Voyeur
A quick note from Hailo: When I first met HaileyCognetti (using her full name for distinction), I could immediately sense that she was holding a lot back. She shared some writing, but also eventually mentioned that she took photos, so I asked to see them. She, like a lot of amazing artists, has a mind that combines multiple artistic mediums and results in work (and a person) that is fascinating to meet. The more I get to know her, the more interesting she is. And I know you all will feel the sam
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The Gospel According to Bella Ve
She
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Indie Sleaze Reprisal
Indie Sleaze Reprisal
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The Gospel According to Hailo
Hailo in 2024
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HOT LITERATI RULES (2024)
1. Find reading material anywhere (little books, little magazines, plaques, etc) - You
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I <3 my computer, I don't want it to die
Do you think your computer is afraid to die?
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I Don't Want to Write Anymore (Revisited)
Today, I was walking around with an ice cream cone and listening to music and looking around at people and thinking.Yes, this system we’ve created is absurd. It’s absurd, but it’s created out of confusion. Because if we stop and just sit with ourselves, all we’re left with is a whole lot of questions. What are we here for. Is anything real. Are we real.A lot of the things we do are frustrating, but they are a life. And yes, I spend a lot of time thinking in my own head, but when I do, I hear a l
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I Don't Want to Write Anymore
Today, I woke up pretty sad.I miss my family so much and the monotony of the real world is beginning to feel suffocating.Especially the absurdity of the system we’ve created and how we make people spend their time and energy when there is a limited amount of both.But I’m not sure that this sadness is contingent on that:Last night, I was doing a live on TikTok. I do them when I get excited about something, but more often when I’m feeling a little lonely. It was about 4 a.m. Someone I’d dated for
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The reason I didn't dye my hair post-breakup
My hair is getting longer. And it’s complicated.And it is a complicated thing, my hair.Not because it is hard to wash (it is).Or because it shifts and morphs based on the moisture in the air (it does).But because it’s enmeshed with my identity. It has been since I was a little girl.I can intellectualize it, hair. I have. At Princeton “respectability politics” took up a large part of my independent work. Black women would straighten their hair, thinking that it would make the world treat them a l
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How to Live a Real Life
On being human.
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HOT LITERATI RULES
2023 Edition • Book on you at all times — Club, restaurant, etc. Put it in the purse. Hold it in your hand. • Book placement — When someone walks into your living space and looks at your books, whether they be on shelves or precarious stacks on the floor, they should show what you’re about. • Read anywhere — The art of noise-canceling headphones, a little book light, &/or razor-sharp focus. • Form your own opinions — You have your own thoughts and feelings and reactions and you derive how you fe
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A little Chocolate before the Big Sleep
There’s a part in The Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man where the protagonist looks in the mirror. Right after he had the opportunity to kiss the girl he loved and failed to. And he looks in his mother’s mirror as he tries to understand himself, to understand why he did what he did. And he looks in the mirror again, later on in the book, I think. Maybe after he has sex for the first time, with a sex worker. I can’t remember. And I didn’t annotate very well. I never do, to be honest, I just s
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Some thoughts before I go to sleep
On Kafka and art
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I am 22 years 6 months and 29 days old
When I was a little girl and I was lonely, I always thought that I was feeling that way because I was a little girl. Because my brain was half-formed and still growing. And that when it was finished I wouldn’t feel so alone in there. That maybe the part I was always waiting on to develop and grow would put something else up there so I wouldn’t have to be alone in there anymore. And now, I’m grown up. I’m grown up. I’m in the city I always wanted to be grown up in since I was five looking up ball
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Things that Reminded me to feel Alive Today
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To Learn Technique
October, 2022 This piece was selected as the winner of Olde Wolf
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