Man about town. https://geoffcordner.substack.com/ https://www.instagram.com/geoffcordner/https://bsky.app/profile/geoffcordner.bsky.socialhttps://bsky.app/profile/geoffcordner.bsky.social/post/3mlqwzsahwc2qMy latest, on substack. A poem emerges from from my Alif Baa Arabic lessons. In three sentences it moves from the mundane to the catastrophic. https://geoffcordner.substack.com/p/the-wars-are-many13 May 2026 18:35 +0000at://did:plc:7ccbzijt2fvde4voci2jphr4/app.bsky.feed.post/3mlqwzsahwc2qhttps://bsky.app/profile/geoffcordner.bsky.social/post/3mfpmwxdszs2wMy latest: a lyric essay on Libyan resistance, family archives, and the beautiful geometric symmetry of Arabic writing. From a mother's French cursive to a one sentence poem to the "Camel's Fang" of a Libyan freedom fighter. https://open.substack.com/pub/geoffcordner/p/the-camels-fang?r=25qnr&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&showWelcomeOnShare=true25 Feb 2026 21:31 +0000at://did:plc:7ccbzijt2fvde4voci2jphr4/app.bsky.feed.post/3mfpmwxdszs2whttps://bsky.app/profile/geoffcordner.bsky.social/post/3mf5xvfeb2k2wAppearances Matter -- A new piece up on Substack about family mythology, pretendianism, and the strange power of appearances. It begins with a genealogy chart and ends somewhere much closer to home. https://open.substack.com/pub/geoffcordner/p/appearances-matter?utm_campaign=post-expanded-share&utm_medium=web18 Feb 2026 20:59 +0000at://did:plc:7ccbzijt2fvde4voci2jphr4/app.bsky.feed.post/3mf5xvfeb2k2whttps://bsky.app/profile/geoffcordner.bsky.social/post/3mdiokfyrxk2xA Tuareg proverb about “intelligence in the toes” becomes a lens on desert etiquette, colonial misunderstanding, and a white geophysicist’s fantasy of masculinity. A story about/from my childhood in Libya. https://open.substack.com/pub/geoffcordner/p/intelligence-in-his-toes?utm_campaign=post-expanded-share&utm_medium=web28 Jan 2026 16:21 +0000at://did:plc:7ccbzijt2fvde4voci2jphr4/app.bsky.feed.post/3mdiokfyrxk2xhttps://bsky.app/profile/geoffcordner.bsky.social/post/3mbrdd7lntc27The Great Die Up - a little bit about the Dakotas, my great grandmother, and settling on stolen land. https://open.substack.com/pub/geoffcordner/p/the-great-die-up?utm_campaign=post-expanded-share&utm_medium=web06 Jan 2026 16:03 +0000at://did:plc:7ccbzijt2fvde4voci2jphr4/app.bsky.feed.post/3mbrdd7lntc27https://bsky.app/profile/geoffcordner.bsky.social/post/3majesqmsl22yMy stepfather was fond of arbitrary rules that seemed to shift all the time. There really wasn't a way to follow them. He also gave poor guidance. This is a story about 6 year old me attempting to bond with him over his favorite thing -- Playboy Magazine. https://geoffcordner.substack.com/p/bosoms?r=25qnr21 Dec 2025 18:43 +0000at://did:plc:7ccbzijt2fvde4voci2jphr4/app.bsky.feed.post/3majesqmsl22yhttps://bsky.app/profile/geoffcordner.bsky.social/post/3ma2hpjaifs27My latest, a Christmas story about alcoholism, denial, and family secrets. https://geoffcordner.substack.com/p/whiskey-jacks-christmas?r=25qnr15 Dec 2025 20:25 +0000at://did:plc:7ccbzijt2fvde4voci2jphr4/app.bsky.feed.post/3ma2hpjaifs27https://bsky.app/profile/geoffcordner.bsky.social/post/3m73zypi2t22bThis is a short memoir piece about family, loss, ghosts — a box of photos, a fatal crash, & the rituals we use to keep spirits at rest. It’s called Zimmerman, after the town in Minnesota where my sister’s final boyfriend lost his life & she nearly did too. https://geoffcordner.substack.com/p/zimmerman?r=25qnr03 Dec 2025 18:00 +0000at://did:plc:7ccbzijt2fvde4voci2jphr4/app.bsky.feed.post/3m73zypi2t22bhttps://bsky.app/profile/geoffcordner.bsky.social/post/3m7225ntnnk2vGreat article from High Country News on how heavy metal is healing teens on the Blackfeet nation. It's about Indigenous headbangers finding catharsis, community, and coping skills while a string of suicides rips thru the Blackfeet Nation in Montana. https://www.hcn.org/issues/57-11/heavy-metal-is-healing-teens-on-the-blackfeet-nation/02 Dec 2025 22:58 +0000at://did:plc:7ccbzijt2fvde4voci2jphr4/app.bsky.feed.post/3m7225ntnnk2vhttps://bsky.app/profile/geoffcordner.bsky.social/post/3m6ctz44q6k2jTrain Songs: a compact, lyrical memoir about a kid, me, imagining escape from an unsafe home. It’s about trains & vastness. The horizon is a much greater distance away on the Canadian prairie than it is anywhere else. I wanted to get to the other side of it. https://open.substack.com/pub/geoffcordner/p/train-songs?utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=email23 Nov 2025 17:36 +0000at://did:plc:7ccbzijt2fvde4voci2jphr4/app.bsky.feed.post/3m6ctz44q6k2jhttps://bsky.app/profile/geoffcordner.bsky.social/post/3m5yowviitk2fAt Myriam's @lesbrains.bsky.social urging, I've started writing a memoir... about someone else... the family history around it, a story of settler colonial violence, patriarchy, intergenerational trauma, a few comical drug store heists. Trying out ideas on substack. https://open.substack.com/pub/geoffcordner/p/maureen?r=25qnr&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&showWelcomeOnShare=false19 Nov 2025 16:39 +0000at://did:plc:7ccbzijt2fvde4voci2jphr4/app.bsky.feed.post/3m5yowviitk2fhttps://bsky.app/profile/geoffcordner.bsky.social/post/3m52kcem2uk2hTomorrow Nov 8 at the Altadena Public Library: Myriam Gurba, Carla Rachel Sameth, Angela Peñaredondo, Veronica Reyes, and others! 2 - 4pm 600 E. Mariposa Street Altadena, California 91001 @lesbrains.bsky.social07 Nov 2025 16:56 +0000at://did:plc:7ccbzijt2fvde4voci2jphr4/app.bsky.feed.post/3m52kcem2uk2h