Words at The Atlantic, BOMB, The Baffler, Granta, The Paris Review, etc https://www.rhiansasseen.comhttps://bsky.app/profile/rhiansasseen.bsky.socialhttps://bsky.app/profile/rhiansasseen.bsky.social/post/3metcyaarck2bFor @thenation.com, I wrote about the summer that I—heartbroken, depressed, and as lapsed as a lapsed Catholic can possibly be—unexpectedly spent five weeks walking the Camino de Santiago pilgrimage, and the question of belief in our fractious moment. https://www.thenation.com/article/archive/walking-the-camino-in-the-shadow-of-belief/14 Feb 2026 15:18 +0000at://did:plc:o7gduuleqofto42k24cxesuo/app.bsky.feed.post/3metcyaarck2bhttps://bsky.app/profile/rhiansasseen.bsky.social/post/3mdfzy7dnnc24For @thebaffler.com, I wrote about Sara Stridsberg’s novel Beckomberga, and how it looks at the history of institutionalization, the abstraction of time, and one family’s experience with mental illness. https://thebaffler.com/latest/corridors-of-grief-sasseen27 Jan 2026 15:07 +0000at://did:plc:o7gduuleqofto42k24cxesuo/app.bsky.feed.post/3mdfzy7dnnc24https://bsky.app/profile/rhiansasseen.bsky.social/post/3m5wgaqpl4k2htonight! [contains quote post or other embedded content]18 Nov 2025 18:58 +0000at://did:plc:o7gduuleqofto42k24cxesuo/app.bsky.feed.post/3m5wgaqpl4k2hhttps://bsky.app/profile/rhiansasseen.bsky.social/post/3m5w5nhdggk27For MUBI Notebook, I wrote about Christian Marclay’s follow up to “The Clock”—“Doors”—and the doorway as possibility, transformation, and crossroads. https://mubi.com/en/notebook/posts/at-the-threshold-of-a-dream-on-christian-marclay-s-doors18 Nov 2025 16:24 +0000at://did:plc:o7gduuleqofto42k24cxesuo/app.bsky.feed.post/3m5w5nhdggk27https://bsky.app/profile/rhiansasseen.bsky.social/post/3m5trwcgri22vTomorrow, November 18 — come by Bar Jade in Bushwick at 7 p.m. for the latest Wish You Were Here reading series I help co-curate! Tomorrow’s will feature Elvia Wilk, Jack Sheehan, Colleen Grablick, Kate Peters, and myself! RSVP: https://partiful.com/e/q8CbHkPnTTgtv7kDXj7O17 Nov 2025 17:49 +0000at://did:plc:o7gduuleqofto42k24cxesuo/app.bsky.feed.post/3m5trwcgri22vhttps://bsky.app/profile/rhiansasseen.bsky.social/post/3m4qlsdyop22bOops, I didn't realize until now this was live — but last month, for the @washingtonpost.com, I reviewed the Bulgarian writer Georgi Gospodinov’s new novel about the death of a parent, Death and the Gardener: https://www.washingtonpost.com/books/2025/10/23/death-gardener-georgi-gospodinov-review/03 Nov 2025 17:56 +0000at://did:plc:o7gduuleqofto42k24cxesuo/app.bsky.feed.post/3m4qlsdyop22bhttps://bsky.app/profile/rhiansasseen.bsky.social/post/3m4dkm5eul223For @thenation.com , I wrote about Ron Padgett’s latest poetry collection, Pink Dust, and life as a continual act of reading. https://www.thenation.com/article/culture/ron-padgett-pink-dust/29 Oct 2025 13:30 +0000at://did:plc:o7gduuleqofto42k24cxesuo/app.bsky.feed.post/3m4dkm5eul223https://bsky.app/profile/rhiansasseen.bsky.social/post/3m3se6onr722hFor The Atlantic, I wrote about Claire-Louise Bennett’s latest novel, Big Kiss, Bye-Bye, and what it has to say about the internet’s favorite topic—the relationship between heterosexual women and men: https://www.theatlantic.com/books/2025/10/big-kiss-bye-bye-claire-louise-bennett-novel-review/684622/22 Oct 2025 17:20 +0000at://did:plc:o7gduuleqofto42k24cxesuo/app.bsky.feed.post/3m3se6onr722hhttps://bsky.app/profile/rhiansasseen.bsky.social/post/3m3s7doe2mc2iI have a short story, “The Pessimist”—following a woman as she stalks her apartment building’s halls at night—in the dreamy new issue of @angelfoodmag.bsky.social: angelfoodmag.com/the-pessimist https://angelfoodmag.com/the-pessimist22 Oct 2025 15:54 +0000at://did:plc:o7gduuleqofto42k24cxesuo/app.bsky.feed.post/3m3s7doe2mc2ihttps://bsky.app/profile/rhiansasseen.bsky.social/post/3lyzz4sr4ms2bTonight!! [contains quote post or other embedded content]17 Sep 2025 14:08 +0000at://did:plc:o7gduuleqofto42k24cxesuo/app.bsky.feed.post/3lyzz4sr4ms2bhttps://bsky.app/profile/rhiansasseen.bsky.social/post/3lyxqbsc54s27Tomorrow! I’ll be asking Eimear McBride some questions about her wonderful new novel, The City Changes Its Face, at McNally Jackson Seaport starting at 7 p.m.—hope to see you there! https://www.mcnallyjackson.com/eimear-mcbride-presents-the-city-changes-its-face16 Sep 2025 16:24 +0000at://did:plc:o7gduuleqofto42k24cxesuo/app.bsky.feed.post/3lyxqbsc54s27https://bsky.app/profile/rhiansasseen.bsky.social/post/3lyg7fv7tp22qFor the fall issue of Kinfolk, I interviewed Vincenzo Latronico about the process of writing Perfection, the influence of Georges Perec on his work, what it’s like to be translated as a translator, and more: https://www.kinfolk.com/stories/on-the-shelf-8/09 Sep 2025 17:07 +0000at://did:plc:o7gduuleqofto42k24cxesuo/app.bsky.feed.post/3lyg7fv7tp22qhttps://bsky.app/profile/rhiansasseen.bsky.social/post/3lydg5fmotk2tFor the Poetry Foundation, I wrote about the Chinese poet Zheng Xiaoqiong’s incredible collection In the Roar of the Machine, translated by Eleanor Goodman and published by @nyrb-imprints.bsky.social, and the work of Chinese migrant worker poets. https://www.poetryfoundation.org/articles/1722175/bodies-on-the-line08 Sep 2025 14:30 +0000at://did:plc:o7gduuleqofto42k24cxesuo/app.bsky.feed.post/3lydg5fmotk2thttps://bsky.app/profile/rhiansasseen.bsky.social/post/3lwrjjkbn6s2oFor @clereviewbooks.bsky.social, I wrote about Lara Mimosa Montes’s excellent ‘The Time of the Novel,’ and the book’s porous boundary between reality and fiction: https://clereviewofbooks.com/inside-out-on-lara-mimosa-montess-the-time-of-the-novel/19 Aug 2025 18:17 +0000at://did:plc:o7gduuleqofto42k24cxesuo/app.bsky.feed.post/3lwrjjkbn6s2ohttps://bsky.app/profile/rhiansasseen.bsky.social/post/3lwr4zkdmhs27For @electricliterature.com, I interviewed Rosalind Belben in anticipation of the rerelease of her seductively strange 1979 novel ‘Dreaming of Dead People’ this month from @andotherstories.bsky.social: https://electricliterature.com/rosalind-belben-reflects-on-the-foreplay-of-wordplay/19 Aug 2025 14:33 +0000at://did:plc:o7gduuleqofto42k24cxesuo/app.bsky.feed.post/3lwr4zkdmhs27https://bsky.app/profile/rhiansasseen.bsky.social/post/3lu3s762f7s2yWrote a bit about Marlen Haushofer’s ecofeminist classic The Wall on my newsletter https://phrasebooks.substack.com/p/returning-to-the-wall16 Jul 2025 16:03 +0000at://did:plc:o7gduuleqofto42k24cxesuo/app.bsky.feed.post/3lu3s762f7s2yhttps://bsky.app/profile/rhiansasseen.bsky.social/post/3lsymk7fsws2rWrote briefly about the crowds I’ve been surrounded by the last few weeks—political crowds, crowds of tourists, parties— phrasebooks.substack.com/p/the-crowd https://phrasebooks.substack.com/p/the-crowd02 Jul 2025 16:19 +0000at://did:plc:o7gduuleqofto42k24cxesuo/app.bsky.feed.post/3lsymk7fsws2rhttps://bsky.app/profile/rhiansasseen.bsky.social/post/3lsgxq3pyfk2yFor the @lareviewofbooks.bsky.social, I wrote about Caleb Femi’s panoramic poetry collection from earlier this year, The Wickedest, and writing about parties: https://lareviewofbooks.org/article/my-direct-debits-hit-at-midnight/25 Jun 2025 15:51 +0000at://did:plc:o7gduuleqofto42k24cxesuo/app.bsky.feed.post/3lsgxq3pyfk2yhttps://bsky.app/profile/rhiansasseen.bsky.social/post/3lpubmot43s24Next Wednesday, May 28th! Come by Bar Jade in Bushwick at 7 p.m. for another reading organized by Kate Peters and me! Featuring work by: - Jenna Klorfein - Ismail Muhammad - Alex Wolfe - Rob Rubsam (@robrubsam.bsky.social) See you there!! https://partiful.com/e/LhcoSXdMXezCFiA0jriy?23 May 2025 18:37 +0000at://did:plc:o7gduuleqofto42k24cxesuo/app.bsky.feed.post/3lpubmot43s24https://bsky.app/profile/rhiansasseen.bsky.social/post/3lpjtnnldgc2oFor @thebaffler.com, I wrote about Mathias Énard’s incredible new novel, The Deserters, the end of the twentieth century, and time repeating itself both in fiction and in real life: https://thebaffler.com/latest/the-time-of-return-sasseen19 May 2025 15:01 +0000at://did:plc:o7gduuleqofto42k24cxesuo/app.bsky.feed.post/3lpjtnnldgc2ohttps://bsky.app/profile/rhiansasseen.bsky.social/post/3lndzx4hmks2dI wrote a newsletter about the Portuguese artist Helena Almeida, her use of the color blue, and the words “listen to me” https://phrasebooks.substack.com/p/i-turn-myself-into-a-drawing21 Apr 2025 20:47 +0000at://did:plc:o7gduuleqofto42k24cxesuo/app.bsky.feed.post/3lndzx4hmks2dhttps://bsky.app/profile/rhiansasseen.bsky.social/post/3lmzmhzup4k2uFor @theatlantic.com, I wrote about Claire Baglin’s new novel On the Clock, a book that dares to take mundane work seriously https://www.theatlantic.com/books/archive/2025/04/on-the-clock-claire-baglin-novel-review/682491/17 Apr 2025 17:19 +0000at://did:plc:o7gduuleqofto42k24cxesuo/app.bsky.feed.post/3lmzmhzup4k2uhttps://bsky.app/profile/rhiansasseen.bsky.social/post/3lmfm24cpmc2sGot the inaugural issue of @fallowmedia.bsky.social in the mail a few days ago, and it’s beautiful — plus, I’ve got an essay in it on the work of the Polish photographer Joanna Piotrowska in it09 Apr 2025 18:18 +0000at://did:plc:o7gduuleqofto42k24cxesuo/app.bsky.feed.post/3lmfm24cpmc2shttps://bsky.app/profile/rhiansasseen.bsky.social/post/3ljzqfobpwc27Some of you might recall that I used to have a newsletter called phrase books, mostly about literature and art mostly in translation. After ignoring it for, oh, two or three years, I'm bringing it back. This new one is about Christian Marclay's The Clock and more: https://open.substack.com/pub/phrasebooks/p/the-return-of-phrase-books10 Mar 2025 14:14 +0000at://did:plc:o7gduuleqofto42k24cxesuo/app.bsky.feed.post/3ljzqfobpwc27https://bsky.app/profile/rhiansasseen.bsky.social/post/3ljpn2yxjdc2sRereading Georgi Gospodinov’s excellent, relevant Time Shelter (translated by Angela Rodel)06 Mar 2025 13:48 +0000at://did:plc:o7gduuleqofto42k24cxesuo/app.bsky.feed.post/3ljpn2yxjdc2shttps://bsky.app/profile/rhiansasseen.bsky.social/post/3ljcz3eddsk26“It Is March,” W. S. Merwin01 Mar 2025 13:18 +0000at://did:plc:o7gduuleqofto42k24cxesuo/app.bsky.feed.post/3ljcz3eddsk26