Substacks recommended by Fran Gardner

Recommended by Fran Gardner

Thoughtful reflections on the process of change.

Writing from undefended heartbreak—for what has been shunned, lost, or betrayed to be salvaged—to restore feminine love—to explore archetypes, creative imagination, dreams—the return to our soul home.

Grizzly Pear Jr.

By Justus

word art from the suburban desert

Justus is an incredibly talent photographer and a viewer of the world through a quirky lens.

- Fran Gardner

Ring Around the Basin

By Sue Cauhape

Poetry, stories, and essays about the beauty of the Great Basin, Truckee and Santa Cruz, and Utah. Welcome to Ring Around the Basin.

Illustrated Life

By Amy Cowen

Connecting the dots between creative habit, drawing, writing, memory, gratitude, aging, making art in the margins, & more. Plus, free Illustrate Your Week prompts for keeping an illustrated journal. 📓 🏳️‍🌈 🖋️

Amy writes from the heart, and she does it well. She’s been doing it for years and yet her voice is still fresh and cogent.

- Fran Gardner

Silences

By Amondo Poggioli

"The music is not in the notes, but in the silence between." ~ Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

Lovely art and pithy comments

- Fran Gardner

What I'm reading

A Journey Through Creativity, Identity, and Liberation.

Footnotes and Tangents

By Simon Haisell

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

Juke

By Tonya Morton

A creative journal with dirt in the corners.

A quartet of good writers explore music and life

- Fran Gardner

Trish Tails

By Dishkitty

Hi. I draw a diary comic every day. Some of them are pretty good! Sign up, you'll love it.

Letty Cottin Pogrebin’s Newsletter

Politics, culture, humor, women, feminism, Jews, Israel-Palestine & more

About half shot

By Eric Mortenson

Oregon, family, journalism, bad golf, running, history.

An old colleague at The Oregonian who’s offbeat and funny.

- Fran Gardner

Administrivia by Deb Amlen

Adventures in fermenting, wine making, growing food, and the world at large.

Telltale Crumbs from Maggie Stiefvater

Fiction. Craft. Mixed Media.

I’m all about story, but I read Maggie Stiefvater because I’m trying to figure out how her mind works. She’ll be writing along and suddenly there’s this bomb of an idea.

- Fran Gardner

Your Local Epidemiologist

By Katelyn Jetelina

Providing a direct line of "translated" public health science to you

An antidote to the anti-vax madness on Substack. "We cannot have one group trust public health and another not. This is not how viruses work."

- Fran Gardner

morning person

By Leslie Stephens

Obsessively-curated recommendations and reflections, best served with coffee.

Another writer who lives in Portland. She's erudite and witty and full of surprise.

- Fran Gardner

Everything Is Amazing

By Mike Sowden

A newsletter about seeing more, feeling more, and asking better questions. Curiosity makes everything better - but can it be *learned*? Let's find out.

It’s science with feeling and a big dose of quirkiness

- Fran Gardner

The Corners by Nadia Bolz-Weber

Grace for fuck-ups. Prayer for the impious. A space for spiritual misfits.

#The100DayProject Newsletter

By Lindsay Jean Thomson

#The100DayProject is a free, global art project that takes place online. Every year, thousands of people all around the world commit to 100 days of creating. Anyone can participate (yes, that means you!).

Culture Study

By Anne Helen Petersen

Think more about the culture that surrounds you

Her writing about community and connection resonates. She lives on Lummi Island in Puget Sound.

- Fran Gardner

The Half Marathoner

By Terrell Johnson

A running newsletter that isn't (just) about running

Becoming

Recommended by Fran Gardner