Rebecca Makkai

@rebeccamakkai

Pulitzer finalist for THE GREAT BELIEVERS; new novel, I HAVE SOME QUESTIONS FOR YOU, out now. Artistic Director at StoryStudio Chicago. Trying to give everyone the benefit of the doubt. You should, too. rebeccamakkai.substack.com

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Rebecca Makkai@rebeccamakkai· 5d

This retreat is for anyone, if you haven’t started working on a manuscript, you’ve just started, or if you already have a completed manuscript ready to go...

Rebecca Makkai@rebeccamakkai· 5d

You’ll have time to write, reflect, and connect with other writers. Plus you can explore the beautiful surroundings (and swim in the stunning pool) in TUSCANY (!!!) for crying out loud.

Rebecca Makkai@rebeccamakkai· 5d

You'll improve your craft, elevate your manuscript, and learn about publishing in an absolutely beautiful—and productive!—environment. Daily workshops will be tailored to our group’s needs and interests (we'll all have reviewed a sample of your work in advance)...

Rebecca Makkai@rebeccamakkai· 5d

It’s a six-day retreat, it’s intimate, with no more than nine writers in your cohort. The Retreat includes daily workshops with me, and in the afternoons you’ll meet with Duvall Osteen (literary agent extraordinaire) & David Cashion (KAA’s executive editor and a former Big 5 acquisitions editor)

Rebecca Makkai@rebeccamakkai· 5d

I’m headed to TUSCANY in 2027 with Kevin Anderson & Association to teach writing and you can (and should!) join me 🧵 www.ka-writing.com/kaa-writers-...

Rebecca Makkai@rebeccamakkai· 9d

and 2) A four-session class on writing magic with the wonderful Ruth Joffre. Both via @storystudiochicago.bsky.social. Both will keep August from melting your brain! www.storystudiochicago.org/classes/clas...

Rebecca Makkai@rebeccamakkai· 9d

Two online August writing classes you should sign up for TODAY! 1) Single-session class with the brilliant Daniel Levine on writing cinematic scenes (on the page)🧵 www.storystudiochicago.org/classes/clas...

Rebecca Makkai@rebeccamakkai· 13d

(Free) keynote is Friday, August 14th at the Driehaus Museum, festival Saturday, August 15th at the Newberry. Have I mentioned tickets are at the link below? Hope to see you in August! www.storystudiochicago.org/writers-fest...

Rebecca Makkai@rebeccamakkai· 13d

Yes, @storystudiochicago.bsky.social StoryBoard Fest IS this much fun. Yes, The Newberry Library IS this beautiful. But, most importantly yes, you CAN still buy tickets Chicago locals (and out-of-towners), this is the perfect place to learn about craft, make friends, and connect with instructors!

Rebecca Makkai@rebeccamakkai· 21d

We are so lucky to have 'Pemi Aguda author of GHOSTROOTS and ONE LEG ON EARTH as our keynote speaker for @storystudiochicago.bsky.social's StoryBoard fest this year. I’ll be in conversation with her at the gorgeous Driehaus Museum in downtown Chicago (Near North Side) 🧵

Rebecca Makkai@rebeccamakkai· 22d

Stop 👏🏼 telling 👏🏼 children 👏🏼 they 👏🏼 can’t 👏🏼 make 👏🏼 a 👏🏼 living 👏🏼 in 👏🏼 the 👏🏼 arts 👏🏼

Rebecca Makkai@rebeccamakkai· 24d

In 2014, I stayed @ucrossfoundation.bsky.social with an amazing group that included Stephen O'Connnor, whose work I now love... www.manchestervermont.com/event/norths...

Rebecca Makkai@rebeccamakkai· 26d

Seriously, some of these houses are deranged.

Rebecca Makkai@rebeccamakkai· 26d

I’ve been saving you some Zillows to make a giant summer Zillow post. Here they are! open.substack.com/pub/rebeccam...

Rebecca Makkai@rebeccamakkai· Jul 6

@storystudiochicago.bsky.social's StoryBoard Festival 2026 is quickly coming up (August 14th and 15th in Chicago!) and now’s a great time to get your tickets. Here’s what you can look forward to… 🧵 www.storystudiochicago.org/writers-fest...

Rebecca Makkai@rebeccamakkai· Jun 5

Hey look, it’s Hot Class Summer! @storystudiochicago.bsky.social just dropped our summer classes and we’ve got short ones, long ones, online ones, Chicago ones: An intro to creative writing with Sheree Greer that’s pay-what-you-can, Peter Mountford on the Publishable Personal Essay... 1/

Rebecca Makkai@rebeccamakkai· Jun 2

Writers and readers and even editors have so many misunderstandings about how book prizes work. I’m not going to give anyone a stroke by revealing secrets of the judging room, BUT I want to tell you a whole lot of stuff that you probably don’t know 🧵 open.substack.com/pub/rebeccam...

Rebecca Makkai@rebeccamakkai· Jun 1

Anyone who knows me even a little bit hopefully know this is NOT the real me on TikTok inviting you to be "book besties." Please help me block and report...

Rebecca Makkai@rebeccamakkai· May 28

I got slightly waylaid (for many reasons, some of which I’ll explain here), but I am still reading my way around the world, & am back with 3 African novels, but also 12 (American) novels about unhinged women… Join me on Subst*ck to see the ones recommend! rebeccamakkai.substack.com/p/so-i-got-s...

Rebecca Makkai@rebeccamakkai· May 7

The food is amazing, there’s a prairie to romp around if you’re stuck in a narrative puzzle and you’re ~50 minutes to downtown Chicago, so you can escape to the city for inspiration. I hope you apply; deadline is May 14 (for all 2027 residencies) at 11:59pm CT. ragdale.submittable.com/submit

Rebecca Makkai@rebeccamakkai· May 7

If you’ve been looking for a sign to apply to a 2027 residency, this is it: Apply to Ragdale. Literally every single person I know who’s been there has fallen in love with the place 🧵 ragdale.submittable.com/submit

Rebecca Makkai@rebeccamakkai· May 5

JFC could we PLEASE stop doing this? This is from Slate. It's about a badass woman whose age (62) and family status (apparently her kid has a kid) have zero to do with the story. I get this this gets more clicks, but there are other ways to sell out.

Rebecca Makkai@rebeccamakkai· May 4

I can finally tell you that I was the fiction jury chair for this year's Pulitzer. I had a blast, and am so grateful for the experience.

I was honored to serve as chair of this year’s Pulitzer Jury for fiction. Along with Victor Lavalle, Mark McGurl, Elizabeth Strout, and David Treuer, I spent much of 2025 reading a stunning mountain of books.
Out of nearly 600 novels and short story collections submitted for this year’s prize, we were delighted to present the final judges, the Pulitzer Board, with three nominees whose wild, profound, idiosyncratic narratives are, in our collective estimation, the exciting and fully-realized American fiction published last year.
We read these books during a year of particular national horror, but to be immersed in literature during this brutal year was also a blessing. Dreams help us digest stress and trauma—and fiction (shared dreams, writ large) help us process the world, its tragic failings, its surprising and obstinate beauty.
All three of our finalist books plumb the depths of pain (personal, political, existential), but couple those tragedies with ecstasy. And it seems like no coincidence that in all three books, a protagonist finds deliverance in the surreal or imagined. In the title novella of Torrey Peters’ collection Stag Dance, a folkloric beast terrifies the protagonist but ultimately delivers salvation. In Katie Kitamura’s Audition, the playacting of both theater and twisted familial roles give the narrator’s life shape and purpose. In Daniel Kraus’s Angel Down, it’s a biblical angel who offers both redemption and a glimpse of the horrifying future.
The five jurists were united in looking for a book that felt like a classic, one that future readers (we must believe in the future readers, or we’re lost) will look back on as something truly great and even, in retrospect, inevitable, born of this precarious moment in history.
Congratulations to all three of the finalists; I’m so grateful that their work is in the world. And Chicago fireworks for the winner, Daniel Kraus.

Rebecca Makkai@rebeccamakkai· Apr 27

Electric Literature said that @emmaceisenberg.bsky.social “should be studied by every contemporary author as the finest departure from the fatphobic hellscape of fiction that exists.” 🧵 www.eventbrite.com/e/book-event...

Rebecca Makkai@rebeccamakkai· Apr 22

Today’s Subst*ck: Last week's Hungarian political victory, when Freddie Mercury became a Hungarian hero, and also one more reason Kate McKinnon is superhuman… Link below! open.substack.com/pub/rebeccam...

Rebecca Makkai@rebeccamakkai· Apr 13

In the country of my ancestry and my heart, my books have been shrink wrapped and considered pornography because they contain gay characters. He controlled books and the media, shuttered universities, and was a foot on the country’s neck. There’s a long road ahead — de most, a pezsgő. 🍾 🇭🇺

Rebecca Makkai@rebeccamakkai· Mar 25

@storystudiochicago.bsky.social's StoryBoard applications are closing on 3/27 (that’s FRIDAY!!). But don’t stress, there’s still time to apply for a week of workshopping, community building with your cohort and instructor, craft talks, and a special discussion with all five in-person authors 🧵

Rebecca Makkai@rebeccamakkai· Mar 18

Was really happy to write a Substack post for Thousand Voices Media and Jenna Bush Hager about ways to be deliberately analogue 🧵 open.substack.com/pub/voicesat...

Rebecca Makkai@rebeccamakkai· Mar 18

Great news, guys, Hell is available if you know of a good tenant

Rebecca Makkai@rebeccamakkai· Mar 17

ADHDers and anyone interested: I’m excited to be on the Friday Frontliner, streamed live on YouTube and Facebook in conversation with @chloemartinez.bsky.social, Robin Black, and Lisa Van Orman Hadley, hosted by @carolineleavitt.bsky.social 🧵