Beautiful Losers | Shannan Mann | Substack

Against the Cult of Productivity in Writing

Dear writers in your rot-era, be free & see past the myth

Nov 7, 2025 • Shannan Mann

WTF Is AWP & Why Are You Here

Low-down on the show-down (idk, it rhymed so I put it here)

Mar 4 • Shannan Mann

A Reading List for Poets Who Want To Be Novelists

20 books to entertain, uplift & maybe just kick your poet-brain into novel-mode

Feb 19 • Shannan Mann and Karan Kapoor

Sure, Sylvia Plath's great, but have you tried...

More writers for you who love the rage & the mythos & the more, more, more

Feb 11 • Shannan Mann

Ranking Every Book I Read in 2025

+ 5-Second Book Reviews

Feb 5 • Shannan Mann

Most Popular

In Defense of Being Boring at Parties

Aug 19, 2025 • Shannan Mann

The Only Poetry Curriculum You Need

Oct 14, 2025 • Shannan Mann

13 Reasons to Keep Making Art Even If No One Gives a Shit

Jun 24, 2025 • Shannan Mann

Sure, Sylvia Plath's great, but have you tried...

Feb 11 • Shannan Mann

We are so lightly here, friends.

Newsletters

Poetry & Stories

half-dreamed & conjured from the void

Free, fun, & accessible literary learning

Essays & Opinions

I think things about other things

not the final countdown but maybe

Recommendations

ONLY POEMS DAILY

ONLY POEMS DAILY

Strange Pilgrims

Strange Pilgrims

Bob Hicok: Poetry

Karan Kapoor

Beautiful Losers

Beautiful Losers

we are so lightly here, friends

Recent posts

I fear I will turn to maggots

Jan 30 • Shannan Mann

I'm kind of over the sad girl canon

Confession time, unironically

Jan 26 • Shannan Mann

Can I tell you a secret?

a story as short as a long, deep breath

Jan 13 • Shannan Mann

Being a lover of literature has always been a melancholic, bittersweet affair

On publishing, the future of Substack, God, writing, the true self, & Ursula K. Le Guin

Dec 31, 2025 • Shannan Mann

Little Blue Dot

I am not hiding from anyone

Dec 24, 2025 • Shannan Mann

Stop Writing Bad Sad Poems!

Observations & inspirations to translate grief to the page

Dec 17, 2025 • Shannan Mann

The Best & Worst of Substack

Some recommendations & ruminations | Substack Wrapped 2025

Dec 5, 2025 • Shannan Mann

She is salt in the sea, invisible but everywhere

Nov 26, 2025 • Shannan Mann

A Living, Behemoth Glossary for Poets & Other Crazy Creatives

Poetic terms & literary concepts featuring beautiful, extensive examples | ✦ POETRY CURRICULUM FOUNDATIONS II

Nov 19, 2025 • Shannan Mann

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