Dashka Slater
NYT-bestselling author of fiction and nonfiction for children and adults. Pro: curiosity, compassion, complexity. Anti: hot takes, easy answers, rushes to judgment, leaf blowers. She/Her. Use link to contact.
linktr.ee/DashkaSlater
- Incredible piece of reporting about both the horrific conditions at the Otey Mesa detention center and the inspiring activism of people on the outside who started by just showing up. My takeaways: - we can’t allow this to continue - everybody can do something - support local journalism
- Organizers have collected 14 lotion bottles, two deodorant bottles, and one AA Battery that detainees have thrown over the fences with notes attached to them. The full story: lataco.com/captive-loti... By Aisha Wallace-Palomares
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- None of us are safe until all of us are safe.
- Bidding closes tonight. Search under Author Visits.
- Authors get a lot of requests for free visits from schools who can’t afford to pay. This auction is an opportunity to double your impact by bidding on a school visit and then donating it to a school that would never be able to afford to have an author visit.
- Bidding is now open for school visits, manuscript consultations, signed books, original art & more, all to benefit immigrants & resistors in MN. I’m offering 3 virtual school visits for students of any age, from preschool through grad school, plus a bunch of signed books. bit.ly/3Z2ZPIn
- Just heard from a friend in MPLS how much this support means in keeping morale going there. Take a look and find something you like to bid on!
- Bidding is now open for school visits, manuscript consultations, signed books, original art & more, all to benefit immigrants & resistors in MN. I’m offering 3 virtual school visits for students of any age, from preschool through grad school, plus a bunch of signed books. bit.ly/3Z2ZPIn
- Bidding is now open for school visits, manuscript consultations, signed books, original art & more, all to benefit immigrants & resistors in MN. I’m offering 3 virtual school visits for students of any age, from preschool through grad school, plus a bunch of signed books. bit.ly/3Z2ZPIn
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- I donated. Maine is waiting in the wings to be the next Minnesota. Let’s help.
- Reality is not bias.
- Reposted by Dashka SlaterDear #BookSky Minneapolis has an absolutely incredible literary culture. In fact, three of the most important small presses call the city home; Coffeehouse Press, Graywolf, and Milkweed. There are also a ton of great bookstores in the Twin Cities. So here's the assignment...
- AI isn't making art. It's stealing art.
- In case you missed it: comics artists are telling the story of the ICE occupation of the Twin Cities in four heartbreaking panels.
- #iceoutcomics documents what's happening in the Twin Cities in heart-wrenching 4-panel comics. Learn the backstory & see some of the resulting comics in this week's Sigh of Relief. Includes a how-to for teachers to bring the project into their classrooms. dashkaslater.substack.com/p/dispatches...
- General Strike because:
- General strike because:
- General Strike.
- Also creepy cops have used it to stalk an intimate partner who was fleeing abuse
- Reposted by Dashka SlaterIf you're a soldier in the 11th Airborne Division being ordered to prep for deployment to Minnesota or Greenland, remember that you have the right to apply for conscientious objector status. Call the GI Bill Rights hotline: 1-877-447-4487
- #iceoutcomics documents what's happening in the Twin Cities in heart-wrenching 4-panel comics. Learn the backstory & see some of the resulting comics in this week's Sigh of Relief. Includes a how-to for teachers to bring the project into their classrooms. dashkaslater.substack.com/p/dispatches...
- Watching the Twin Cities respond to the ICE invasion has filled me with admiration. I wrote a piece about channeling our inner Minnesotans in this week's Sigh of Relief. dashkaslater.substack.com/p/we-begin-b...
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- Reposted by Dashka SlaterMaking sense of the world is hard, but @dashkaslater.bsky.social helps! Have you exercised your "mutual aid muscle"?
- Such an honor to be in conversation with rabble rouser and committed advocate for kids and teachers @rweingarten.bsky.social 🙏
- Join us!
- What got me through 2025: art, books, music, and swimming. Here are some of my favorites. open.substack.com/pub/dashkasl...
- Today through Jan 1 B&N is offering 25% off preorders so it's a great time to preorder one of my 2025 titles: Good Night Escargot, Deep Blue, or The Big One. Why not all three? www.barnesandnoble.com/w/good-night...
- New Year’s resolutions are weird, particularly at a time when so much feels beyond our control. But what happens if you state your resolutions in the form of a question? Here are ten questions to ask yourself as you step into the new year. open.substack.com/pub/dashkasl...
- One of my favorite pieces. It was a lot of fun to report.
- Honored to be quoted in this very interesting piece about that racist Young Republican group chat. www.nytimes.com/2025/12/03/u...
- These people are really weird. The book banners I mean. Not the good kind of weird either. Creepy weird.
- Want to support free expression?Independent journalism? Reproductive freedom? Immigrant families and kids? LGBTQ youth? Climate solutions? Whatever your favorite causes are, I have suggestions for your Giving Tuesday donations. Check out my 2025 Donation guide. open.substack.com/pub/dashkasl...
- Reposted by Dashka SlaterI once asked a bookseller at a large indie store how many people would have to buy a book for it to get the attention of the store buyer and cause an additional order and they said: Three.
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- Something every writer wishes every reader understood. 👇
- Interested in contributing one line to a poem for teenagers despondent about the future? Details on the prompt—and the reasons for it—are in this week’s newsletter. You can leave your line in the comments here or there. dashkaslater.substack.com/p/the-hard-t...
- Terrific reporting and analysis here.
- Russian-American author-illustrator Eugene Yelchin is one of the most interesting & innovative authors working today. He spoke to me about his gripping new graphic memoir, the challenge of making art under autocracy, the mission of writers for young people, & much more in this week’s Sigh of Relief.
- Exciting News! My next nonfiction narrative will be for middle graders! Wild Season is an inspiring true story about nature, childhood, animals, community, and the power of taking action.
- You can see the announcement here:
- In these truth-challenged times, Yoav Potash’s film, Among Neighbors, about the secrets hidden inside one Polish town is all-too-relevant. Read my interview with him in this week's Sigh of Relief. open.substack.com/pub/dashkasl...
- My mom reports that 13 octo- and nonogenarians from her senior living community attended today’s No Kings protest. Five used walkers. Four were attending a protest for the first time in their long lives. As you can imagine, I was badly shaken to learn that my mother had joined Antifa.
- Many incarcerated people use their time inside to learn, to study, and to expand their world through books. Others use books simply to survive the cruelty, isolation, and tedium of incarceration. In both cases, books are both a lifeline and a doorway.
- This is what solidarity looks like. University presidents and trustees, take note.
- The CDC Library plays an important role in providing our public health professionals with access to the best information. Without them, CDC employees will lose access to information and resources in an outbreak. bit.ly/4qaDIMi via @everylibrary.bsky.social
- The good news is that some banned books were returned to classrooms in the Leander ISD in Texas last week. The bad news is that four titles were not: The 57 Bus, Stamped, Melissa, and Gracefully Grayson. www.kvue.com/article/news...
- If you polled female athletes about the obstacles they face on a daily basis, trans teammates or opponents wouldn’t even make the list. I write about the real issues in women’s sports in this week’s Sigh of Relief. open.substack.com/pub/dashkasl...
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- What happens when we memory-hole fascism? Let’s ask Spain, which did exactly that. I wrote about history and democracy and what happens when we accept false narratives in this week’s Sigh of Relief. dashkaslater.substack.com/p/the-pact-o...
- I'm really looking forward to talking about truth with Eugene Yelchin. Join us!
