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9.2.2026
by admin//| NotesThe Pool Party crew is growing! Peep our Masthead and welcome Mahalea!
Mahalea Whitehead (he/him), our new Associate Nonfiction Editor and Grant Writer is a writer, artist, chef, and lover of all things critical. Raised in the Midwest on a diet of broken American dreams, he most admires art that lines the cracks between identity, culture, and social stratification. His personal library contains the likes of writers such as Johanna Hedva, Saidiya Hartman, Leo Herrera, and Ryuko Kubota. He has a dual Bachelor’s in Applied Linguistics and Social Sciences from Portland State University, and his current work focuses on consumption, desire, legibility, and the alt queer experience in a fractured world. Find him burying hands in clay at a ceramics studio, cooking for friends at home, enjoying a club darkroom in Berlin, or editing in a coffee shop in the Pacific Northwest
8.6.2026
by admin//| NotesPre-orders live for Matt Knutson’s forthcoming story collection! First 100 pre-orders get limited-edition swag: PRE-ORDER NOW
5.15.2026
by admin//| NotesConversation between Kerri Schlottman and Ryan-Ashley about new book Daytime Moon live now: https://poolpartymag.com/daytime-moon/
5.7.2026
by admin//| NotesRead Luke’s Tops for art, film, and theory influential to the writing of Kill Dick: https://poolpartymag.com/lukes-tops/
1.10.2026
by admin//| NotesWe accepted Matt Knutson’s story collection and plan to publish it Winter 26/27!
12.15.2025
Anthology production and manuscript submissions
by Ryan-Ashley (Anderson) Maloney//| NotesCurrently reviewing manuscript submissions and curating our first print anthology! We’re thrilled that Vera Blossom is writing the introduction for the anthology. If you aren’t familiar with her work, you can get to know it and learn more about her here.
12.10.2025
Arguing with strangers, brain rot, and phone productivity
by Ryan-Ashley (Anderson) Maloney//| NotesPeople are reading more than ever—words, not books—text messages, social media captions, arguments in the comments.
Most of us probably know this already, if only intuitively. But know it or not, if you’re like us, “phone productivity” is high.
This very smart New Yorker article by Jay Caspian Kang explores more than just the ills of phone addiction and benefits of book-reading, though, and it’s worth a read if you’ve got a few minutes.
Here’s a sample: