Masha Shukovich

Local writer Masha Shukovich is coming to the studio to lead our first-ever poetry-writing workshop! We’ll combine poetic expression and prompt-based writing, centered around a leisurely walk through the neighborhood. Observing small moments of beauty along the way, you’ll gather a collection of ordinary enchantments and weave them into several finished pieces. Come write with @mashawrites on Saturday, May 30, starting at 930 am.

My first AWP (in Baltimore, MD) was a whirlwind, but I was utterly charmed by the Charm City and its wonderful, authentic, and kind people (plus the food is seriously AMAZING). Seeing some of my dearest writerly friends in person felt like the best kind of medicine! 🙏🏽🌿 Also, attending the AWP-Adjacent 1st Annual Adult Spelling Bee, hosted by Minda Honey and featuring such greats as Vauhini Vara (a champion speller and my beloved Book Project mentor), Deesha Philyaw, Denne Michele Norris, Cleyvis Natera, Annabelle Tomatich, Jodi-Ann Burey, and Kiese Laymon, with a surprise appeance by none other than the magnificent Carmen Maria Machado, was the most fun I've had in years! 😊🙌🏽🐝  Until next time, AWP! 💙 #awp2026 #writingcommunity #writingconference

“My husband is not a man you can just leave, so I start leaving parts of him instead.” Read Masha Shukovich’s (@mashawrites ) wonderful short story, “Runner,” in The Bulb Region today. (Link in bio.)

Rainy late winter greetings to you, friends! 🌧☀️ Instead of celebrating Valentine's day this February 14, I will be celebrating the Winter Day of the Dead/Zimske zadušnice/Зимске задушнице (celebrated at least 4 times a year, and always on a Saturday, the Day of the Dead in my Serbian/Vlach/Roma tradition) by making special bread to honor and feed the souls of the ancestors. The cult of the dead and the practice of "feeding the dead" is an important aspect of Balkan shamanism, particularly among my Serb, Vlach & Roma ancestors. It comforts me to know that many of these ancient and sacred shamanic rituals honoring the spirits of the dead still co-exist alongside Orthodox Christianity in Serbia.  If you're eager to explore your own ancestral and personal relationship with food through writing, there are still two spots left in my 4-week-long online writing workshop starting tomorrow (Thursday, February 12) at 6:30pm.MST, and it's not too late to sign up.  My "Food, Memory, Identity: Recipes for Being and Staying Alive" workshop is hosted by Lighthouse Writers & focuses on the stories we tell about nourishment and the ways in which food, memory, and identity intersect; inform one another; and shape our sense of who we are and where we belong. We'll be using storytelling to uncover our personal, familial, and ancestral ways of surviving and finding nourishment, joy, and beauty in challenging times. If you’re considering joining me, but the cost of participation is prohibitive, Lighthouse offers generous scholarships and payment plans. You'll find all the info, including registration and scholarship application links in my bio. 🧿  And if the timing isn't right for you this time around, stay tuned for more offerings coming soon!  May you and your creativity and resilience be nourished in both visible and invisible ways as you navigate the many heart-and-soulbreaks of our times! 🙌🏽☀️ Workshop Schedule (remote participation, via Zoom):  Feb 12, 2026 6:30pm - 8:30pm MST Feb 19, 2026 6:30pm - 8:30pm MST Feb 26, 2026 6:30pm - 8:30pm MST Mar 05, 2026 6:30pm - 8:30pm MST  #writingworkshop #writingcommunity #ancestors #ancestorsintraining #foodwriting

Happy New Year, friends, and may gods and ancestors keep you safe in these wild times! 🙌🏽☀️ My grandmother, who lived through some serious shit, often quoted an (alleged) ancient Chinese curse, "May you live in interesting times," to teach us the wisdom of living a quiet life. We now collectively have an opportunity to learn that "interesting times" may not be "the best of times," unless you're addicted to adrenaline.  As the volatility, unpredictability, and surrealism of the current world grip us, we must remember that we are hardly the first humans to live in times of great turmoil and upheaval. Our ancestors have experienced it too, and much worse, and lived to tell the tale, or none of us would be here now. The wisdom our elders gained from it all still lives in our cells, our memory, and the stories we tell.  ☀️So, here's my invitation for you: Come and shape the stories only you can tell in my 4-week online writing workshop with Lighthouse Writers starting February 12, titled, "Food, Memory, Identity: Recipes for Being and Staying Alive."☀️ The workshop focuses on the stories we tell about nourishment and the ways in which food, memory, and identity intersect; inform one another; and shape our sense of who we are and where we belong. We'll be using storytelling to uncover our personal, familial, and ancestral ways of surviving and finding nourishment, joy, and beauty in challenging times. I hope you will join me, dear ancestors-in-training! If cost of participation is prohibitive, Lighthouse offers generous partial (and full) scholarships and payment plans. You'll find all the info, including registration and scholarship application links in my bio. In the meantime, I'm sending you the nourishing combo of love and resilience from my writing cave! 🌱 Workshop Schedule (remote participation, via Zoom):  Feb 12, 2026 6:30pm - 8:30pm MST Feb 19, 2026 6:30pm - 8:30pm MST Feb 26, 2026 6:30pm - 8:30pm MST Mar 05, 2026 6:30pm - 8:30pm MST  #writingworkshop #writingcommunity #ancestors #ancestorsintraining #foodwriting @lighthousewriters

Hello, lovely humans! ☀️ I recently returned to SLC from a trip to the beautiful ancestral lands of the Coast Salish peoples (aka Vancouver, BC), where sanity still thrives, to some good news: I'm a finalist for two literary awards: the 2025 Page Turner Writing Award and the 2025 Page Turner Culture Award. I'm grateful for the unwavering support of my family, friends & mentors, and the continued inspiration gifted to me by the ancestors of the blood, the ancestors of the land, and the more-than-human world that rises up to great us with every breath we take on this beautiful, infinitely precious planet! 🙌🏽🌏💚 ☀️For more info about the Page Turner Awards & how to submit your own work in the future, check out my bio/comments on FB.  🌲The gorgeous artifact I'm standing next to in the 1st photo is located at Stanley Park, Vancouver, BC and was created by Susan Point, a Musqueam Coast Salish artist. "People Amongst the People," 2008, Carved and Painted Red Cedar Portal by Susan Point Photo by Maya Youksell © 2025  @pageturnerawards #writingaward #writingcontest #writersofcolor #bodiesofculture #queerwriters #neurodivergentwriter #autisticwriter #ownvoices #animist

Friends, beloveds, come celebrate the power of authenticity and creativity with us tomorrow at the inaugural West Valley City Pride Story Slam! 🌈 ☀️"Unlocked: Reclamation of Queer Lives" is a powerful collection of personal stories told by some of the most gifted, resilient, fierce, kind, and beautiful humans I've had the privilege to meet in this life. It's been an absolute joy working with them on developing their stories for the stage. ☀️  🌈If you're looking for a well of hope and seek meaning & purpose in a world that seems to have lost its way, please join Sam Forlenza, Jo Von Ogygia-Onile, Kaz Alvera, Sarah May, Brett Bluth, Eric Brotherson, and me tomorrow at 12:30pm at Utah Cultural Celebration Center! 🌈 More info: ☀️Date: Saturday, June 28th, 2025  🌈Time: 12:30pm-2:00pm ☀️Location: Utah Cultural Celebration Center (UCCC), Room #204 🌈Address: 1355 W 3100 S, West Valley City, UT 84119 The "Unlocked: Reclamation of Queer Lives" Story Slam is a part of the larger West Valley City inaugural Pride event, a vibrant celebration of love and community. This event will provide a welcoming space for residents and visitors to come together, learn, and enjoy a day filled with entertainment, resources, and fun. Whether you’re a longtime advocate or new to Pride, this event offers something for everyone—live performances, delicious food, local vendors, and interactive art experiences. More than just a celebration, this event is a reflection of the unique culture of West Valley City—a diverse, dynamic community where people from all backgrounds come together to create something truly special. Join us as we make history and honor the beauty of pride, progress, and unity of West Valley City! @utahculturalcelebrationcenter @sam.forlenza @kkazmataz @sarahlizmay @headmasterogygia

Beloveds, if your faith in humanity has been shaken, and not for the first time, come and join me and these brilliant, brave, BADASS young people tonight at 7:00pm at Utah Cultural Celebration Center (UCCC) for a galvanizing performance that's all about speaking truth to em(power)! It's been an absolute joy and honor working with them and my POWERHOUSE hermano Dr. David Gonzalez in the gorgeous space provided by our friends from Utah Cultural Celebration Center with the generous support from Utah Neighborhood Partners and my friend and one of the kindest humans on the planet, J.R. Martinez.  "In times of dread, artists must never choose to remain silent." - Toni Morrison 💛💛💛Tony Morrison portrait + quote artist: Nadia Linek @nadialinek.illustration 💛💛💛 @nadialinek @davidgonzalezstories @cdea_of_utah @unpslc @utahculturalcelebrationcenter

Beloveds, if you’re feeling heartbroken, afraid, helpless, numb, devastated, terror-stricken, enraged, [insert your uncomfortable emotion of the day here], I see you.🌙 Toni Morrison knew a great deal about what it means to be a writer and storyteller in times of urgency, distress, and suffering, both individual and collective. Here we are now, in those times again. In the article that appeared in the April 6, 2015 issue of The Nation, Toni Morisson wrote: “There is no time for despair, no place for self-pity, no need for silence, no room for fear. We speak, we write, we do language. That is how civilizations heal.” 🌈 I’ll be reading excerpts from my novel at Utah Arts Fest at 3:40pm tomorrow (Sunday, June 22) at Plaza Stage and would love it if you could join me for the reading and a conversation about resilience in hard times. More info about the Utah Arts Fest and the link to Toni Morisson’s article are in the bio. I’m sending you love and peace. Gods know we need both!  🙌🏽☀️ @utahartsfest

☀️"FREE THE WORDS" online writing and art-making workshop this Spring Equinox☀️ With the help of my dear friend Sarah May, I'm offering a FREE virtual writing & collage-making workshop (via Zoom) on the Spring Equinox, Thursday, March 20, from 6:00-8:00pm MST. The workshop will focus on exploring indigenous myths of light and dark, identifying ways to be creative in difficult times, practicing curiosity about our inner and outer landscapes, and using a variety of writing prompts and art invitations to FREE and reclaim the words that the current administration has effectively banned in an attempt to purge what they fear and don't have the capacity to understand from every facet of American life. During our time together we will hold these precious and powerful words with expansiveness and loving kindness they deserve, play with them, and turn them into brave and beautiful poems, stories, spells, and incantations to invite the light back into our lives and the life of the sacred planet that we are so lucky to inhabit. ☀️What: "FREE THE WORDS" online writing & art-making workshop ☀️Date & time: Spring Equinox (Thursday, March 20th), 6:00-8:00pm Mountain Time / 5:00-7:00pm Pacific Time / 8:00-10:00pm Eastern Time ☀️Who is it for: Kind, open-hearted, and well-meaning humans of all ages, genders, and abilities looking to be creative in community. ☀️Cost: FREE, but donations in ANY AMOUNT will be cheerfully and gratefully accepted and put towards supporting and protecting the most vulnerable members of our communities (registration link that includes the donation option is in bio/comments on FB). ☀️Materials needed: Your beautiful spirit & willingness to be fiercely creative, a device that will allow you to connect to Zoom, and any writing & drawing implements that you prefer/are comfortable using. ☀️Registration: Registration link is in bio/comments on FB. Zoom link will be shared with you via email once you've registered. I hope you can join Sarah and me as we "FREE THE WORDS" this Spring Equinox and write/art our way into the light! ☀️

Friends, if you are like me, these days you are clinging to even the smallest crumb of joy, hope, and beauty in this deeply wounded world we inhabit.  For me, this past week has been more than just a crumb of joy. It's  been a window into another world: one that breathes in grief and pain and breathes out community and interconnectedness.   I had the joy and privilege of being a part of the Anaphora Arts residency, the goal of which is "to nurture emerging and established writers of color, to create opportunities for publication, and establish a wide network of support for writers of different backgrounds." Mahtem Shiferraw, founder & Executive Director of Anaphora Arts, created an incredibly welcoming and inspiring space for writers of many different backgrounds to gather, create together, and support each other's work guided by brilliant and generous artists, mentors, and industry experts, including Chris Abani, Bushra Rehman, Samiya Bashir, Jamaica Baldwin & Samantha Fabien. Since Anaphora Arts residency is held virtually, I took myself to Kanab, UT for some uninterrupted writing time surrounded by magnificent nature and many sacred sites. My heart is full. And, as Mary Oliver says, "Joy is not made to be a crumb." So let's grow joy together! Writerly friends who identify as POC, if you're looking for a creative community to feed your soul, please consider applying for Anaphora Arts in the future (link with all the info is in the bio/comments on FB). ☀️ @mahtem_shiferraw @anaphoralitarts @writerbushra

Winter & New Moon blessings and Happy New Year, friends! ❄️🌑🎆💙 It's been a while! I challenged myself back in June to stay away from all distractions (including social media) while I complete my novel manuscript. Now that my 1st draft is finished (yay!) and the 2nd one is well underway (almost yay!), I'm "unshunning" (#dwightschrutevibes) myself briefly for a quick announcement:  One of my stories (a stand-alone excerpt from my novel "The Taste of Names," which recently won Rick DeMarinis Short Story Award) was nominated for the Pushcart Prize by Pam Uschuk , the brilliant and multitalented Editor in Chief of Cutthroat, A Journal of the Arts (more info in bio/comments). Thank you SO much for your encouragement and support, dear Pam! 🙏🏽💚 Another short piece of mine (which won the 2024 Prism Review Fiction Contest) was likely also nominated, but the editor said that they don't disclose the pieces they nominate since they "admittedly have fatigue from "Pushcart prize nominated" notes in submissions." 😂 Fellow writers who have also been nominated, in case you didn't know (this was news to me!), keeping the P-word out of official bios, submissions, and cover letters while you wait for the results is apparently considered good form. 🫠 Regardless, this is my very first Pushcart nomination (that I know of, since many lit magazines don't disclose their nominations & you only find out if your piece advances further) and I'm really excited about it! 🥳 🙌🏽 What are you most excited about right now, on the cusp of the New Year, friends? Anything that matters to you counts! 🌱💚 #pushcart