Substacks recommended by Paul Franz | ashes and sparks

Recommended by Paul Franz

A Revival of Romantic Letters

writing whatever

keep your mind in hell and despair not

writing on faith, theology, medieval history & other obsessions

oldoldoldoldnew

By Philip Traylen

Extrications and ecstasies.

Eminent Americans

By Daniel Oppenheimer

A newsletter and podcast about the contemporary American intellectual scene.

By Kazuo Robinson

Novels, novellas, etc.

Political Currents by Ross Barkan

This is Ross Barkan's newsletter - original essays on politics, society, and culture

𝙚𝙨𝙨𝙖𝙮𝙨 • 𝙙𝙞𝙧𝙜𝙚𝙨 • 𝙤𝙗𝙡𝙞𝙩𝙚𝙧𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣

Washington Review of Books

Becoming literate is a lifelong task, but it shouldn’t take your entire day.

Grand Hotel Abyss

By John Pistelli

literature & culture

The Metropolitan Review

The Metropolitan Review is a books and culture review magazine founded in 2025.

elizabeth ellen

addiction/recovery/wellness/perimenopause/post adult offspring maturation depression/literature/memoir/women/marriage & divorce

Culture, Literature, Criticism, Fiction

Mars Review of Books

The Digital Home of the Mars Review of Books

Immanent Dissolution

By Udith Dematagoda

Essays on Literature, Philosophy, and Contemporary Culture

The extremely difficult realisation

By メアリー・ジェーン・エア

Something other than oneself is real.

By Matthew Gasda

"The devil is an optimist if he thinks he can make people worse than they are." -- Karl Kraus

Plaintive Numbers

By Wayne Wei-siang Hsieh

Occasional pieces on the historical context of military affairs.

SUBSTACK'S OWN SERIALIZED NOVEL CONTEST

ubique naufragium est

By Justin Smith-Ruiu

It's the Internet, ἁspirated.

Intellectual Journal - essays, stories, reflections

The Hermit Speaks

Fiction exploring personality, dreams, and language. Poetry and essays too.

Notes of an Aesthete

By Alice Gribbin

Essays on art by Alice Gribbin

The Circus of Unnecessary Surgery

By Chris R. Morgan

Complaints will be ignored.

By Emma Collins

Spirituality, literature, America

Alexander's Diary

Essays on culture, philosophy and literature.

Home of the "Ask a Moon" advice column + essays about literature, culture, and the occult.

Textures of intimacy, interior forms, structures of symbolic life.

Life and Letters

By Julianne Werlin

Reflections on Literature in Demographic History

By audrey snow matzke

Waste Not Tragedy

I write about art, technology, and mal moderne.

Anthony Galluzzo

By Beckett Rosset

HOW TENSE ARE YOU?

Angels and animals