Archive - Personal Statements

Nobody majors in English anymore, and that's too bad

Jun 5 • Irena Smith

May 2026

Book 3 in progress

because writing is the best and also the worst

May 21 • Irena Smith

Mothers and others

An interview with author Nicole Graev Lipson

May 6 • Irena Smith

April 2026

Apr 20 • Irena Smith

Dress for the job you want

which is what exactly?

Apr 10 • Irena Smith

March 2026

A superfluity of Substacks

and other collective nouns you need in your life

Mar 23 • Irena Smith

Chaos Book Club is officially in session!

Jump in any time!

Mar 9 • Irena Smith

Strange ideas and impure thoughts

eavesdropping at Peet's Coffee, Daylight Savings savings, and introducing Chaos Book Club!

Mar 8 • Irena Smith

How I, a person with ADHD, taught a class about writing with ADHD

there was a lot of nodding

Mar 4 • Irena Smith

February 2026

To write about anything is to make it a spectacle

As I may have mentioned once or twice or fourteen times, I have a collection of notebooks in which I jot down thoughts and ideas and rough drafts.

Feb 25 • Irena Smith

Mothers, Daughters, and Deadlines

Memoirist Irena Smith on the invisible threads that shape a life.

Published on Author Insider • Feb 21

Audible Anxiety

Is there a way to publish an audiobook without surrendering to late stage capitalism?

Feb 11 • Irena Smith