Looking Back at 2024

Books read, things done, top posts + more!

Hello dear ones,

It’s that time of the year where I get super reflective. I know that time is a construct and the Gregorian calendar is just one way to mark time passing — and yet, every year, after the winter solstice, I find myself turning inward to reflect on the year that’s almost over, and setting intentions for the year ahead. This ritual brings me so much comfort.

So for today, I wanted to offer a look back at 2024. Inspired by my friend Raechel Anne Jolie, whose substack I truly love, I want to mark my accomplishments, as it can be so challenging to celebrate ourselves — or even really just remember our wins. Before I dive in, just wanna give you a final reminder that this is the last week to sign up for a paid sub at $5.

Announcement re: some changes to paid subs for 2025

As you’ve heard me say before, I’m in a phase of my life where I’m really trying to making my living as a writer, and substack has been HUGELY helpful for that.

Please note : this will not affect current paying subscribers - the rate that you signed up will remain.

A paid subscription gets you:

• Subscriber-only posts and full archive;

• Access the community chats to connect with me and other subs;

• Monthly co-writing hangs, almost always on the first Monday of the month.

I never want money to be an access barrier, so you can always shoot me an email at hello@margeauxfeldman.com for a free paid sub.

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I got a book deal!

What a truly wild thing to have happen! I started Touch Me, I’m Sick as my PhD dissertation in 2014, though at that time chronic illness hadn’t entered my life or the writing. I finished my degree in February 2021, and then spent the following summer working with a writing coach, cutting chapters, revising what remained, and writing new ones. Being approached by a literary agent in 2023 was such a dream, and I signed a book deal in April 2024. I share this timeline for other writers out there, so you can see just how long it can take to write and publish. Touch Me, I’m Sick: A Memoir-in-Essays will be birthed into the world on September 9, 2025. Stay tuned for the book cover reveal (I AM OBSESSED) and info about pre-ordering.

I got an O-1 visa!

For those who don’t know, I’d originally moved to the US in June 2023 on a student visa for my MFA in Creative Writing. I quickly learnt that I basically couldn’t do the majority of my freelance work while in the US, and learned about O-1 visas. Basically, the deal is that you have to prove to US immigration that you are exceptional at what you do. This requires a bunch of job offers as well as letters attesting to your brilliance from others in your field. When it was all said and done, my lawyers submitted a 300-page long application and I had to sit and wait to see if I would be deemed “exceptional.” While I don’t believe in state-sanctioned excellence, I am truly so grateful that my visa was approved and I could continue to do all of the work that I love so much!

I made a billboard!

Never ever in a million years did I think that making memes on the internet would result in being commissioned to make a billboard. But when The Bows Gallery in Calgary, Alberta asked me if one of my memes could be featured on their billboard, I immediately jumped at the opportunity. I was even more stoked when they told me that they loved my furby memes. And so I went and purchased two furbies so that I could stage a still life that would be used for the image (as opposed to sourcing the image from the internet, which is what I usually do).

I launched a discord server!

Community building is one of my deepest passions. Again and again, people have asked me how I managed to find my humans, and the honest answer is a combination of luck and inserting myself into spaces with other humans with similar interests/identities. I also have zero chill, and so when something I want doesn’t exist, I make it! And this is what happened with the Softcore Trauma Community Discord! With over 350 members, this online space warms my heart every single day as I watch people practice vulnerability, offer support to one another, share resources, and connect at our live community events. There’s also the monthly Craft & Cry, the two live Q&As we’ve had, a book club, and weekly co-writing hangs. Click here if you wanna check it out.

I survived a breakup and made a new home!

The fall of 2024 was a big Tower Card moment for me (for those unfamiliar with tarot, the Tower Card is quite literally a tower on fire, about to be burnt to the ground. It is that moment when everything blows up, and you’re stunned in the aftermath). My partnership ended abruptly and I found myself deep in a grief hole at the start of my second year of my MFA. Amidst the grief, I found a new home that a loved one of mine has called “my treehouse.” While breakups are the worst, I know that I’m now in a chapter of my life where I’m going to live my most authentic non-monogamous, polyamorous life (once, that is, I’m ready to put myself out there again). And I’m really, really excited to love and be loved for how big my heart is.

Newsletter!

I wrote 57 newsletters this year! I wanted to share my most popular essays below. In case you missed them before the paywall went up, I’ve made them accessible to all subscribers for the next 21 days.

Reading!

While there are still a few days left before the end of the year, and it’s possible I might finish one more book, here’s a list of everything I read this year, broken up by genres. Bolded entries represent one of my fav reads of 2024 (though quite honestly I loved almost everything I read).

Non-fiction

1. The Heart and Other Monsters, Rose Andersen

2. Dinner on Monster Island, Tania de Rozario

3. Splinters, Leslie Jamison

4. Brutalities: A Love Story, Margo Steins

5. Committed: On Meaning and Madwomen, Suzanne Scanlon

6. Little Astronaut, Maryann Aita

7. The Story Game, Shze-Hui Tjoa

8. Cactus Country, Zoë Bossiere

9. Sociopath, Patric Gagne

10. First Love: Essays on Friendship, Lilly Dancyger

11. Love is a Burning Thing, Nina St Pierre

12. Men Have Called Her Crazy, Anna Marie Tendler

13. Horse Barbie, Geena Rocero

14. My Pinup, Hilton Als

15. Carrie Carolyn Cocoo, Sarah Gerard

16. White Magic, Elissa Washuta

17. Constructing a Nervous System, Margo Jefferson

18. I Hate You - Don’t Leave Me, Jerold J. Kreisman

19. The Crying Book, Heather Christle

20. The Art of Crying: The Healing Power of Tears, Pepita Sandwich

21. Guestbook: Ghost Stories, Leanne Shapton

22. Rough Magic: Living with Borderline Personality Disorder, Miranda Newman

Fiction (* for autofiction)

1. Severance, Ling Ma

2. The Rabbit Hutch, Tess Gunty

3. The Friend, Sigrid Nunez*

4. How to Adjust to the Dark, Rebecca van Lear*

5. Outline, Rachel Cusk*

6. All Fours, Miranda July*

7. Bad Girls, Camila Sosa Villada*

8. How to Fall in Love in a Time of Unnameable Disaster, Muriel Leung (technically haven’t finished but it’s already a fav)

Poetry

1. Couplets, Maggie Milner

2. Psych Murders, Stephanie Heit

3. The Year of Blue Water, Yanyi

4. Thresholes, Lara Mimosa Montes

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Thanks so much for making 2024 so magical for me! Endlessly grateful to have you here. Would love to celebrate your accomplishments too! Drop them in the comments xoxo