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The Things Not Named

A conversation with Joshua Doležal--come listen in

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#Vanlife: The Ruby Years and the Vivian Debut

To keep from breaking

Nov 8, 2025 • Holly Starley

Winter Storm Warning in October

And also Treasures Despite a Fool's Gold

Oct 12, 2025 • Holly Starley

Why I cut a 14x14-inch hole in the roof of my van in the pouring rain

You could slide through a hole like that. Become a balloon and drift, up, up and away from all that ailed.

Sep 28, 2025 • Holly Starley

Before the Timeline

Vivian groaned a bit climbing. But landing beneath towering ranges I roamed in youth and skies like Greek gods, among wild flowers and loved ones I…

Sep 7, 2025 • Holly Starley

Blue sky and clouds roll beneath the wings of a plane. The earth rolls around the sun, And all the while, my fingers roll back years, reaching forward…

Aug 31, 2025 • Holly Starley

I think I must have been a hungry kid.

Aug 10, 2025 • Holly Starley

Top posts

Oct 20, 2024 • Holly Starley

One Woman's Gaping Maw

May 25, 2025 • Holly Starley

Disagree Strongly

Nov 10, 2024 • Holly Starley

Mar 23, 2025 • Holly Starley

Apr 27, 2024 • Holly Starley

Posts from a Progressive Diagnosis

In November 2023, my body stopped whispering and opened a gaping maw to let forth a song of agony.

Sep 14, 2025 • Holly Starley

I’ve felt it rise from the cave of my belly—the animal that is “no, no, no.”

Aug 24, 2025 • Holly Starley

I think I must have been a hungry kid.

Aug 10, 2025 • Holly Starley

Like a Teardrop

I want us to help each other stay afloat

Apr 13, 2025 • Holly Starley

Holly Starley's Rolling Desk

Holly Starley's Rolling Desk

My living room is the world. Pull up a chair.

Pieces on the State of the World

The Length and Width of Slats

Roosters crow to communicate. Treats here! they cry. Forage! they prod. Danger, they warn.

Oct 5, 2025 • Holly Starley

We Can Hold Many Things

Later that day, my daughter calls: I’ve watched two people be murdered on screen just this week. Her voice sounds like it’s coming from inside a locked…

Sep 21, 2025 • Holly Starley

I’ve felt it rise from the cave of my belly—the animal that is “no, no, no.”

Aug 24, 2025 • Holly Starley

Travel by Foot, Bike, Bus, and Train

Kaleidoscope to the Road

I think it was Idaho, the first time I learned even shallow water can be precarious.

Jun 22, 2025 • Holly Starley

One Woman's Gaping Maw

Have you ever longed to see a bear in the wild?

May 25, 2025 • Holly Starley

Here’s the calculation now: What will it take to be each others’ “luck"?

Apr 27, 2025 • Holly Starley

Travel Is a Topo Map

aka, Waiting for the Gringa: The moment my “weightlessness” dawns on me, time goes haywire. I pull up my pants and do the only thing I can. Run.

Oct 6, 2024 • Holly Starley

Tales from a 7-Month Trek by Foot

Naked in Jersey

Peeking out from the locker room barrier, the cotton towel pressed against my nipples.

Mar 16, 2025 • Holly Starley

A Pig in the Woods and Other Outcomes

“A hog?” He was incredulous. “What’s a pig doin’ in the woods?” I laughed. “A hawk,” I said, like it rhymed with lock. “You know.” I held out my arms…

May 11, 2024 • Holly Starley

Of Bears and Ants

“Her head”—Jill made a wide oh with her arms—“fit like this.” She breathed as if to fill her nostrils with the musk of fur and sighed like a purr. I…

Apr 13, 2024 • Holly Starley

Walking the East Coast

A serial memoir. Can I tell you about the time I lived for half a year out of a backpack?Can you tell me about your own walks in life so we can shape…

Mar 30, 2024 • Holly Starley

Looking for Love in All the Places

A lake called Ghost, a watching hawk, and tiny frogs formed from soil and bark are pieces of the setting for the drafting of a letter. The draftee, a…

Mar 9, 2024 • Holly Starley

Stories on the Kindness of Strangers

Guest author rebecca hooper: "I remember his hands well... I could see them holding the steering wheel so loosely I was not sure there was any contact…

May 18, 2025 • Holly Starley and rebecca hooper

Guest author Paulette Bodeman: "My car jerks violently. I can’t hold the lane. The front wheels pull me to the shoulder."

Apr 20, 2025 • Holly Starley and Paulette Bodeman

A Mechanic by Any Other Name

A six-character story--three mechanics, two women, and a van called Vincent van Go

Mar 30, 2025 • Holly Starley

Spelling Kindness

Guest author, Kaitlyn Ramsay: "Having a flat tire on a scooter means only half of the tires are functional. This makes for a most uncomfortable…

Feb 9, 2025 • Holly Starley and Kaitlyn Ramsay

Interviews, Collabs, Profiles, & Curations

The Things Not Named

A conversation with Joshua Doležal--come listen in

Dec 7, 2025 • Holly Starley

We Always Roll toward the Sun

And from the archives, a post on what could happen when that rolling seems to come to a standstill in a land of ice and snow

Oct 26, 2025 • Holly Starley

"On Origins and Myths"

A reading of Marya Hornbacher on a barefoot Humvee driver, a trailer with a cross and a confederate flag, and how myth and fact shape how we see each…

Aug 3, 2025 • Holly Starley and Marya Hornbacher

Poppies at Dawn with Love

A friend wrote, “We are all just letting them do this to us.” We must not. We must buck against tethers around any of our necks. We must listen to the…

Jul 27, 2025 • Holly Starley and Susie Mawhinney

Celebrating 2 Years! A Giveaway, New Stuff, & a Peek Forward

“The day turned a corner just then." On attention & the places we've rolled & will roll.

Jun 15, 2025 • Holly Starley

Recommendations

Ford Knows Books

Ford Knows Books

Mr. Troy Ford

The Audacity.

Roxane Gay

Caravan Writers Collective

Caravan Writers Collective

Caravan Writers Collective

Unfixed

Kimberly Warner

Tales of Humanity

Tales of Humanity

Sarah Towle

Recent posts

To keep from breaking

Nov 8, 2025 • Holly Starley

We Always Roll toward the Sun

And from the archives, a post on what could happen when that rolling seems to come to a standstill in a land of ice and snow

Oct 26, 2025 • Holly Starley

Winter Storm Warning in October

And also Treasures Despite a Fool's Gold

Oct 12, 2025 • Holly Starley

The Length and Width of Slats

Roosters crow to communicate. Treats here! they cry. Forage! they prod. Danger, they warn.

Oct 5, 2025 • Holly Starley

Why I cut a 14x14-inch hole in the roof of my van in the pouring rain

You could slide through a hole like that. Become a balloon and drift, up, up and away from all that ailed.

Sep 28, 2025 • Holly Starley

We Can Hold Many Things

Later that day, my daughter calls: I’ve watched two people be murdered on screen just this week. Her voice sounds like it’s coming from inside a locked…

Sep 21, 2025 • Holly Starley

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