Cheryl Strayed

Portland

Writer at Cheryl Strayed's Dear Sugar

Writer. #1 New York Times bestselling author of WILD, TINY BEAUTIFUL THINGS, TORCH, & BRAVE ENOUGH. Also: Dear Sugar. Mostly on Instagram, Threads, or Facebook.

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Articles

Spring Workshops & Events

2 months ago | cherylstrayed.substack.com | Cheryl Strayed

Hello friends,I hope you’re hearts are holding strong in these harrowing times. My own heart zigs and zags between holding strong and silently shriveling up into a tiny ball of rage, sorrow, and despair. I’m not one for New Year’s resolutions, but at the beginning of the year I decided to do a dead hang (almost) every day for as long as I can bear to do it and it’s helped me in this heart zig-zag situation in ways I didn’t expect. Have you ever done a dead hang? Holy hell, it’s hard.
Read Yourself Happy by Daisy Buchanan

2 months ago | l8r.it | Daisy Buchanan |Jay Shetty |Matt Haig |Cheryl Strayed

LoveReading Says The delightful Daisy Buchanan, the award-winning journalist, author and broadcaster has pulled it out of the bag again with her new book. Proving she can take her hand to it all, Buchanan acts as your page-turning personal trainer who encourages you to turn the volume down on the increasingly hectic world around you. She reminds us that within the pages of books, you'll find safety, comfort, joy, escape, adventure. You'll be soothed, moved, challenged and captivated.
Lidia Yuknavitch Tells Us

2 months ago | cherylstrayed.substack.com | Cheryl Strayed

Hello friends!I’m so pleased to share another installment of the occasional series I do, in which I invite an author to tell us five things—not only about their most recent book, but about their life too. I had the good fortune to meet the great Lidia Yuknavitch seventeen or so years ago when I joined her writing group in Portland. We immediately recognized each other as kindred spirits and became beloved friends, but even if I didn’t know her from Jack, I’d be a rabid fan of her books.
Pam Houston Tells Us

Oct 21, 2024 | cherylstrayed.substack.com | Cheryl Strayed

Hello friends!I’m so pleased to share another installment of the occasional series I do, in which I invite an author to tell us five things—not only about their most recent book, but about their life too. I first fell in love with Pam Houston decades ago, when, as an undergraduate in a fiction writing workshop at the University of Minnesota, I read her story “How To Talk to a Hunter,” in the Best American Short Stories 1990.
It's just that this is my thing now

Sep 18, 2024 | lauramckowen.substack.com | Laura McKowen |Suleika Jaouad |Cheryl Strayed

Hello, hi; we’ve got a bunch of new subscribers here since I had the honor of contributing to Suleika Jaouad’s newsletter last Sunday. What an honor, and what an extraordinary community she’s built. Welcome, new readers. Thank you, ; you are amazing. Next week, I’m traveling with my daughter to the Midwest to meet my mom, my brother and his family, and all our extended family to celebrate my mom’s 70th birthday.
September 17, Occupy Wall Street movement begins

Sep 16, 2024 | orlandosentinel.com | Cheryl Strayed

Today is Tuesday, Sept. 17, the 261st day of 2024. There are 105 days left in the year. Today in history:On Sept. 17, 2011, a demonstration calling itself Occupy Wall Street began in New York, prompting similar protests around the U.S. and the world. Also on this date:In 1787, the Constitution of the United States was completed and signed by a majority of delegates attending the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia.
Chelsea Bieker Tells Us

Sep 2, 2024 | cherylstrayed.substack.com | Cheryl Strayed

Hello friends,I’m so pleased to share another installment of the occasional series I do, in which I invite an author to tell us five things—not only about their most recent book, but about their life too. I first discovered Chelsea Bieker’s work a few years ago when I was culling the bookshelves in my bedroom and came upon a glittering gold copy of her debut novel, Godshot.
Dear Sugar Letter #46

Aug 31, 2024 | cherylstrayed.substack.com | Cheryl Strayed

“Heart Shaped World Map,” Oronce Fine, circa 1525. Heritage Images. Hello dear subscribers,Before we get to this month’s double-decker Dear Sugar Letter, I want to share some news. After nearly four years of writing this monthly column on Substack, I need a break. It’s not a permanent stop—only a pause so I can focus on a couple of other writing projects…
Diving In

Aug 14, 2024 | cherylstrayed.substack.com | Cheryl Strayed

Hello friends,Growing up in Minnesota, summer meant swimming to me. I’m not talking about an occasional dip in the lake. I’m talking about living in my swimsuit night and day. It wasn’t until I was an adult and had moved away from my beloved Land of 10,000 Lakes that I realized not everyone grew up with a body of water around every bend.
Minnesota Nice

Aug 14, 2024 | memoirland.substack.com | Cheryl Strayed

I saw a man get stabbed on a sunny afternoon in the West Village on my twenty-fourth birthday. He didn’t die. He didn’t even call out for help. He just cursed the man who’d attacked him in a language I could neither understand nor identify while clutching the place on his thigh where the knife had entered it, his palms smeared with blood. I was sitting alone at a little wooden table on the sidewalk across the street, drinking coffee and eating a slice of cake in the warm September sun.