Referential
Michael Colbert, anna dornWriters, artists, and other creatives chat about their work and artistic process
| Platform |  | Pricing | Freemium | Publishes | Weekly |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Issues | 103 | Founded | 4 years ago | Last Issue | 6 days ago |
| Active | |||||
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referential.substack.comLatest Issues
There is no one writer's life
During Referential’s August break, I’m sharing stories from guest writers on texts they love as well as interviews you might have missed from the archives. This week, I’m pulling forward my interview with Sayantani Dasgupta about her latest...
Leo season, communal living, a local's guide to Portland, Maine
August 2026 MASH ft. hot seat with Samantha Paige Rosen, Portland recs, Leo flops and geniuses
Leo season has been busting down the doors. This month, we’re charting Cancer and Leo geniuses and flops. I provide my quick and dirty guide to...
Referential's 2026 Summer Reading List
When my sisters and I would go to our public library as kids, we’d climb down the stairs and find the small room at the back of the children’s floor where, all summer, there would be on the walls their grand, summer reading challenge. One y...
Fish sauce, Morton's, skin, and tears
Proust’s madeleines may be, for many, the first literary food they think of—so much evoked by a sponge cake. For Davin Malasarn, memory is even more elemental. As he wrote his gorgeous debut novel, The Outer Country, salt was key.
“Cuisine...
My lifeline is the mountains
One of the best meals I had last year was at Stages. Located inside a mill in Dover, New Hampshire, the restaurant puts a spin on its regular tasting menu a few times every year with its staging—a culinary mentorship program for up-and-comi...
Key Facts
Audience Metrics
Subscribers, engagement, traffic and sponsorship for Referential.
| Subscribers | Engagement | 69 | Monthly Web Visits | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Accepts Sponsors | Estimated Cost per Ad | ||||
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Authors
The writers behind this newsletter.
Writers, artists, and other creatives chat about their work and process
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