personal canon

the life you were meant to live

9 books on living up to your ideals ✦ and how to betray yourself (in love, art, writing, thinking)

Aug 11 • Celine Nguyen

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June 2026

i'm teaching 2 workshops this summer and you're invited

research, write, make, and reflect with me at ultralight school (NYC) and FWB Fest (Idyllwild, CA)

Jun 14 • Celine Nguyen

110

11

8

i used to think that novels were a waste of time

the question of taste ✦ stealing art from fictional museums ✦ and everything else I read in April–May 2026

Jun 6 • Celine Nguyen

258

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April 2026

everything i read in february & march 2026

and! my Dialectic podcast episode on creative fulfillment and the life of the mind ✦

Apr 1 • Celine Nguyen

363

50

26

February 2026

everything i read in january 2026

what Substack can learn from James Joyce ✦ philosophy from Bergson to Zhuangzi ✦ and essays/paintings worthy of sustained attention

Feb 1 • Celine Nguyen

291

28

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January 2026

we've created a society where artists can't make any money

on artistic innovation, cultural stagnation, and the decline of Silicon Valley intellectualism

Jan 28 • Celine Nguyen

885

92

172

best books, essays, and poems of 2025

an invitation to read more in the new year ✦

Jan 14 • Celine Nguyen

501

45

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December 2025

writing is an inherently dignified human activity

the case for starting your own newsletter ✦ and reflections on 2 years, 52 posts, and 31,000 subscribers

Dec 29, 2025 • Celine Nguyen

1,412

118

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everything i read in october & november 2025

do you really need to read all the books you buy? ✦ plus reviews of 2 excellent debut novels ✦ an Italian novella about rogue AI ✦ and an attempt to…

Dec 3, 2025 • Celine Nguyen

289

40

27

November 2025

conversations with friends (on tech, culture, criticism, and bait)

my podcast conversation with the writer and technologist Jasmine Sun ✦

Nov 18, 2025 • Celine Nguyen

124

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the occasional art report

the pros and cons of nostalgia, Wolfgang Tillmans, Korean ceramics, ideal translations, and the best show of Frieze London

Nov 5, 2025 • Celine Nguyen

158

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October 2025

how to speak to a computer

against chat interfaces ✦ a brief history of artificial intelligence ✦ and the (worthwhile) problem of other minds

Oct 20, 2025 • Celine Nguyen

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