A sampling of writers on WordPress.com who made some noise last month:

Bloggers in the press, from the New York Times to Politico

A Girl Called JackJack Monroe, the single mother blogging at A Girl Called Jack, has become an activist and voice on poverty in England. The New York Times profiled her in mid-January, while her cookbook of recipes on a budget is released on February 27. Jack's story is inspiring, and we're watching to see what she does next.

Jason Edward Harrington, blogger at Taking Sense Away and former TSA screener, shares stories and observations about his many years of employment at the Transportation Security Administration.

Last week, he dropped the layer of anonymity on his blog and published a piece on Politico, "Dear America, I Saw You Naked," which introduces his story, background, and the material that will inspire his novel (which you can sample on WordPress.com, too).

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Over at The New Yorker, Elias Muhanna -- the assistant professor at Brown University who covers Lebanese politics, history, and culture at Qifa Nabki -- wrote "Letter From Lebanon: A Bookshop Burns," about an antiquarian bookstore in Tripoli set on fire.

Moving on to the entertainment section of the Huffington Post, Graham Milne pens a succinct, beautiful piece on Saving Mr. Banks and our complex relationships with our fathers, even long after they're gone. The Toronto-based writer covers publishing, politics, and pop culture on his blog, and you'll find more in his HuffPost columns.

The top reads that made waves

bearded hipsters

Who said open letters were so 2013? Nicki Daniels' bold and humorous post, "An Open Letter to Bearded Hipsters," caught the attention of readers:

YOU GUYS ARE RUINING MY BEARD FETISH.  Ever since I was a little girl, I've loved a man with a beard. To me, they meant strength, power, MANLINESS. Someone who could protect me. Unfortunately, you guys have turned it into a fashion statement.

It was so popular -- both loved and hated -- that she even published a follow-up, "I'm Sorry."

When the newly crowned Super Bowl champions, the Seattle Seahawks, defeated the San Francisco 49ers in the NFC Championship, all eyes were on Richard Sherman after his post-game rant. Sherman's column on The MMBQ with Peter King, "To Those Who Would Call Me a Thug or Worse," got almost a million hits over two days:

To those who would call me a thug or worse because I show passion on a football field—don't judge a person's character by what they do between the lines. Judge a man by what he does off the field, what he does for his community, what he does for his family.

Two other popular posts in January, featured recently on Freshly Pressed, focused on the post-birth experience: Gas & Air's "The Truth About Maternity Leave" was a big hit in the United Kingdom in particular, and "Baby's Hungry: A Daddy's Perspective on Nursing (and Nursing in Public)" was a great read and interesting take from a father on breastfeeding.

WordPresser now at Longreads

Nonfiction writer, essayist, and Editors' Picks of the Year 2013 blogger Michael Hobbes is now blogging for Longreads, which archives and highlights the best longform writing across the web. If you're already a reader of Michael's excellent blog, Rottin' in Denmark, be sure to follow along at his new gig.

We're thrilled to see our writers getting the attention they deserve -- congratulations! We look forward to what's in store for February, and welcome anyone to leave their own recent accomplishments in the comments.