With physical distancing the order of the day as COVID-19 spreads, cultural locales — sites for communal experiences, like museums and theaters — are emptying out. What are we sharing if we’re not sharing these spaces? And were we really sharing them to begin with?
Essays & Criticism
Posted inArts & Culture, Culture, Essays & Criticism, Nonfiction, Story
A Long, Lonely Time
“It’s strange to think that the Righteous Brothers outlive my mother. Sometimes I pretend they are singing to her.”
Posted inNonfiction
Finding Signs of Hope in Surprise Sugar Maples
In the midst of a pandemic, nature reminds Susan Krawitz that miracles are possible.
Posted inNonfiction
The Coastal Shelf
June Amelia Rose remembers coming out in her youth to a turbulent family as her mother died of cancer.
Posted inEssays & Criticism, Story
Albatross People
Navigating distance and time in the age of uncertainty.
Posted inAuthor Notes, Blog Post, Commentary, Essays & Criticism, Highlight, Nonfiction
Why I’m Giving Myself Permission to Keep Writing at This Time
Our stories matter. And they are our legacies for future generations. (Plus: some free writing resources.)
Posted inEssays & Criticism, Highlight, Quote Posts, Quotes
‘Grief is the Wake of Love’
“Dreams, like Scheherazade’s stories, keep us alive, keep our ships from crashing too soon, keep our candles in those ocean vessel’s rooms aglow.”
Posted inEssays & Criticism, Feature, Nonfiction, Story
All that Was Innocent and Violent: Girlhood in Post-Revolution Iran
Naz Riahi recalls her vibrant childhood in a suburb of Tehran, and considers how the harsh realities imposed by the still new Islamic Republic seeped into her family’s life.
Posted inFeature
On Solitude (and Isolation and Loneliness [and Brackets])
Sarah Fay reflects on four years spent in solitude (and isolation [and loneliness]), viewing it through the lens of punctuation.
Posted inNonfiction
A Crying Public Shame
Dialogue, Twitter-style: you get called out on social media. People pile on to you. Other people pile on to the pile-oners. Soon everyone’s anxious or angry or both, no one’s really talking (or listening), and a few tech CEOs are buying new houses in Jackson Hole.