The working homeless exist in a modern purgatory.
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Posted inEditor's Pick
The New American Homeless
Tenant protections are not sufficient to keep renters housed in cities marked by gentrification and rising rents. This is the story of one displaced Atlanta family, stuck between the harsh reality of homelessness, and agencies’ competing definitions of their predicament.
Posted inArts & Culture, Highlight, Nonfiction, Quote Posts, Quotes
Black America Unwittingly Provided the Soundtrack to Its Own Displacement
American music may be Black music, but it has now become the music of displacement.
Posted inUncategorized
How to Pitch Personal Essays to Longreads: An Updated Guide
New submissions guidelines, plus information about our new essay series.
Posted inEditor's Pick
The Night Charlie Parker Soared in South Central L.A.
Despite fire, gentrification, and time erasing Los Angeles’ rich jazz history, stories help protect it. One historic event occurred in 1947, when the saxophonist genius named Bird jammed after-hours at Jack’s Basket Room, rejuvinated from a six month sober stay at Camarillo State Hospital. Some say it was Bird’s greatest performance. We’ll have to believe […]
Posted inNonfiction
Longreads Best of 2020: Essays
A small sampling of standout essays published this year.
Posted inBooks
This Month In Books: Botanize Your Past To Save the Future
This month’s books newsletter is overflowing with regional fiction, travel writing … and retro-botany.
Posted inStory
‘I’m Always Writing Against This Idea That Denver’s a White Space.’
Kali Fajardo-Anstine talks about her new short story collection “Sabrina & Corina,” her obsession with dualities, and Chicano and Indigenous history in Denver.
Posted inCurrent Events, Nonfiction, Quote Posts, Quotes
The Power of a Neighborhood’s Name
When Google Maps’ data renamed an African American neighborhood, it opened up residents to the looming forces of gentrification.
Posted inCurrent Events, Essays & Criticism, Highlight, History, Quotes
‘Black Flight’ out of Chicago
By 2030, Chicago’s Black population will have decreased by half a million people in 50 years.
