At 37, Isaac Fitzgerald reviews his relationship to his hair and his appearance throughout his life. But more than that, he considers the ways in which he’s grown past staying silent when racist barbers —and others who took his Gavin McInnes-inspired cut to mean he was a white supremacist, too — ran their mouths, uncensored, […]
Gay Magazine
The Top 5 Longreads of the Week
This week, we’re sharing stories from David Enrich, Megan Stielstra, Natalie Weiner, Mark Leviton and Tressie McMillan Cottom, and Amanda Fortini.
The Top 5 Longreads of the Week
This week, we’re sharing stories from Wendy C. Ortiz, Mary South, Jeremiah Moss, Nora Caplan-Bricker, and Samanth Subramanian.
Adventures in Publishing Outside the Gates
When Latinx author Wendy C. Ortiz shopped her memoir, Excavation, about the inappropriate sexual relationship her eighth grade English teacher initiated with her, mainstream publishers wouldn’t give her the time of day. She published it with tiny Future Tense Books, and the book gained a strong following. Among her readers was white author Kate Elizabeth […]
Longreads Best of 2019: Essays
We asked writers and editors to choose some of their favorite stories of the year in various categories. Here is the best in essays.
Woman Writes Story Challenging Gender Dynamics; Is Thwarted by…Long-Standing Gender Dynamics
How can we combat sexism in publishing if we’re so worried about damaging the reputations of offending men?
Party Girl
An essay in which Longreads contributor Monica Drake recounts learning that a young, white, male intern at a literary magazine she’d submitted to had publicly humiliated her by taking her story to a party to read aloud and mock a sex scene she had included — a scene in which gender dynamics are upended.
The Top 5 Longreads of the Week
This week, we’re sharing stories from Sandra Sidi, Lena Solow, Aubrey Hirsch, Noelle Mateer, and Amanda Hess.
The Top 5 Longreads of the Week
This week, we’re sharing stories from Brian Trapp, Alison Kinney, Kate Wagner, Willy Staley, and Suzannah Showler.
The Rejection Lab
Alison Kinney visits a Stony Brook University laboratory where the physical and emotional effects of social rejection are studied, and becomes a subject herself.