Our Words Will Save Us and Set Us Free By Jackson Bliss Feature In the wake of having his writing career belittled, Jackson Bliss becomes an interpreter for a refugee and comes to see words, translations, and storytelling as important acts of resistance.
‘In a Marriage, You Grow Around Each Other’: An Interview with Tessa Hadley By Sarah Boon Feature Tessa Hadley on gaining the sense of authority she needed to write fiction, the authors whose work opens the door for her to write, and the way we are formed by our connections with other people.
On the Books We Choose and Those We Don’t By Krista Stevens Highlight “All the people you could have been had you chosen differently—they haunt the bookstore alongside the person you became and could still become.”
The Need for Distance: Jaclyn Gilbert on Writing and Running By Jacqueline Alnes Feature For author Jaclyn Gilbert, revising her writing is much like doing the same running loops over and over, to the point where she doesn’t have to think about where she’s going anymore.
Writing to Avoid Erasure By Aram Mrjoian Feature After finding a note left by his grandfather, Aram Mrjoian considers how writing about the Armenian diaspora could help prevent history from being forgotten.
‘Emerging’ as a Writer — After 40 By Jenny Bhatt Feature Jenny Bhatt recalls the rites of passage that led to her shift in identity from corporate executive to woman writer of color.
Remembering Ntozake Shange By Danielle Jackson Commentary The poet, novelist, and playwright Ntozake Shange died Saturday, October 27.
Reading with Kiese Laymon’s “Heavy” By Danielle Jackson Commentary “Heavy” confronts generations of Black art.
Finding Time to Write Even During the Busiest of Times By Sari Botton Highlight How Jami Attenberg helped form a supportive online literary community with #1000WordsofSummer.
The Slow Regard of a Difficult Past By Krista Stevens Highlight “In my family, love was the slow accumulation of moments in which I was not subjected to great harm.”
Your Best Work Comes from Scaring Yourself By Ryan Chapman Feature Essayist Chelsea Hodson had to give herself permission to be uncomfortable.
Arundhati Roy: “Fiction is a Universe” By Michelle Weber Highlight Booker Prize-winning author Arundhati Roy is the embodiment of concept that the personal is political, even (especially?) in her fiction.
Author Carmen Maria Machado on the Next Phase of #MeToo By Danielle Jackson Highlight Carmen Maria Machado discusses the nuances of “benevolent sexism,” who gets to define the #MeToo movement, and how it should progress.
Dorothy Allison on how Shame Defines Class By Krista Stevens Highlight “What seemed to me life-saving was that I couldn’t lie. I couldn’t put a candy-coated gloss on anything.”
Anthony Bourdain and the Missing Piece By Ian Frisch Feature With magic, the goal is to give someone something they can carry around with them for a while.
For Me, With Love and Squalor By Lauren Markham Feature After publishing her first book, Lauren Markham begins the long search for what she truly wanted after writing it.
The Whole World is Naples Now By Michelle Weber Highlight Sprawling, crumbling, beautiful, rough — Elena Ferrante’s Naples shows us the world’s violent underbelly, with no pretense.
But What Will Your Parents Think? By Morgan Jerkins Feature Morgan Jerkins tackles the time-worn question of how far is too far to go in revealing yourself in first-person writing.
Maybe We’re the Circle By Megan Stielstra Feature Megan Stielstra and Nicole Piasecki talk about the shooting that changed their lives, who owns the story, and what to do with fear. Part three of a three-part series on gun violence.
The Changeling By Alexander Chee Feature Alexander Chee considers the ways in which answering the question, “What are you?” turned him into a writer.
Sharp Women Writers: An Interview With Michelle Dean By Natalie Daher Feature On Didion, Arendt, Malcolm, Ephron and other women writers who made an art of having an opinion.
‘Forgive Yourself. And Forgive Me.’ By Alice Driver Feature Alice Driver considers what lessons to take from a late uncle’s life.
Doomed in Nashville By Monica Drake Feature On a whirlwind book tour, Monica Drake fights to resist the pull of an emotional — and physical — abyss.
Barbara Ehrenreich on Writing to Think By Krista Stevens Highlight Barbara Ehrenreich on thinking as an antidote to “the unknown and potentially menacing.”
Vanishing As a Way to Reclaim Your Life By Aaron Gilbreath Feature On the eve of her marriage, an adventurous young woman tests how free she really wants to be.
A Mother’s Less-Than-True Story of Being a Child Bride By Michelle Legro Highlight Getting married in her swimsuit at the age of 12 was something Danny Wallace’s mother would tell anyone she met. It also wasn’t true.
Longreads Best of 2017: Under-Recognized Stories By Longreads Reading List Here are the best stories we thought deserved more attention this year.
Teju Cole Delights in Sentence Fragments By Krista Stevens Highlight “For me it’s about recognizing that great art comes in all kinds of forms.”
An Interview with ‘Call Me By Your Name’ Author André Aciman By Jessica Gross Feature The author on his writing process and what it was like to watch a film based on one of his books.
Kevin Young Is Ready to Engage the Public with Poetry By Danielle Jackson Highlight The new poetry editor of the New Yorker says that to find poetry, “you have to look in your backyard.”
