Essays

Lessons of the Line

Charles Simic and me
Dana Levin

Ucky Art

Judith Scott, Eva Hesse, and the visceral power of "texxture"
Lauren Elkin

Unfathomable Life

As a philosopher, I thought I understood risk. Then I tried to get pregnant.
Anna Hartford

Spiritualism’s Shadows

On COVID-19 and false consolation
Alicia Puglionesi

Heat Maps

Desire in the dark
Alex Marzano-Lesnevich

Jars with Well-Fitting Lids

Seeing loss more clearly
Catherine Lacey

Browse

Essays

The Wondrous Banality of Democracy

Counting the votes in Luzerne County, Pennsylvania
John Fabian Witt
November 13, 2020
Image of COVID-19 virus. Graphic by Bianca Ibarlucea.

Surviving COVID-19

Waking up after six days on a ventilator
Slavenka Drakulić
November 9, 2020
Image of COVID-19 virus. Graphic by Bianca Ibarlucea.

Seven Theses on the Open-Closed Theaters

The pandemic has shuttered theaters, but the need for communal experience has never been more vital
Feisal G. Mohamed
October 21, 2020
photograph of metal match box with "a [image of a match] for you at any time" printed on the front

Everything Bright Is Something Burned

How to mourn a planet
Erica Berry
September 1, 2020
Blurred photograph of trees with barely distinguishable reflection of two people

Lovecraft and Me

How cosmic horror gave me hope
Kieran Setiya
September 1, 2020
chalkboard with yellow line along top and bottom

My Silent Childhood

I didn’t know my name until I went to kindergarten. Then I became a writer.
Maureen Sun
September 1, 2020
Photograph of white house

Soup Can; or, On Hospitality

Anything can become a weapon in America, especially against those who dare to cross the color line
Wendy S. Walters
September 1, 2020

We Miss Each Other, But Do We Even Know Each Other?

After a long-ago theater closure, a female playwright complicated what it means to be intimate with another body
Katherine Mannheimer
July 23, 2020
Image of COVID-19 virus. Graphic by Bianca Ibarlucea.

The First Nerve

What one's sense of smell takes with it when it goes
Amrapali Maitra
July 21, 2020
Image of COVID-19 virus. Graphic by Bianca Ibarlucea.

Invisible Kingdoms

How do you convince people to share your reality?
Noreen Khawaja
July 7, 2020