Essays

Essays

Lessons of the Line

Charles Simic and me
Dana Levin
Essays

Ucky Art

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

Unfathomable Life

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

Spiritualism’s Shadows

On COVID-19 and false consolation
Alicia Puglionesi
Essays

Heat Maps

Desire in the dark
Alex Marzano-Lesnevich
Objects of Desire

Jars with Well-Fitting Lids

Seeing loss more clearly
Catherine Lacey

Browse

Essays

various sizes of metallic squares with gold borders
Essays

Wildness

Feminism, identity, and the willingness to be defeated
Maria Tumarkin
December 1, 2020
Cracks in ice
Essays

Did I Write a Feel-Good Book?

I survived a terrorist attack. I never expected my story might console others.
Philippe Lançon
and
Steven Rendall
November 23, 2020
Art

Untitled (Event)

Loss, language, counting the nameless, and the art of Felix Gonzalez-Torres
Ann Lauterbach
November 16, 2020
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.
Pandemic Files

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.
Pandemic Files

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
Essays

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
Essays

Lovecraft and Me

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

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
Essays

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