Essays
The Talented Ms. Highsmith
I worked for the novelist in her final months. I thought she wanted to kill me.
Elena Gosalvez Blanco
When Does a Divorce Begin?
Most people think of it as failure. For me it was an achievement.
Anahid Nersessian
What Happened When I Began to Speak Welsh
By learning my family's language, I hoped to join their conversation.
Dan Fox
Browse
Essays
The Book That Changed How We Think About Rape
Fifty years on, what lessons endure from Against Our Will?
Claire Bond Potter
November 10, 2025
What “After the Hunt” Gets Right
I left academia. Luca Guadagnino’s new film reminds me why.
Annie Julia Wyman
November 3, 2025
An Incomplete Mentorship
Ellen Bryant Voigt helped me become the writer I am today. After a falling out, we never spoke again.
Rachel Jamison Webster
October 30, 2025
How We’ve Misunderstood Taylor Swift
The Life of a Showgirl received mixed reviews from fans and critics. But it may be her most honest work yet.
Stephanie Burt
October 20, 2025
How Sober Should a Writer Be?
F. Scott Fitzgerald and the ambivalence of American drinking culture
Sloane Crosley
October 6, 2025
Trump Is Only a Symptom
The crisis that America can’t change at the ballot box
Rana Dasgupta
September 8, 2025
What Is a Poetic Novel?
A newly translated manifesto
Hélène Bessette,
translated by Kate Briggs
September 8, 2025