Essays

The Shapes of Grief

Witnessing the unbearable
Christina Sharpe

Palestinian Solidarity, Then and Now

The power of encampment as a form of protest
Feisal G. Mohamed

Louise Glück’s Late Style

The fabular turn in the poet’s last three books
Teju Cole

Jean Stein’s Rolodex

The legendary editor’s social genius
Benjamin Anastas

The Path to Playwright

Discovering my literary hero in an unlikely place
Sonya Kelly

The Frictions of Interracial Love

How one fundamental difference can color every aspect of marriage
Anne Anlin Cheng

Browse

Essays

Image of COVID-19 virus. Graphic by Bianca Ibarlucea.

Medicine’s Innovation Problem

The novel coronavirus exposes health care’s key weakness
Rena Xu
March 30, 2020
Image of COVID-19 virus. Graphic by Bianca Ibarlucea.

The Law of Salus Populi

Epidemics and the law
John Fabian Witt
March 30, 2020
Image of COVID-19 virus. Graphic by Bianca Ibarlucea.

The Lice

Vulnerability, contagion, and children
Miranda Featherstone
March 30, 2020
Image of COVID-19 virus. Graphic by Bianca Ibarlucea.

Cannon Fodder

A doctor on the front lines
Laura Kolbe
March 27, 2020
Image of COVID-19 virus. Graphic by Bianca Ibarlucea.

There’s a Sickness Outside

A doctor reflects on how dread and anxiety can become their own pandemic
Nitin Ahuja
March 27, 2020
Fine art of a woman bathing

A Common Seagull

On making art and mourning
Sheila Heti
January 1, 2020
Abstract automaton

Broken Doll

A daughter’s suicide in another country
Carlos Manuel Álvarez
and
Rahul Bery
January 1, 2020
Author photo

Changing My Mind

On sources, revision, and order
Lydia Davis
January 1, 2020
A photo of the author's mother and brother in 1974

Ghosts in My Nursery

Mourning the brother I never knew
Miranda Featherstone
January 1, 2020
A blurred photo of lights

In Centennial

The only ones left alive
Cathy Park Hong
January 1, 2020