essays

“Sexting is Roleplay About Desire,” a Prose Poem by Vera Blossom

From the Essay Collection “How to Fuck Like a Girl”

 
By Vera Blossom  December 10, 2024
Blindness

Brief Essays on Altered Sight: On Braille, Loss, and Blindness’ Many Forms

By Naomi Cohn  October 23, 2024
First Draft

Edwidge Danticat on Beginnings

By First Draft: A Dialogue on Writing   October 21, 2024
In Memoriam

On the Remarkable Legacy of Lewis Lapham

By Elias Altman  October 7, 2024
Essays

As a Writer, You Can Never Collect Too Many Endings

By Steve Edwards  August 27, 2024
James Baldwin

Colm Tóibín on James Baldwin’s Enduring, International Influence

By Caoilinn Hughes  August 2, 2024
Writers in Conversation

Elisa Gabbert on the Philosophy and Process Behind the Poem and the Essay

By Sarah Viren  June 12, 2024
On Grief

Lilly Dancyger on How to Support a Friend Through Grief

By Lilly Dancyger  May 14, 2024
Fatherhood

A Different Kind of Dad Book: Lucas Mann on Fatherhood, Writing, and the Essay as an Act of Care

By Brian Gresko  May 9, 2024
The Hub

Annie Dillard’s “Total Eclipse” is the best thing you can read about the eclipse today.

By Emily Temple  April 8, 2024
Climate Collapse

Emily Raboteau and Sarah Viren on Climate Change, Birding, and Social Justice

By Sarah Viren  March 11, 2024
Anthropocene

Between Anxiety and Hope: On the Cautious Optimism of Lewis Thomas

By Sukhada Tatke  December 20, 2023
Fiction vs. Nonfiction

The Power of Passivity: On Choosing to Do Nothing

By Maura Lammers  December 13, 2023
Louisa May Alcott

Nonfiction That Rivals Little Women: The Forgotten Essays of Louisa May Alcott

By Liz Rosenberg  October 24, 2023
On Writing

The Revelatory Power of Being Sensitive

By Jenn Shapland  August 21, 2023
Buddhism

Literature in the Bardo: Tenzin Dickie on the Past, Present, and Future of the Tibetan Essay

By Tenzin Dickie  June 26, 2023
Essays

It’s Not Personal: Sarah Viren on Essayistic Visions of the Self

By Sarah Viren  June 13, 2023
Criticism

How the Essay and the Novel Inform and Influence Each Other

By Jane Smiley  June 6, 2023
Chronic Illness

“Thank God for the Nights That Go Right.” Adina Talve-Goodman on Illness, Wellness, and Luck

By Adina Talve-Goodman  January 30, 2023
The Writing Life

What Makes Writing Valuable?

By William Pierce  December 16, 2022
Narrative

Dear Blank Space: A Literacy Narrative

By Jennifer S. Cheng  December 6, 2022
Essays

Alexander Chee on the Perpetual Importance of the Essay

By Steve Wieberg  November 11, 2022
Publishing

I Really Didn’t Want to Write This Promotional Essay Tied to My Book Release

By Lauren Acampora  August 23, 2022
Fan Culture

Fandom as Methodology: On Fan-Nonfiction and Finding the Joy of Mutual Delusion

By Elvia Wilk  July 19, 2022
African American Literature

A Book List for Black Dreams and Black Time

By Gabrielle Civil  February 25, 2022
Big Table

David Ulin on Joan Didion, California, Counterculture, and the Essay Form

By Big Table  February 22, 2022
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