Personal Narrative
I Wasn’t Excited for My Top Surgery. That Doesn’t Negate My Desire for It
Expansion doesn’t have to be sure or aware of itself
May 7 - Billy Lezra
essays
POPULAR in essays
Revisiting “Silence of the Lambs” in the Age of Trans Backlash
Thomas Harris’s 1988 novel tried to paint an irredeemable villain. Instead, it captured something real about trans experience
Jun 5 - Katherine Packert Burke
Books & Culture
My Brain Told Me Food Was the Enemy of Love
I had to face that my broken relationship with eating ultimately mirrored a broken relationship with myself
Jun 4 - Katherine J. Chen
Personal Narrative
I Had a Neighbor Whose Husband Constantly Shouted
She moved through her days as though he was background in her story
May 28 - Neela Vaswani
Personal Narrative
A Beloved Teacher’s Casual Homophobia Still Hurts
I want to believe she wasn’t being cruel, but on some level, she felt this kind of hatred was trivial or acceptable
May 21 - Hugh Ryan
Personal Narrative
We Need to Talk About Bad Writing
Not everything I write needs to be the best thing I’ve written
May 15 - Benjamin Schaefer
Craft
The Neighbor Who Stalked Me
I felt hunted by him, but legally, his routine was treated as a hobby, like birdwatching
May 14 - Faith Palermo
Personal Narrative
I Wasn’t Excited for My Top Surgery. That Doesn’t Negate My Desire for It
Expansion doesn’t have to be sure or aware of itself
May 7 - Billy Lezra
Personal Narrative
The Decisions Affecting My Body Were Always Made By Someone Else
I only wanted to be asked how I felt, how I wanted to approach my treatment
Apr 30 - Aleina Grace Edwards
Personal Narrative
Growing Up Shouldn’t Mean Conforming and Forgetting
I always admired “Stranger Things” for insisting on imagination and nonconformity, but then the show betrayed its message
Apr 28 - Letizia Mariani
Books & Culture
My Mother Lived and Died in a Polluted Ecotone
I don’t know if unseen toxicities caused her cancer, but I can’t pull myself away from the question
Apr 23 - Sarah Giragosian
Personal Narrative
Observations from Inside Immigration Court
ICE regularly detains people in these very hallways, often violently separating children from their parents
Apr 16 - Laurie Lathem
Personal Narrative
Quick, Playful Writing Exercises for When You’re Feeling Stuck
These unintimidating experiments will reinvigorate your writing when you need a breakthrough
Apr 14 - Ramona Ausubel
Craft
