You Shall Also Love the Stranger
May 25, 2020
On John Washington’s The Dispossessed: A Story of Asylum at the US-Mexican Border and Beyond
Guernica
A Magazine of Global Arts & Politics
Lit World
Review
Review
Latitudes of Longing: An Epic of Ghosts and Glaciers
May 19, 2020
A debut novel reminds us that the earth itself is alive, and that even in our isolation we are members of a changing world.
Interview
Stephanie Danler: Empowered by Choice
May 14, 2020
The novelist and memoirist discusses generational trauma, developing compassion for oneself, and feeling empowered by choice.
Interview
Back Draft: Miranda Popkey
May 5, 2020
The novelist discusses the shape of a narrative, and the value of retyping.
Commentary
The Worlds We Find Ourselves In: Mark Doty and Jane Hirshfield in Conversation
April 30, 2020
"At times when the outside world’s facts—or the heart’s facts—seem immovable, words still can move."
Interview
Maisy Card: “There is this hazy quality to my family history that no amount of research can clarify.”
April 28, 2020
The author unpacks the archival finds and emotional reckonings behind a novel that took her 12 years to write.
Review
The Porous Boundaries of Longing
April 8, 2020
Garth Greenwell's Cleanness is consciously, cannily, canonical.
Commentary
Apparition
March 26, 2020
Walt Whitman's boundless self persists, even 128 years after his death.
Interview
Mark Bibbins and Paul Lisicky: Sooner or Later
March 20, 2020
The two writers and friends discuss the uses and abuses of nostalgia, cynicism, and trauma porn—and how their new books reflect their experiences of the AIDS crisis.
Review
When All Is “Temporary,” Nothing to Hold Onto
March 13, 2020
Hilary Leichter’s destabilizing debut novel imagines a productivity-centric dystopia, not far off.
Interview
Ariella Aïsha Azoulay: “It is not possible to decolonize the museum without decolonizing the world.”
March 12, 2020
The political theorist argues that those whose worlds have been destroyed by five centuries of imperialism have the right to live near the objects that have been plundered from their culture.
Commentary
Ruff Reckoning
March 11, 2020
A look back at Kirsten Bakis’s 1997 novel Lives of the Monster Dogs
Interview
Mira Jacob: I’m Not Going to Hold It for You
March 11, 2020
The acclaimed writer and graphic novelist on the importance of owning your shame.
Commentary
The Cover of My Face
March 10, 2020
A trans author reflects on the fraught history of trans women’s memoir covers, and why she didn’t want her likeness on her own.
Interview
Jenny Offill: The Doomy Bits
March 6, 2020
The author of Weather talks about confronting dread, navigating hope, and how to not write a bad book about climate change.
Interview
Back Draft: Emily Wilson
February 24, 2020
The translator on being drawn to Homer, and the timelessness of toxic masculinity.
Commentary
What About Your Grandmother, Jeanine?
February 12, 2020
The author of American Dirt has begun to claim her Puerto Rican heritage. But when the island needed her, she was busy writing an exploitative tale about Mexico.
Commentary
Hanif Abdurraqib and the Performance of Grief
February 10, 2020
On the particular braiding of grief and nostalgia that animates the poet-slash-critic's work.
Interview
Namwali Serpell: “I almost always find my errors productive.”
January 21, 2020
Using archival photos, excerpts from language courses, and eBay finds, the author and critic explains how she mines mistakes for discoveries.
Interview
Carmen Maria Machado: “I speak into the Silence”
December 18, 2019
The writer on intimate partner violence and the forces that made it a hard story to tell.
Review
Everything Hiding the Secret of Its Taste
December 5, 2019
Marie NDiaye’s new novel, The Cheffe, is an ode to wasted love.
Interview
Lilly Dancyger: There Are So Many Different Ways to Be Angry
December 3, 2019
The editor of Burn It Down talks about the stabilizing benefits of women’s anger, the slow pace of change, and why it’s important to take up space on the subway.
Interview
Shannon Pufahl: Queering the Western
November 21, 2019
A slow-burning epic, On Swift Horses paints a new picture of our American mythology.
Interview
Ben Fama: “Life begins once its valorization ends.”
November 15, 2019
The poet talks about his latest book, the economic forces at work behind social media, and the stuffed animals in his life.
Interview
Back Draft: John Murillo
October 21, 2019
The poet discusses chasing butterflies, and the perpetual relevance of political verse.
Interview
Victor LaValle: Imagine Downton Abbey, but with Smells
October 11, 2019
The award-winning writer on editing his first anthology, horror versus sci-fi, and the American tradition of voter suppression.
Interview
Back Draft: Martín Espada
August 12, 2019
The poet discusses his relationship with the late Donald Hall and the power of art, incarnate.
Review
Their Daughters Were Having Cats Instead of Children
July 22, 2019
A new collection of Bette Howland's short stories restores a powerful voice to the canon.
Interview
Helen Phillips: “Living with the awareness of the abyss is probably a good thing.”
July 19, 2019
The writer discusses why motherhood lends itself perfectly for speculative fiction—and the album that helped her during writing and labor.
Interview
Ayesha Harruna Attah: “I Write to Find out Who I Am”
July 5, 2019
How the discovery of an ancestor named only “the slave” inspired the Ghanaian author’s latest novel
Interview
Wayne Koestenbaum: “I use obscene as a term of praise.”
July 2, 2019
Critic, essayist, and poet Wayne Koestenbaum talks about the reissue of his only novel to date, Circus, while offering a glimpse of his art works, unpublished writings, and family archive.
Interview
Viet Thanh Nguyen: Writing to Re-member
June 17, 2019
The author discusses the refugee crisis, US foreign policy, and the problem of ‘narrative scarcity’ for marginalized and minority populations.
Essay
How I Wrote Certain of My (Fake) Poems
June 14, 2019
The author of Loudermilk reflects on “the weirdest form of history writing” she's ever done.
Review
Guadalupe Nettel and the Extraterritoriality of Latin America
May 23, 2019
In “After the Winter,” the novelist imagines a new relationship with ghosts, literary and otherwise.
Review
In Search of an Ending
May 13, 2019
T Kira Madden's Long Live the Tribe of Fatherless Girls charts a new path forward for millennial memoirs.
Interview
Sheila Heti: “All of Living is Thinking”
May 7, 2019
The author discusses Judaism, visual art, and “the annoying, circular thinking that happens alongside living.”
Interview
Laila Lalami: Home Is An In-Between World
May 1, 2019
The writer on migration, bigotry, and the inheritance of loss.
Interview
Fernando A. Flores: “The oldest stories of this land were fantastical in essence”
April 26, 2019
An emerging voice in fiction discusses writing as performance, translating rhythm into narrative, and writing the “anti-research” novel.
Interview
David Shields: Men Should Acknowledge Their Brokenness
April 16, 2019
The author discusses marriage, #MeToo, and how we are all vectors on a vast grid of animal drives.
Interview
Leanne Shapton: “The mix of proof, shock, and totally crappy images.”
April 12, 2019
Writer and illustrator Leanne Shapton gives us a tour through her studio and shows us her mock layouts, her collection of ghost stories, and the pile of scrapbooks she found on Etsy.
Interview
Back Draft: Edward Hirsch
April 5, 2019
The poet discusses insomnia, civility (or the lack thereof) in cities, and losing his sight.
Interview
Morgan Parker: “In the back of my mind I’m on a slave ship, yet I’m also here just telling you how it is.”
March 22, 2019
Poet Morgan Parker shares a collection of screenshots that feed her audacity and fuel her despair.
Interview
Sandra Newman: “We need to reclaim utopianism”
March 21, 2019
The author on being broke, inventing one’s own language, and being “good” at Twitter.
Interview
Reema Zaman: “Once I saw how it all connected, I became free”
March 7, 2019
The writer on how to rise from trauma and heal collective wounds.
Interview
Back Draft: Natasha Trethewey
February 26, 2019
The acclaimed poet discusses a devastating fire, and the painterly in poetry.
Interview
Valeria Luiselli: “There are always fingerprints of the archive in my books.”
February 12, 2019
The writer opens her archives to reveal maps, recordings, and questionnaires that have fueled her work—including photos that didn’t make it into her new novel.
Review
Valeria Luiselli’s Rapturous New Novel
February 8, 2019
The Lost Children Archive swims in the same historical currents as the great stories of journey and discovery that came before.
Video
Lauren Groff: Stories Should Ask Difficult Questions
February 6, 2019
Watch the video of our talk with Lauren Groff to hear her discuss climate change and her writing process.
Interview
Anelise Chen: “Then I changed it to third-person clam, and that was exactly how it was meant to be.”
January 18, 2019
The writer shares a collection of digital fragments that have shaped her practice, including an image depicting cycling exercises, a photo of Kafka’s diaries, and a video of her mother’s first time seeing snow.
Interview
Natasha Trethewey: Finding Her Calling in a Wound That Never Heals
January 9, 2019
The Pulitzer Prize-winning poet on her recently released collection, the connections between personal and historical violence, and how she received her calling.
Interview
Kiese Laymon: “I Didn’t Want to Be a Silent Survivor of Moral Failure Anymore”
December 19, 2018
The writer on his memoir, Heavy, and the role of truth-telling and loneliness in artmaking.
Interview
Miscellaneous Files: Jabari Asim
December 10, 2018
The writer Jabari Asim on stories as instruments of power, how he places himself in the lineage of African American literature, and how writers of color should navigate an onerous publishing landscape.
Interview
Helen Schulman’s Many Worlds
December 7, 2018
The best-selling author on invasive technology, her new novel, and the craft of writing.
Interview
Back Draft: Catherine Barnett
November 27, 2018
The poet discusses the separation of mind and body—literally and figuratively—the transformation of influence, and imagining an audience.
Review
The Character of Berlin
November 20, 2018
A sprawling chronicle of the Nazis' rise to power, decades in the making, sheds light on both the present and the past.
Interview
Miscellaneous Files: Ottessa Moshfegh
November 6, 2018
The writer Ottessa Moshfegh on the line between sensitivity and sentimentality, the universal experience of sadness, and the influence of Nirvana.
Interview
Lacy M. Johnson: Moving the Conversation Toward Justice
October 17, 2018
The author on her new book of essays about activism, the failure to reckon, and extracting power from pain.
Review
A Deliberately Wonky Sense of Morality
October 5, 2018
On Andrew Martin’s debut novel, Early Work.
Interview
Miscellaneous Files: Olivia Laing
October 4, 2018
In the first installment of our multimedia interview series, Olivia Laing uses screenshots to explain how the secretarial parts of writing can be both pleasurable and productive.
Review
I Wish I Could Leave It at That
October 3, 2018
Roxane Gay’s memoir is a testament to her skill with empathetic connection.
Interview
Merve Emre: Portals to Self Discovery
October 2, 2018
The author, scholar, and critic on her new book about personality testing, and the importance of holding women writers to high standards.
Interview
Back Draft: Cedar Sigo
September 28, 2018
The poet on escaping the confines of academia, striving for imperfection, and moving back home.
Essay
The Franz Kafka Marriage Manual for Young Ladies
September 25, 2018
What to do with the art of a man more monstrous than the monster he created?
Interview
Back Draft: Cynthia Cruz
August 23, 2018
The poet on perfectionism, surrendering control, and a poetry that reflects the practical realities of American life today.
Review
Life on Mars
August 9, 2018
Rachel Kushner's new novel, The Mars Room, is a study in empathy.
Review
A Little More than Kin
August 6, 2018
Justin Torres's We the Animals, which has been adapted into a film, is difficult to pin down — but all the more powerful for it.
Interview
John Fanning: Questioning is Political
July 19, 2018
The writer on resistance history in French Occitanie, dropping out to drop in, and cultivating spiritual presence as an artist.
Interview
Brian Turner: A Music That Suits Our Time on the Planet
July 17, 2018
The poet on his debut album—a tribute to and collaboration with his late wife, by The Interplanetary Acoustic Team—and the role of music in literary practice.
Interview
The American Bourgeoisie Are the Revolutionaries
July 13, 2018
The writer on contemporary political fiction, his favorite court decision, and why he values ethics over empathy.
Interview
Back Draft: Heather Christle
July 11, 2018
The poet discusses the spark of life in a poem and the intersection of the imaginative and the political.
Interview
Back Draft: Victoria Chang
June 6, 2018
The poet on her revision process and coping with grief.
Interview
Lisa Wells: Tapering of Extremes
May 22, 2018
The writer reflects on the beef between poets, enjoying every day miracles, and practicing selfless listening.
Essay
Some Other I Before Me
May 21, 2018
On books as mentors for those of us who grew up in the wake of HIV/AIDS.
Review
Too God, Too Human
May 17, 2018
Akwaeke Emezi’s debut novel is a powerful exploration of the liminal.
Interview
Dorothy Allison: Tender to the Bone
May 16, 2018
The acclaimed author on working-class anger and the glory in literature.
Interview
Back Draft: Carl Phillips
May 3, 2018
The inaugural installment of a new series about the revision process in poetry. First up: Carl Phillips.
Interview
James Sherry: Leadership is Magnetic as Power is Aphrodisiacal
April 27, 2018
The poet on reviving Machiavelli for our times.
Interview
Striving for Purpose
April 19, 2018
Meg Wolitzer discusses politics and process in the context of her new novel, The Female Persuasion.
Interview
Storytelling in the Age of Populism
March 28, 2018
Kenneth Goldsmith and Mikkel Rosengaard in conversation.
Interview
Leslie Jamison: Storytelling and Sobriety
March 27, 2018
The acclaimed writer talks recovery, responsibility, and reforming the culture by which we treat addiction.
Interview
Eileen Myles: When Dogs and Mothers Die
March 14, 2018
Publishers wanted Myles to write another book that was “alcoholic, lesbian, and wild.” Instead, the poet wrote about the death of their beloved dog.
Essay
Churning the Days
March 1, 2018
A collection of James Salter’s magazine writing often disappoints, because he’s only human.
Essay
In Our House, We Speak in Hybrid Tongues
February 20, 2018
Communing with the author of the new short-story collection Hybrid Creatures.
Interview
Rachel Lyon on the Amoral Artist
February 15, 2018
The novelist on her new book, Self-Portrait with Boy, the nature of photography, and the ethics of creating.
Lives
I Used to Give Men Mercy
February 12, 2018
On the journey from webcam girl to professor and breakout memoirist, and not letting white academia drag her down.
Essay
A Partnership with God
February 2, 2018
The novelist Nicholas Mosley saw humanity’s salvation at the confluence of love, faith, and technology.
Fiction
Good Luck Have Fun
December 29, 2017
You got to be tough & I ain’t talking just in-game; I mean in yr life, son. IRL.
Review
How to Tell a Shattered Story
December 21, 2017
Arundhati Roy's latest novel, The Ministry of Utmost Happiness, is an elegy to graveyards.
Review
A Case for the Mental Health Memoir
December 19, 2017
First-person testimonies are providing a vocabulary for mental illness that is honest and destigmatizing.
Essay
Surrealist Refugees in the Tropics
November 17, 2017
Jacqueline Lamba, the scandalously beautiful artist and aquatic burlesque performer who enchanted Frida Kahlo, meets Suzanne Cesaire, known as the Black Panther of Négritude.
Interview
Iain Sinclair: Walking Is A Democracy
November 16, 2017
The author and filmmaker on his new book, London's changing culture, and why walking is a political act.
Interview
Kevin Young on The Power and Politics of Hoaxes
November 13, 2017
Incoming New Yorker Poetry Editor Kevin Young discusses his new book, Bunk.
Commentary
Armistice Day in the Virtual Trenches
November 11, 2017
The First World War ended a century ago, but its violence persists.