Breathe into the Ground
“This time... this time you breathed into the ground so your children wouldn’t hear your startled sobs that escaped from your chest as you thought about your friend.” More
The PEN Pod: On Loose Ends and Plot Twists with Lisa Jewell
“The feeling of the book comes first. . . and then the bigger themes that encompass society and where we find ourselves now come much further down the line.” More
The PEN Pod: On Myths, Magic, and Intergenerational Narratives with K-Ming Chang
“There is so much that is inexplicable in myth. There’s so much magic and strangeness, and it doesn’t conform to conventional plot oftentimes—things turning into animals, or pumpkins.” More
The PEN Pod: Everywhere You Don’t Belong with Gabriel Bump
“What I hope that we can gain from this moment and the Black Lives Matter movement in general is that all Black lives matter.” More
The PEN Pod: Connecting through Translation with Ali Araghi
“One function of translation we could think about is the way it shows how literature of other cultures have reacted to similar problems we are dealing with.” More
Fireside: or Immaterial Burns
"The leather strained as Tyrone leaned forward to push in the cigarette lighter, and again, when he sat back in the seat." More
Two Birds, One Stone
"Brady's toes squirm in the sand. His eyes stare downward at the shifting grains, barely noticing the warmth seeping into his feet." More
First World Problems
"Better take a seat, Future Self, or have you remembered? Farley died last night." More