In “Origin Story,” a piece that’s less about looking back than moving forward, the female protagonist muses: “Freedom wasn’t to be found in words but in being alone…thinking thoughts that would not appear in her stories because they were shameful in their intimacy and small in scope, the product of a lack of imagination or […]
Though she attempted suicide three times between the ages of 10 and 18, Chihaya writes, “One thing I was pretty sure about [the term] ‘nervous breakdown’ was that it was not for people like me.” The child of a Japanese immigrant and a Japanese Canadian woman who “didn’t really believe in the concept of mental […]
Chelsea’s twin, Angelica, still follows her around nearly constantly despite having met an untimely death several years ago. Though 12-year-old Chelsea loves her sister, the situation leaves her feeling isolated. To make matters worse, the twins’ former friend Riley has relentlessly bullied Chelsea ever since Chelsea told Riley about Angelica’s paranormal presence. Unbeknownst to Chelsea, […]
Yuknavitch, whose previous memoir The Chronology of Water (2011) has been both a viral sensation and a touchstone for students of the genre, returns to personal writing after several novels. “What if we could read our past, our memories, even our bodies, as if they too were books open to endless interpretation?” The point, she […]
Nearing 100, Johnson looks back on a long life shaped early on by the entrepreneur S.B. Fuller, whom he met in 1944, and who preached a gospel that proclaimed, “God did not intend for you to be poor.” Johnson went to work for Fuller, convinced that, as Fuller said, “Anything a White man can do, […]
Prescod made her literary debut with the memoir Token Black Girl (2022), about how growing up Black in a mostly white community in Connecticut led to depression, an estrangement from Black culture, and a serious eating disorder. A veteran of the fashion and beauty industries, she offers a unique perspective on both Black and white […]
With their lives destabilized by war and a devastating sickness spreading, Sabel, who has “wood-coloured” skin, sits down with her family to share a last meal before leaving home. But instead of the family leaving together, Appa and Amma send the kids—Sabel, Reya, Theri, Verlane, and S’Jin—off on their own. After a turbulent and disorienting […]
Dawg’s got a great life—as all “dawgs” deserve—but today, as he waits impatiently to be walked, leash in mouth, tail wagging, no one’s paying attention. Dad’s making pizza for dinner, Mom’s at her computer, Bro’s playing guitar, and Sis is on her phone. Everyone tells Dawg to ask someone else to walk him. Finally, Dawg […]
An eco-acoustic researcher at the Natural History Museum in Paris, Sueur has long been listening to the sounds of the earth, animals, and humans. Inspired by the work of the late Canadian soundscape composer R. Murray Schafer and Bernie Krause, a soundscape ecologist and author of The Great Animal Orchestra (2012), Sueur has traveled on […]
Chryssy’s family is cursed. While her uncles have all had long and happy marriages, generations of Hua women—Chryssy included—have been destined never to find lasting love, experiencing everything from prom night breakups to cheating spouses. Still reeling after a broken engagement, Chryssy has thrown herself into her job as a Traditional Chinese Medicine chef and […]