Essays

Essays

The Unfolding of Time in Paint

My encounters with Joan Mitchell's panels
Rachel Cohen
Sepia toned photograph showing painter Joan Mitchell behind a canvas in her studio
Memoir

The Talented Ms. Highsmith

I worked for the novelist in her final months. I thought she wanted to kill me.
Elena Gosalvez Blanco
A Closer Read

Taking Offense

Reading through bad feeling
Garth Greenwell
Essays

How Mrs. Dalloway Began

Slipping into Virginia Woolf’s sentences
Edmund de Waal
Essays

When Does a Divorce Begin?

Most people think of it as failure. For me it was an achievement.
Anahid Nersessian
Dan Fox as a child with his nain, or grandmother, in the chicken-filled yard of Siambr Wen, near Llanrwst, North Wales, UK
Essays

What Happened When I Began to Speak Welsh

By learning my family's language, I hoped to join their conversation.
Dan Fox

Browse

Essays

Essays

Case Studies

A critic tracks herself
Margo Jefferson
December 6, 2022
Essays

Reclaiming Tituba

The real story behind Arthur Miller's character
Winsome Pinnock
December 6, 2022
Essays

Remembering Benares

The city that inspired The Romantics
Pankaj Mishra
December 6, 2022
Essays

Tender Light

The bond between photography and narrative
Emmanuel Iduma
December 6, 2022
Essays

The Path to "River See"

How improvisation and ancestry shape a playwright's work
Sharon Bridgforth
December 6, 2022
Essays

The Rest of the Story

Remembering childhood
Carolyn Forché
December 6, 2022
Essays

Community

Finding company on and off the page
Carl Phillips
October 10, 2022
Essays

Change Trains at Summit

Becoming a poet
Robert Pinsky
September 1, 2022
Essays

Invisible Bridges

On Ukraine, Russia, and friendships
Marci Shore
September 1, 2022
Essays

Spiritualism’s Shadows

On COVID-19 and false consolation
Alicia Puglionesi
September 1, 2022