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

The Talented Ms. Highsmith

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

Taking Offense

Reading through bad feeling
Garth Greenwell

How Mrs. Dalloway Began

Slipping into Virginia Woolf’s sentences
Edmund de Waal

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

What Happened When I Began to Speak Welsh

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

Browse

Essays

The Politics of Anger

Putin and the psychology of rage
Josh Cohen
September 1, 2022

Theater of Shame

The rise of online humiliation
Charlie Tyson
September 1, 2022
PenErik, Doublement, 2014, via Creative Commons

We Are Our Choices

The consequences of being severed from your True Self
Nuar Alsadir
July 25, 2022

The Feminism of Elizabeth Hardwick

What happens when care becomes work?
Apoorva Tadepalli
July 18, 2022

Akron State of Mind

Did I betray my friends by moving to the suburbs?
William Evans
July 11, 2022

The Ghost of Henry Dumas

Since his mysterious death, the poet's spirit has haunted my family
Treasure Shields Redmond
July 11, 2022

The Abortion Stories We Tell

Do we need to be more radically honest?
Maggie Doherty
June 24, 2022

A Glass Essay

Reading Anne Carson post-breakup
Sarah Chihaya
June 1, 2022

Alice and Jean

Is it possible to be an ethical consumer?
Jennifer Stock
June 1, 2022

Camera Mortis

How photographs of the dead helped me mourn
Lili Hamlyn
June 1, 2022