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

Willem de Kooning’s Jacket

Can I be worthy of an inheritance from my hero?
Megan Craig
December 10, 2024

My Rosary

A priest from my childhood was convicted of embezzlement. Years later, he still informs my faith.
Nicholas Russell
November 27, 2024

The Role of the Modern Writer

In his work for The Yale Review, Thomas Mann grappled with an artist’s relationship to society
Morten Høi Jensen
November 21, 2024

The Apostle of Love

How Thomas Mann discovered sensual education in The Magic Mountain
Merve Emre
November 20, 2024

The Creosote Sea

Finding peace in a humble desert shrub
Claire Vaye Watkins
October 30, 2024

A Lost Future for the Middle East

Religious pluralism was a possibility after the Ottoman Empire. European colonialism changed that.
Ussama Makdisi
October 22, 2024

Facing America’s Social Crisis

The United States is at a turning point in economic policy. What happens next is crucial.
Nicholas Mulder
October 22, 2024

History Is Repeating Itself in Ukraine

Cycles of nationalism have existed for centuries. What do they reveal?
Andreas Wimmer
October 22, 2024

How the Radical Right Remade Nationalism

What happens when the central goal of politics becomes preserving national identity?
Suzanne Schneider
October 22, 2024

Why Han Kang’s Nobel Matters

My mother’s generation experienced unspeakable violence. Han found the words for it.
Yung In Chae
October 15, 2024