25 years of creative writing on health, illness, and healing

  • Issue 50
  • Issue 49
  • Issue 48

  • all
  • news
  • events
  • interviews

— Everything BLR

— See what’s new with us at BLR

— Come join us, online, or in person —

— Read interviews with BLR authors, editors, readers, and more —

— A new set of great reads with each click —

  • fiction
  • nonfiction
  • poetry
  • The Cult of Me

    The Cult of Me

    by Allison Amend. “I’m not a suspicious person; I think that the quickest way between two points is a straight line and that the simplest explanation is the truest. I don’t care if our atmosphere is being eaten away by… // continue reading

  • Death Defiant Bomba or What To Wear When Your Boo Gets Cancer

    Death Defiant Bomba or What To Wear When Your Boo Gets Cancer

    by Lilliam Rivera. “You’ll wear five-inch black pumps because they make that annoying noise that alerts everyone everywhere in the whole wide world that you’re arriving.” // continue reading

  • Last Stop

    Last Stop

    by Daniel Pope. “Outside the train station a man lies on the concrete brick walkway, his head resting in a pool of blood. His skull is buzzed and the blood leaks brightly out of a wound above his left temple.… // continue reading

  • Cancer, So Far

    Cancer, So Far

    by Elizabeth Crowell. “Last summer, the moths clung to the shingles of our house. They fluttered right past us, mottled wings snapping, through our open door.” // continue reading

  • Breaking Point

    Breaking Point

    by Eileen Cronin. “Our heads are filled with the native rhythm of an aerobic beat and hot anticipation.” // continue reading

  • Conduit

    Conduit

    by River Adams. “This is a temple for them, I thought. This is where the gods will be merciful or not. And I speak for the gods.” // continue reading

As featured on PBS News Hour’s CANVAS Series

Watch PBS News Hour’s Jeffrey Brown report on BLR’s 25th Anniversary, featuring BLR Editor Danielle Ofri and past BLR writers reflecting on why poetry, storytelling, and writing matter, especially in moments of illness.

Whiting Award Winner

BLR was awarded a Whiting Literary Magazine Prize for “excellence in publishing, advocacy for writers, and a unique contribution to the strength of the overall literary community.”

Praise & Recognition