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

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

— A new set of great reads with each click —

  • fiction
  • nonfiction
  • poetry
  • Home Depot

    Home Depot

    by Robert Oldshue. “You know how it is. You think you’re married, you’re married to Albie forty-two, what is it, forty-three years, so at least you know Albie. Right?” // continue reading

  • Halfway to the Afterlife

    Halfway to the Afterlife

    by Parker Desautell. “I had come into the hospital as I came into the world—twitching, foaming, groaning. I was almost brain-dead, they said, yet here I was, good as reborn.” // continue reading

  • Commotio Cordis

    Commotio Cordis

    by Pria Anand. “Lydia dreamt, too. She dreamt of Carnivale, of the motorcade, motorcycles without mufflers and pickup trucks hung with paper cutouts circling the island.” // continue reading

  • Housebound

    Housebound

    by Betsy Unger. “My husband has been into town. / I can smell the out of doors / in his hair, on his cheek / as he bends to embrace me in bed / where I live now rather than… // continue reading

  • Surrender, A Prayer for My Mother

    Surrender, A Prayer for My Mother

    by Lindsay Wilson. “Listen, dark one, as the sun sets, / the boxelder beetles come down / from the west wall to fly back…” // continue reading

  • Day 1,301

    Day 1,301

    by Judith Harris. “There will be a worse day. He will live / long enough to not recognize me at all, / and I sense it drawing nearer…” // 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