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

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  • fiction
  • nonfiction
  • poetry
  • Plazoleta

    Plazoleta

    The ants climbed up the front of Macedonio’s sweater, circling the buttons.  They arrived at Macedonio’s chest, interested in a yogurt stain.   // continue reading

  • The Gun Goes Off and At First No One Knows Who’s Been Hit

    The Gun Goes Off and At First No One Knows Who’s Been Hit

    Someone’s died. I know this because of vague posts on Facebook. It can’t be anyone I know very well, or I’d have texts or phone calls or, well, something. // continue reading

  • Bus

    Bus

    I’d sit there and look at the glossy paper in my lap, at the strings of black letters arranged in neat columns on the shiny vellum, my twenty-four-year-old son next to me in his infusion chair joking with the nurses… // continue reading

  • By My Own Hand

    By My Own Hand

    Mental anguish can be as unruly as any terminal illness. It can, unfortunately, orchestrate its own end. // continue reading

  • Loaded Gun

    Loaded Gun

    by Erin Van Rheenen. “The room with the gun is where my father-in-law, Phil, watches the news at full hectoring volume…The news he favors taps into his fear of the big bad world and anyone who isn’t him.” // continue reading

  • Iambic Pentameter and the Meter of War

    Iambic Pentameter and the Meter of War

    In the 1940’s, a young Marine returns from China to a small Pennsylvania town. One year later finds the body of the mother-in-law sprawled on the kitchen floor and the body of the wife in the living room, both perforated… // 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