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

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— Everything BLR

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— A new set of great reads with each click —

  • fiction
  • nonfiction
  • poetry
  • What They Will Say

    What They Will Say

    by Fabienne Josaphat. “Marielle’s sisters and cousins were all born with judgment in their mouths, always throwing stones at women who stepped out of line or into the fire.” // continue reading

  • il Faut

    il Faut

    by Stephanie Hammer. “Now he stares at the bag of bulbs, the naked little bodies burgeoning, begging for life in the sweet dark ground. The ground that buries.” // continue reading

  • The Wedding Photographer’s Assistant

    The Wedding Photographer’s Assistant

    by Ilana Stanger. “’Dina,’ she said, ‘you’re the least romantic person I know.  For you to be a wedding photographer is too hilarious to pass up.’” // continue reading

  • Family Portrait, Guam, 1979

    Family Portrait, Guam, 1979

    by Katherine Lien Chariott. “I know who you are. You are the girl of twenty, in that black and white photograph I held onto for years, that girl so beautiful she filled me with shame, just as she filled me… // continue reading

  • Officium

    Officium

    by Siobhan McKenna. “’How do you do it? How do you watch people die day after day?’ He asked the question as we passed each other on the threshold of his wife’s room. He was leaving after having said all… // 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

  • The Shed

    The Shed

    by Elana Bell. “Each time something went missing— / the photo album of my first / year, postcard from a forgotten friend…” // continue reading

  • Dusk in Dupont Circle

    Dusk in Dupont Circle

    by Martha Young. “A wingspan so wide it soared beyond the sidewalk / like a small plane. I turned, I had to turn, find where it landed…” // continue reading

  • Gone

    Gone

    by Carolyn Welch Scarbrough. “William’s letter uses suicided as a verb / and really why not? The finite action // verb—without an introduction, unreduced by / other verbs, other introductory phrases…” // 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