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

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— A new set of great reads with each click —

  • fiction
  • nonfiction
  • poetry
  • The Third Story

    The Third Story

    by Rebecca Wurtz. “Paul once thought that the talent and ambition that had propelled him into graduate school as the first Negro PhD in pharmacology would keep propelling him, perhaps into a chairmanship at a prestigious Negro university. But life… // continue reading

  • Lydiola

    Lydiola

    by Sarah Yahm. “The ants in her foot went back to work digging tunnels and palaces and palazzos. She willed them to leave but they lingered and malingered and trespassed.” // continue reading

  • A Brief Disclaimer To Whom It May Concern on the Chapter You Are About to Read

    A Brief Disclaimer To Whom It May Concern on the Chapter You Are About to Read

    by Simon Eskow. “Princess Ugmo was a sulky curled-up thing with the skin of a plucked and boiled chicken. She sat apart from the other patients in the dayroom, scanning the gossip pages, searching vainly for her boldfaced name.” // continue reading

  • A Love Story All the Same

    A Love Story All the Same

    by Claire A. Berman. “…I understood that he’d been expressing his own insecurities, not mine. I entered new relationships full of trepidation. Symptoms and appearance were inextricably bound together in my mind, necessitating constant body vigilance to control them.” // 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

  • The Empath

    The Empath

    by Stephanie C. Smith. “New Orleans—my home from the start. I fit better on streets that sag, where live oaks lay low, where rain falls in sheets all afternoon…” // 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