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
  • Sisters of Mercy

    Sisters of Mercy

    by Joan Leegant. “The surgeon came into the O.R. chewing gum.  This was how we knew there’d be a problem. God have mercy, we mutter under our breaths…” // continue reading

  • Responsibility

    Responsibility

    by Alok A. Khorana. “Vivek prided himself on bringing order to chaos. Lowly intern that he was, Vivek was the face of Ward 10.” // continue reading

  • Ghosts of Doubt

    Ghosts of Doubt

    by Gregg Cusick. “He stands before the class, the lectern his wheelhouse, the teen- or twenty- something-aged students his sea, the sky in the back windows his horizon. The worn paperback before him lays open to a page. If he… // continue reading

  • A Doctor in the Court of the King of Nepal

    A Doctor in the Court of the King of Nepal

    by Itzhak Kronzon. “I labored to decipher the pidgin English until I at last understood that the King of Nepal wanted me, Dr. Itzhak Kronzon of the Bronx Municipal Hospital, to come to his royal court.” // continue reading

  • On Not Seeing Whales

    On Not Seeing Whales

    by Nikki Schulak. “My mother wanted to see a whale before she died. In a boat off Montauk, Long Island, we puked over the side railings for the entire four-hour tour. No whales.” // continue reading

  • By the Neck

    By the Neck

    by Laura Johnsrude. “Suddenly, the baby’s head was in my hands and I saw the umbilical cord wrapped around the baby’s neck—the neck, oh my, with all those critical bits of anatomy. I held that big slippery baby head in… // 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