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

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— Everything BLR

— See what’s new with us at BLR

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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
  • Spectrum

    Spectrum

    by Ian MacLean. “In sleeping, Joseph’s eyes moved under their lids, as if he still searched the ward and the land out the window for phenomena. Planets churned in arcs and stars collapsed somewhere in that blackness, and he searched… // continue reading

  • Shaking the Dead Geranium 

    Shaking the Dead Geranium 

    by Harriet Rzetelny. “By age sixteen, he’d won a full scholarship to Emory College. By eighteen, he was convinced that my mother was sucking the life fluids out of his brain and went after her with a bread knife.” // continue reading

  • Parricide 

    Parricide 

    by Steve Fayer. “My father killed his mother, confessed it to me in his last year as the black dog of depression chased him toward his own grave.” // 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

  • Tethered to the Body

    Tethered to the Body

    by Jane Kokernak. “There is only illness, and there is no way to make that sexy. After several years as a medical device wearer, I know.” // continue reading

  • Harvest Moon

    Harvest Moon

    by Julia Michie Bruckner. “He’d looked perfect – nothing deformed or discolored, no hair out of place, both shoelaces tied. The life had been shaken out of him.” // 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