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

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— Everything 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

  • 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

  • Step-Down

    Step-Down

    by Nitin K. Ahuja. “I don’t mind the night shift. I’m still new here, granted, so it doesn’t really matter whether or not I mind it.” // continue reading

  • No One Thing

    No One Thing

    by Laura LeMoon. “The things I’ve had to do to survive were part of the price I paid to be seen…Freedom in one moment became bondage in the next. Chains exploded into power. No one thing is any one thing.” // continue reading

  • All Our Relations

    All Our Relations

    by Jeanine Pfeiffer. “What if our evolution as humans was measured by how graciously and profoundly we related to the living world around us?” // continue reading

  • Refugere

    Refugere

    by Nina Adel. “Any place a place of refuge. Any place, as long as it’s not the place you’ve left. Live anywhere, but always leave the back door open.” // 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