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
  • Radon Gas and the Believers

    Radon Gas and the Believers

    by Andrew C. Gottlieb. “But its impossible to go very far without seeing a sudden dark opening, the sloping, rotting framing of an abandoned mine entrance, or the colorful, dangerous scree sloping downhill: the remnant tailings from the ore processing… // continue reading

  • Songs from the Black Chair

    Songs from the Black Chair

    by Charles Barber. “A thousand men each year sit in the black chair next to my desk. I am a mental health worker at the Bellevue Men’s Shelter.” // continue reading

  • Claiming Missing Inheritance

    Claiming Missing Inheritance

    by Jack Lancaster. “At the Whitney Museum, David Wojnarowicz’s portrait of his friend Peter Hujar claims its own wall. Ten feet back, I twist from parallel to perpendicular, unexpectedly lingering instead of walking by.” // continue reading

  • Fantaisie in F Minor, Op. 149

    Fantaisie in F Minor, Op. 149

    by Jaydn DeWald. “I believe my girlfriend may be playing for somebody else in the audience. Her face, when lifted, seems to drift toward the middle-back row of seats.” // continue reading

  • Plantation

    Plantation

    by Kwame Dawes. “And, eventually, we remember only the deepest / gloom, waiting still for the sudden suspense / of illumination — the light, blinding…” // continue reading

  • Edges

    Edges

    by Missy-Marie Montgomery. “The deer stepped out in front of my car / so politely, as if to say is this a good time? / And it happened that it was, / perfectly timed between cars and patches of ice.… // 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