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
  • In My Head

    In My Head

    by Avra Aron. “You are twelve years old and your mind is like a game of hot potato. Your thoughts are quick and jerky, and you need to get past them before you get burned.” // continue reading

  • A Nigerian Attempts Therapy

    A Nigerian Attempts Therapy

    by Ucheoma Onwutuebe. “I am a Nigerian woman, plagued by Nigerian womanly problems. When I moved to America for graduate school last summer, I believed this new country would shield me from those nagging afflictions.” // continue reading

  • Double Exposure

    Double Exposure

    by Elisha Waldman. “Our hospital in Jerusalem feels haunted. Not, as one might think, by the ghosts of former patients, but rather by the living…” // continue reading

  • Valentine

    Valentine

    by Chelsea Krieg. “For minutes,/ I watch his heart: ventricles contracting, / blood pumping – my other silent pulsing center.” // continue reading

  • Untitled post 19787

    by Sue Churchill. “You rest your hand / anywhere on my body, / shoulder, breast, / ribs, thigh, / fingers neither / asking nor telling…” // continue reading

  • EVOCATION (STREETS)

    EVOCATION (STREETS)

    by Jeanette Clough. “I am surrounded by streets / half dark, half lit, by high rises / sheathed in metal and glass…” // 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