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

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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
  • What Is Buried Beneath

    What Is Buried Beneath

    by Kati Eisenhuth. “…I stand in the OR at Bagram Air Base, Afghanistan, after another IED explosion. Two patients are laid out on surgical tables, each with a wound that gapes and gray skin tattooed by shrapnel.” // continue reading

  • Our Lady of Slaughter

    Our Lady of Slaughter

    by Scarlett Diaz Power. “We were all named Guadalupe, us seven girls. Papi’s name was Guadalupe, too. He said it was like the Romans did.” // continue reading

  • Finding Honey

    Finding Honey

    by Daniel Reiss. “To find honey, I must first find a bee. It’s not that hard to find a bee. I just wander the woods till I find a source of water. If I come to a creek or a… // continue reading

  • In the British Library Repository  

    In the British Library Repository  

    by Katie Chaple. “The other man holds the letters /  to his nose, inhaling deeply. / One letter after another he lifts and smells, / making two piles.” // continue reading

  • Socks

    Socks

    by Meg Kearney. “My father’s body has ceased to shock me. / His skin runs over his bones like a slow / river, rippling where belly meets hip.” // continue reading

  • The Cradles of St. Kilda

    The Cradles of St. Kilda

    by Catharine Clark-Sayles. “From 1850 to 1890 forty-one of fifty-six infants born on St. Kilda in the Hebrides died of tetanus caused by the custom of anointing the umbilical stump with oil stored in the dried stomach of a goose.” // 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