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

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— A new set of great reads with each click —

  • fiction
  • nonfiction
  • poetry
  • Coulrophobia

    Coulrophobia

    by Jacob M. Appel. “My father fancied himself a shrewd landlord—he refused to rent to lawyers, the children of lawyers, even a college girl who “had law school written all over her”—but he probably bit off too much when he… // continue reading

  • My Uncle Deserves Chekhov 

    My Uncle Deserves Chekhov 

    by Robert Treu. “’Every family has one,’ my sister Joyce liked to say. ‘One crazy uncle or aunt they can’t hide or forget.’” // continue reading

  • A Big Empty

    A Big Empty

    by Rhonda Browning White. “We hadn’t talked since we left our West Virginia homeplace over two hours ago, both of us teary-eyed…” // 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

  • In Between Time

    In Between Time

    by Eric Jones. “Pain made me a precocious student of time, each middle ear infection a new lesson on the uncatchable instant.” // continue reading

  • Mental Health Days

    Mental Health Days

    by Sakena Jwan Washington. “With practiced pain, I delivered an Oscar-worthy performance of smiles and congratulations, and then escaped to the bathroom and sobbed until my eyes were bloodshot.” // continue reading

  • Alprazolam, 0.5mg

    Alprazolam, 0.5mg

    by Teo Mungaray. “After the explosion, you choke, / Oxygen depleted, orbiting a planet / Red as rust and too far from earth / To call for help.” // 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

  • When Fire Arrives

    When Fire Arrives

    by Sharon Pretti. “It’s all wrong, today’s sun, / a welt in the fire-smoke sky.” // 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