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
  • Peer Review

    Peer Review

    by Kristen Swan Morrison. “There’s an infiltration in the group. I sense it. I see it a mile away.” // continue reading

  • Sibilance

    Sibilance

    by Leonard Post. “‘Kill me,’ he pleaded, not exactly in those words, but clothed rather in the language of assisted suicide. He had no right to ask that of me.” // continue reading

  • Car Wash

    Car Wash

    by Arya Samuelson. “While I wait for him to pull the trigger, I drive to the grocery store. Pick up milk, chewing gum, sponges. Drop off the dry cleaning: the dress I splattered with a spaghetti stain at Shana and… // continue reading

  • Sisters

    Sisters

    by Sheila Kohler. “For a moment my sister seemed to hesitate, standing in the ghostly light of the moon, as though she were considering going back.” // continue reading

  • Call/Waiting

    Call/Waiting

    by Alexa Rose Steinberg. “Throughout the evening, I hear explanations of why people can’t talk when I call…” // continue reading

  • 1 a.m. Refill

    1 a.m. Refill

    by Rebecca Grossman-Kahn. “It’s 1:00 a.m. and the emergency department is cold. The bright overhead lights illuminate the rows of empty desk chairs. I hear the tap-tap of rubber clogs shuffling in a far corner. There are only two patients… // continue reading

  • Hemiplegia

    Hemiplegia

    by Ona Gritz. “Left, my bright half, gets all of it… / soft sharp prickly wet lined. / But press your head against my right shoulder, / I sense weight but no warmth.” // continue reading

  • Etymology of Chlorophyll

    Etymology of Chlorophyll

    by Caroline Harper New. “Love, / from Germanic lufu, is intestinal and milky / like undug onions squeezed from mothers.” // continue reading

  • Biding

    Biding

    by June Rowe. “Named Inky by his captors, with appealing / comparisons to human traits, feedings / timed to please the children’s flattened / faces squished against the 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