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

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— Everything BLR

— See what’s new with us at 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
  • You Will Make Several Relaxing Cuts

    You Will Make Several Relaxing Cuts

    by Ashley Chambers. “The grieving family members haven’t left the patient’s room by the time you arrive at the hospital.” // continue reading

  • Taxi Ride

    Taxi Ride

    by Azin Neishaboori. “It was around noon on a spring day in the month of May when Ms. Abedi appeared at the intersection of Shahrara and Sattar Khan Streets on the west side of Tehran.” // continue reading

  • Pale Unhappy Dog

    Pale Unhappy Dog

    by Angie Sijun Lou. “Li has never seen a kidney, but he imagines a flesh-colored ball the size of a fist. He wonders how he will transport it on his motorcycle, whether he will seal it inside a plastic bag… // continue reading

  • Obligation

    Obligation

    by Leopold Szor. “No wonder that now, on the streets of Lvov, one could see smiles on the faces looking out the windows. Theirs was a joy of expectation. The hour of revenge was coming! The Jews of Lvov already… // continue reading

  • The Absolute Worst Thing  

    The Absolute Worst Thing  

    by Seth Carey. “When they suggested one more blood test, since ‘maybe you’re lucky and you just have AIDS,’ I knew that the absolute worst thing was for real.” // continue reading

  • Untitled post 19561

    by Joan Kip. “I open my eyes this still, foggy morning and peer at the clock on the wall opposite the bed—the clock that Art designed over fifty-seven years ago.” // continue reading

  • Glaucoma

    Glaucoma

    by Charlene Fix. “What my eyes see reminds me of under-exposed / negatives from my bygone wet photography days, / days replete with eyes—the camera’s, the enlarger’s, mine—” // continue reading

  • Printouts

    Printouts

    by Dylan Landis. “Janet reported that gray taffeta / curtained her walls. It was delicate. When touched, the ashen silk dissolved / around her thumbprint….” // continue reading

  • Love On Death’s Doorstep

    Love On Death’s Doorstep

    by Alice Wirth Gray. “Her lovely face captured the one / available male in the old folks’ home. / She’s found, at long last, Mr. Right, / absolutely faithful, endlessly attentive, / forgiving of all idiocy.” // 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