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
  • Winston Speaks

    Winston Speaks

    by Jill Caputo. “Winston sold candy at the bus station on Wednesdays because that was the only day Georgia could give him a ride there. He kept the goods in the pack on the back of his chair: Snickers, Milky… // continue reading

  • Assisted Living

    Assisted Living

    by Louise Aronson. “Mary’s not at dinner and no one knows why. Roy is limping but at least he’s up walking again after last month when he fell by the mailboxes and dislocated his new knee.” // continue reading

  • String Theory

    String Theory

    by Venita Blackburn. “Something happens to people that rescue other people, a covenant of sorts… The promise is the same: when I see you, I will keep you safe. I looked at Mariko, the quasar of freckles between her eyes,… // continue reading

  • Snapshots of Bellevue

    Snapshots of Bellevue

    by Sandra Opdycke. “When sick New Yorkers failed to find a place in private institutions like New York Hospital, they turned to public hospitals like Bellevue.” // continue reading

  • Given

    Given

    by Nancy Devine. “This must be the first harvest from our acreage: our young vineyard singing, the plastic, ribbed grow tubes that make little greenhouses for each of the young grape plants catching wind and, like a throat and its… // continue reading

  • Our Eyes Were Watching Marcia

    Our Eyes Were Watching Marcia

    by Samuel A. Autman. “Television had always been a perfect distraction from our family’s drama and trauma, soothing us more than our Baptist faith.” // continue reading

  • Plantation

    Plantation

    by Kwame Dawes. “And, eventually, we remember only the deepest / gloom, waiting still for the sudden suspense / of illumination — the light, blinding…” // continue reading

  • Mrs. Eder’s Sunday School Class

    Mrs. Eder’s Sunday School Class

    by Brenna Working Lemieux. “Never mind that her fingers bow backwards, / they’re so lithe, that the bones below her skin / spoke like umbrella ribs, that the bible’s onion-skin / pages arch at her touch…” // 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