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
  • In Other Hemispheres

    In Other Hemispheres

    by Pamela Ryder. “The room was dark, the father says. Then darker. It happened so quickly, I couldn’t call out. I thought I smelled grain—wheat or oats—what horses eat. A clean, sweet smell.” // continue reading

  • Examining Rooms

    Examining Rooms

    by Midge Raymond. “These future doctors need to make a personal connection, to take the time to discuss next steps, to listen . . . Expressing the symptoms of pain is one thing—judging people on their performances is another.” // continue reading

  • High Water Mark

    High Water Mark

    by Suzanne McConnell. “I regard myself in the mirror he holds up. It is spring, but damp here in Venice. The necklace lies on my blue sweater like fire.” // continue reading

  • Going South

    Going South

    by Natalie Pearson. “I make amends with small gifts—a loaf of crusty bread, a Louie Prima CD, lilacs in a mason jar. This little drive to nowhere would be just such a gift.” // continue reading

  • All Our Relations

    All Our Relations

    by Jeanine Pfeiffer. “What if our evolution as humans was measured by how graciously and profoundly we related to the living world around us?” // continue reading

  • Breaking Point

    Breaking Point

    by Eileen Cronin. “Our heads are filled with the native rhythm of an aerobic beat and hot anticipation.” // continue reading

  • Worry Bone

    Worry Bone

    by Gibson Fay-LeBlanc. “Woke gnawing its remains.  Air/ had the brackish tinge of depths I had/ all night been swimming in.” // continue reading

  • A Suspicion

    A Suspicion

    by Ricardo Pau-Llosa. “of ailment breeds / a new season in flesh. / As if snow were suddenly / caking subtropical thatch roofs, / or the desert sogged up / with bitter rain.” // continue reading

  • I Paint His Absence

    I Paint His Absence

    by Diane LeBlanc. “Evening wings a grey moth in blue light, / sea harbor-salted light.” // 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