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
  • Afternoon Heat

    Afternoon Heat

    by Vishwas R. Gaitonde. “Summer sapped the energy out of us all, the patients in the waiting room under a whirring fan and I in my consulting room.” // continue reading

  • Plazoleta

    Plazoleta

    by Eric Stener Carlson. “The ants climbed up the front of Macedonio’s sweater, circling the buttons.  They arrived at Macedonio’s chest, interested in a yogurt stain. ” // continue reading

  • The Plagiarist

    The Plagiarist

    By Hollis Seamon. “’Why?’ Althea leaned toward the splotchy-pale student who sat in her small office chair, his wide khaki thighs overflowing its seat.” // continue reading

  • Loaded Gun

    Loaded Gun

    by Erin Van Rheenen. “The room with the gun is where my father-in-law, Phil, watches the news at full hectoring volume…The news he favors taps into his fear of the big bad world and anyone who isn’t him.” // continue reading

  • Visual Anguish and Looking at Art

    Visual Anguish and Looking at Art

    by Sheila Kohler. “I understand these were commercial jetliners, not ICBMs, that split the steel and glass of the World Trade Center. Someone, a person, had a long-standing vision, intentions, imagined the explosions and death that would follow.” // continue reading

  • A Love Story All the Same

    A Love Story All the Same

    by Claire A. Berman. “…I understood that he’d been expressing his own insecurities, not mine. I entered new relationships full of trepidation. Symptoms and appearance were inextricably bound together in my mind, necessitating constant body vigilance to control them.” // continue reading

  • Arlo

    Arlo

    by Monica Wendel. “After putting our child to sleep, I hear gunshots – / quiet, quieter than fire alarms, fireworks, thunder, / quieter than sirens, music in the park, or backfiring cars.” // continue reading

  • A THREAD OF SUNLIGHT ON EURYDICE’S HEM

    A THREAD OF SUNLIGHT ON EURYDICE’S HEM

    by Eric Pankey. “Call it an exercise in restraint / The angle of ascent is sharp / Like the sloped ceiling…”  // continue reading

  • In the Hospital 

    In the Hospital 

    by David Lehman. “In the hospital there was time / to read to dream to act / to read Freud’s dream book on his couch / and how his best thoughts came to him / in the hospital during /… // 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