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

  • Issue 50
  • Issue 49
  • Issue 48

  • all
  • news
  • events
  • interviews

— Everything BLR

— See what’s new with us at BLR

— Come join us, online, or in person —

— Read interviews with BLR authors, editors, readers, and more —

— A new set of great reads with each click —

  • fiction
  • nonfiction
  • poetry
  • An Infinite Hunger

    An Infinite Hunger

    by Joon Ae Haworth-Kaufka. “You eat more and more, until you feel sick. Your mom says people are souls, but not you. You’re an empty body, filling up and up and up to make the emptiness go away.” // continue reading

  • Sloth, That Wicked Siren

    Sloth, That Wicked Siren

    by Christopher Notarnicola. “Why he stopped showering, no one could say for sure, though everyone had their guesses.” // continue reading

  • Dian by Dian

    Dian by Dian

    by Richard Wu. “Everywhere you looked, you would see an unending flood of traffic, with sirens flashing and horns blaring and drivers yelling, and through the taxi’s open windows you would smell the stench of gasoline exhaust and cigarette fumes… // continue reading

  • You Know What She Means

    You Know What She Means

    by Elizabeth Schultz. “And here is another thing you do not remember: your parents telling you that you have polio, and that they are taking you to St. Margaret’s Hospital in Northridge.” // 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

  • 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

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