By Denisha Naidoo My poem “Back Bone” began as an exercise to describe an object from close up and far away. I chose a vertebra with a face carved on it that I had on my desk. As part of a revision exercise, I pared away the words of what I had written until I was...
By Danica Longair “Cantonese Lessons for a Foreign Daughter-in-Law” originated as a flash piece. Cantonese is spoken a lot in my family, and though an English speaker, I once knew about 50 phrases. My mother-in-law, a native Cantonese speaker, had cancer. It struck me...
By Molly Freedenberg Sometimes, I have a story I want to write and am trying to find the right place to publish it. Other times, the publication comes first, and the magazine’s specific container inspires the story. The process of “Unmasked” was the latter. As soon as...
By Jennifer Robinson I had recently emerged from a terrible chronic pain situation that utterly changed my life. Writing became my way of making sense of this experience. I found solace in the works of other artists—particularly Beethoven—and in the words of good...
