Today is my big sister's b-day.She died at 16. This essay was so difficult to write It took me years. Hope it reflects my belief that a piece of literary work should have no agenda other than exploring human nature and the human condition. TY AGNI is on Bluesky (@agnimagazine.bsky.social) agnionline.bu.edu/essay/the-summ…

He was shocked by my question; I was shocked to see just how hard it can be for a man to face his past wrongs. iowareview.org/from-the-issue…

Update to our #AWP24 offsite reading! Maria Isabelle Carlos is joining us too!

I took a long, long break from submitting my work while I was re-writing my memoir; this is my first piece out in 3 years, up Hunger Mountain! Warning, in case it's helpful: mention of sexual trauma. Here's "Through the Threads" hngrmtn.org/issues/hunger-…

Could a recently discovered "super-Earth" have the potential temperature and conditions to sustain life? The new exoplanet is situated "fairly close to us" — only 137 light-years away — and orbits within a "habitable zone," according to NASA. trib.al/jCfsLH3

I witnessed book burning as a child in China. Now I see this happening in the US as an adult

Field pansies in the area around Paris are evolving to have smaller flowers and produce less nectar – physical traits that are tied to pollination – according to new research from a team at the University of Montpellier in France. to.pbs.org/3Uu3Ynv

If you haven't read their work, I strongly suggest starting with Xujun Eberlein's essay "Ms. Daylily," included in Best American Essays & winner of the The Iowa Review award in nonfiction: iowareview.org/from-the-issue… @gracet09's essential memoir THE BODY PAPERS: restlessbooks.org/bookstore/the-…

Incredible.

"Always try to write about others more than you write about yourself. It’s how a narrator looks at the world surrounding him or her, what and who they look at, that ultimately interests a reader." ~ Kim Dana Kupperman

For everyone who’s been waiting for an essay about medical slides, Walt Whitman, and consuming female friendship…your wait is over. For The Yale Review, here it is. yalereview.org/article/leslie…

The NBCC John Leonard Prize for Best First Book goes to “Waiting to Be Arrested at Night” by Tahir Hamut Izgil (Tahir H. Izgil), translated by Joshua L. Freeman (Joshua L. Freeman)! penguinpress #NBCCAwards

夜来风雨声 花落知多少 In the night came wind and rain How many blossoms have fallen? [Tang Dynasty] Meng Haoran (Translated by yours truly)

'Don’t digress,' people are always saying. 'Get to the point'… My advice is to court digression...those places in the mind that we usually shut out because they would appear to lead us astray. Let your conversation get away from you; let a new story take over. ~ Judith Kitchen

Congratulations to NBCC lifetime member Xujun Eberlein, who has been awarded a Mass Cultural Council Grant for Creative Individuals: buff.ly/3XfrW7t

Humanity is on the verge of ‘shattering Earth’s natural limits’, say experts in biodiversity warning theguardian.com/environment/20…

“What if hope is the problem? What if hope is the antidepressant that has been keeping us all comfortably numb when we have every right to be sad, worried, stirred to action or just plain angry?” My take on climate hope-mongering. theguardian.com/environment/20…

Just went for a walk at sunset. I’m pretty sure the sun will rise again

“In one of the most astonishing political transformations in the history of democracy,” Hitler destroyed “a constitutional republic through constitutional means,” writes Timothy W. Ryback. Read about how Hitler overcame democracy in just 53 days: theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/…

🚨 The global "early warning system" for cybersecurity is breaking down—creating a growing gap between security "haves" and "have-nots." Most people have no idea their digital lives are becoming more vulnerable. My latest investigation for MIT Technology Review: technologyreview.com/2025/07/11/111…