Curated links. Favorite Essays I Read in the Past Two Weeks: I didn’t think I would love reading about absolute darkness in a cave but I’m glad I did. This immersing piece has stunning insights about memory, things we forget, and the relationship between humans and rocks. After I finished reading I wanted to read …
The Weight of Her Grief, the Quality of Mercy, and When Pregnancy Is the Crime
Curated links. Favorite Essays I Read in the Past Two Weeks: Favorite Flash Fictions I Read in the Past Two Weeks: In this flash fiction, dialogue encompasses the whole story, and what a dialogue it is, every sentence spoken by the man and the boy is authentic, is filled with short sentences, sentences where we …
How I Learned To Avoid Storytelling That Is “Performative for a White Readership”
“I never want to inadvertently write something that caters to the white gaze.” —Morgan Talty After writing the first draft for Meleak, my short story, my protagonist woke me up in the middle of the night, disappointed in me. Shaking her head, she paced around my bed, flinging her arms and moaning. Why are you explaining my …
I Could Have Killed Him Twice, the Secret to Winning in Publishing, and Walking While Black
Curated links. An Article I Reread in the Past Two Weeks: I like rereading the works of my favorite writers. Every sentence in this lovely piece is filled with beautiful sentences. Here’s my favorite sentence from this article, “Sometimes you don’t realize even when you lean in for what could be your last hug, and …
Internal Damaging Monuments
A fragmented essay. “Did the law firms you applied to in Dubai call you?” I asked Zema. Teaching Black girls how to build their confidence is part of my job. Zema is a 21-year-old Black girl who lives in Tiya, a small town in the southern part of Ethiopia. Every day, after graduating from Wolkite …
Gone in the Desert and Never Coming Home, and a Gurage Woman Who Fought for Women’s Rights 168 Years ago
Curated links. Favorite Essays Favorite Short Stories Favorite Writing Advice This title is misleading. No one can work on a million drafts at once but I know that when I am working on one of my stories and I’m uninspired or I’m stuck or I can’t seem to move my story forward, I stop working …
I’m Never Fine, Highlighting the History of Black Writers, and Fasika
Curated links. Favorite Essays I Read in the Past Two Weeks: The best profile piece I have read. An absolute delight. This essay doesn’t tiptoe around the edges and corners of the room—it boldly saunters to the center of the room where the story’s heart beats. I had to pause reading because tears blurred my …
When the Shooting Stops
A flash fiction. CONTENT WARNING In this flash fiction, there is a focus on an incident that involves a mass shooting One year after the shooting, I went to a festival. A few minutes after I arrived, fireworks—which sounded like gunshots—exploded in the sky. Darkness surrounded me. My hands covering my ears, I tried to …
The First Black Child to Interrogate an All-White Elementary School, the Most Beautiful Libraries in the World, and Adwa Victory
Curated reading lists. Favorite Essays I Read This Week: After losing his wife during childbirth, this father turns his pain into purpose (via sheknows) The sound of grief (via The New Yorker) Favorite Short Fiction I Read This Week: Snakes by Danielle Evans Favorite Flash Fiction I Read This Week: A middle finger flipped on a school bus by …
The Things We Do for Love, Master Slave Husband Wife, and the Hottest Inhabited Place on Earth
Curated reading lists. Favorite Essays I Read in the Past Two Weeks: The Man with the Golden Airline Ticket, Narratively The Crane Wife by CJ Hauser The Things We Do for Love, Roxane Gay. The pictures in this essay are breathtaking. While reading Roxane’s words, I felt I was in Antarctica with Roxane and her wife, …