Nonfiction | JOYLAND

Berthe Morisot’s Last Letter

Summer Brennan -

A few years before her husband died, the painter Berthe Morisot and her family spent the summer and autumn at a falling down villa...

“By J”: An Elegy for John Barrett, Friendship & Beauty

S. Kirk Walsh -

“You must come in—and I’ll cut your hair.” This was one of the first things John said to my then-boyfriend, Michael, and later to...

Losing My Religion: A Nineties Mixtape

Youssef Rakha -

SIDE A Creep, Radiohead (1993) Losing My Religion, R.E.M. (1991) Wind of Change, Scorpions (1990) Knockin’ On Heaven's Door, Guns N’ Roses (1990) 7 Seconds, Youssou N’Dour & Neneh...

1.09cm

Aliyah Muhammad -

Oftentimes, my room is called the “black hole” in my household because of all the many things that are suddenly and unexpectedly lost to...

The Silent Part

Thalia Williamson -

The following essay is excerpted from Thalia Williamson’s memoir The Silent Part. She’s between the ages of two and five. That’s the best she can...

Finger Eleven

Anna Rollins -

Before we knew about the Freedom Industries chemical spill, I met my mom for lunch at a pizza parlor in my hometown. We were...

The Language of Cranes

Lorraine Hanlon Comanor -

In the fields of Schildow, fifty kilometers north of Berlin, Sepp and I study the sky, searching for words. On this cloudy October afternoon,...

Destiny

Xavier John Richardson -

Lee, Kenny, Wayne, Joel, me and my brother Alan are expected to go to college, not walk into sorrow's kitchen and lick out all...

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Shy Watson -

I’m in bed with a near-stranger when my phone rings. The first time I ignore it, but when the call is instantly followed by...

How to be Half Mixed Everything Both Sort Of

Ayşe Papatya Bucak -

First there is Istanbul, the city that contains two continents, the oft-said meeting ground of East and West. Then there is the Bosporus with...