Essay | JOYLAND

On True Crime

Myriam Gurba -

My dad threw out his mom’s long-neglected magazine collection after it began to squeak. Mice had invaded the pulp, causing it to teem with...

“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...

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...

Mendocino

Fritz McDonald -

On a clear afternoon, Highway 101 rolls between mountains splashed with gold fields and stands of oak. My wife and I are in a...

Smiling Women, Frowning Girl

May-lee Chai -

"Mother always looked so womanly. I felt so thin in comparison. I didn't realize it was because she was always pregnant," my mother used...

First Base at The Cheesecake Factory

Michelle Gurule -

Be aggressive. Be patient. Set your expectations high, but not too high. It was December 2015. I was twenty-four years old, sitting in the...