Comics artist and writer Phil Jimenez was alone a lot when he was growing up in Long Beach, Calif. “Drawing was a way to entertain myself,” he says. Known for […]
Books & Poetry
POETRY
Lilacs
Walking up our road On a chilly April morning I encountered two locals Did you see those daffodils? The tall one asked by way of greeting One day they were […]
POETRY
The Bandit
My grandfather always said that living is like licking honey from a thorn. —Louis Adamic The raccoon boldly strode through the garden. Attuned to my presence she merely slowed, turned […]
BOOKS
Weaving the Yarns of an American Family
Philosopher John Kaag’s American Bloods is a mixed pleasure
Philosophy professor John Kaag has a lot of fun in his latest book, American Bloods: The Untamed Dynasty That Shaped a Nation. He tells the stories of selected members of […]
BOOKS
The Work of Art Is Worth the Effort
Adam Moss records his search for the secrets of creativity
In 2019, when Adam Moss left his powerful perch as top editor of New York magazine after 15 years, he decided to devote himself to painting. It didn’t go well. […]
PERSONAL HISTORY
Time Travel With Kurt Vonnegut and My Dad
Two prisoners of war and their linked stories
My father, PFC Arthur Kuttner, was in the Normandy invasion of June 1944. His unit, the 28th Infantry Division, was not in the first wave, so he survived that ordeal. […]
THINKERS
Judith Butler Would Like Us to Love Without Fear
The philosopher’s latest book asks Who’s Afraid of Gender?
Before she was a transphobe, J.K. Rowling was a writer. In her Harry Potter series, the villain Voldemort is so feared that everyone believes it is dangerous to utter his […]
POETRY
Two Poems by Marilyn Johnson
Wistful Exurbia far enough apart our farms nothing for show flowers incidental roadside lilies in June our neighbors sold out for less than you’d […]
POETRY
Three Poems by Andrea Cohen
All at Once When I was five I was five. Recalling being four, I turned six. It’s always been like this — one foot in the grave, one in gravy. […]
BOOKS
RuPaul Tells His Origin Story
The Queen of Drag finds clues to himself in The House of Hidden Meanings
You’ve likely noticed while watching RuPaul’s Drag Race that host RuPaul Charles rarely gets physically close to the contestants. Some of this is likely a Covid holdover, but the pronounced […]
WRITERS
Cleaning the Fishbowl and Other Disruptions
In her second FAWC fellowship, writer Molly Anders is reworking a short-story collection
As a kid, Molly Anders put her red betta fish in the microwave. Hearing this, you might envision a toilet bowl funeral and a big flush. That’s not what happened. […]
WILD MAN
‘You Think of a Line and You Bang It Up’
FAWC fellow David Hutcheson gets ready to write a poem
“I want to write about the people in my life in a way that shows how beautiful and complex they are,” says poet David Hutcheson. He runs to his kitchen […]
WRITERS
Tyler Raso Breathes to a Different Music
A FAWC fellow’s poems tell lies that circle the truth
Reading Tyler Raso’s poetry feels like walking down an aisle in Spencer’s, the mall outlet store that peaked in the aughts and was famed for its hot pink sex toys […]
BOOKS
A Novel in the Midst of Life
In Cynthia Zarin’s Inverno, the past is never really past
Inverno, Cynthia Zarin’s first novel, eschews the classic structure of beginning, middle, and end. It captures, through the protagonist Caroline’s recollections of a relationship, the way life can’t be easily […]
POETRY
Health insurance: living dangerously
Your member certificate indicates As in ancient Roman times Based on heredity, property, wealth What your out of pocket structure is Where the perimeter of your coverage lies And at […]
