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. […]
Books & Poetry
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 […]
POETRY
Deep Sea Currents
Moonlight illuminates shapes, washes away colors. Surface water reflects moon-deflected light from our hidden sun, hidden as sands below tides or the up-sides of clouds wind-surfing nightly. Moon masters the […]
GOING VICTORIAN
A Taste for Trollope
The sometimes overlooked 19th-century British author inspires a Truro group
Scheming politicians, female agency, marital bargains, and ambitious sociopaths were all up for discussion at a recent meeting in Truro. This was not a select board hearing, however. It was […]
WRITERS
Adeniyi Ademoroti’s Characters Are Their Own Worst Enemies
A writer’s subconscious helps him find the voice he wants
When Adeniyi Ademoroti sits down to write a story, there are always two things in his head: the first sentence and the final scene. “If I don’t have anything I’m […]
WRITERS
Grand Stories Told From the Periphery of Loss
In Grace Chao’s worlds, a single event can change the trajectory of a life
Something goes terribly wrong for one family in Grace Chao’s short story “Family Travel.” A train hits a couple’s small blue car — stopped on the train tracks going from […]
POETRY
Hopkins’ Tempests
I was living off turtles, birds, mollusks, and wild pigs and wanted to live on the Isle of Devils forever. The Governor sentenced me to death when I tried mutiny. […]
