Peter Beinart, one of the most prominent public intellectuals on the American Jewish left, wrote in July 2020 that he had changed his mind about a “two-state solution” to the […]
Books & Poetry
GENRE
New Settings and New Beginnings
From historical fiction to a dystopian horror novel
Matthew Wamser revels in the space he’s been given as a Fine Arts Work Center writing fellow. Working in a first-floor apartment with exposed wood timbers, he feels the presence […]
LYRICISM
A Strange Third Thing
The best poems, says Fine Arts Work Center fellow Parker Hobson, have ‘a tender screwballism’
Parker Hobson, a writing fellow at the Fine Arts Work Center, is interested in “what’s still present of the past,” he says. Walking in Provincetown, the poet noticed a plaque […]
PARALLEL PLAY
Moving To and Fro
Janice Redman and Elizabeth Bradfield navigate a creative partnership in sculpture and poetry
Janice Redman, a sculptor, and Elizabeth Bradfield, a poet, are neighbors in North Truro who have worked together for the past 15 years. “She sits in this chair and works […]
GOING DEEP
Straight Lines and Sharp Teeth
For novelist Clara Mallon, expressing what you mean is lifesaving
The first time Clara Mallon wrote a story, she wrote it only in her head. She was five years old, looking out the window at school. “I was narrating from […]
POETRY
Hungry
A lot of my life has been spent learning what it means to live in a world with coyotes that need to eat, and rabbits that want to live — […]
PARALLELS
Kai Conradi Is Nothing You Could Write Down
At the edges of the continent, a writer unspools memory, geography, and self
Kai Conradi shouldered the sky and looked down. The land expanded, color rushing in, taking on the contours of a relief map. Then, a strip of sand appeared, sea on […]
YOU’VE GOT MAIL
Indie Reads: Substack Edition
What’s keeping our staff and contributors glued to their inboxes
For this installment of Indie Reads, we asked Independent staff and contributors to write about some of their favorite Substack email newsletters. The mix we received includes a running invitation […]
BOOKS
Transgender Medicine’s History at a Moment of Crisis
A timely new book sheds light on the study of human sexuality
The official policy of the Trump administration is essentially that transgender citizens do not exist and will not be recognized by the federal government. The publication last month by the […]
INTERPRETATION
A Poet and Translator Celebrates ‘Life Cropping Up’
FAWC fellow Lucas Martínez uses folk traditions and language as his subjects
Lucas Martínez arrived in Provincetown with two instruments: a charango, which is a small Andean guitar, and a classical guitar, on which he practices milonga folk songs. As a writing […]
SMALL TALK
Acie Clark Finds Poetry in Everything and Anything
Striving to make honest poems, even if they’re not true
Acie Clark is interested in small talk. Most of the time, he says, people refer to it dismissively. But he finds meaning in life’s mundane moments. “So much of our […]
FICTION
Annuities
Every day, I read about the death of someone I never knew existed. On the front page today there’s an obituary about an author and activist who left an indelible mark […]
UGLY TRUTHS
Young Writer Seeks Difficulty
FAWC fellow Jiaqi Kang isn’t afraid to write willfully
Jiaqi Kang doesn’t like to call their longtime habit — waking in the morning and scribbling recollections of dreams — a “practice,” because that word is “hoity-toity.” But one morning […]
POETRY
Old Saybrook Beach
For Zahra
You waited for me before you knew my name. Until I was held in that wash of sunshine, which lent us its final beams before sailing south for winter. Wind […]
ON THE PAGE
The Music of Language
A poet brings the past, both personal and political, out of the shadows
Martha Collins’s haunting, intimate poems are a form of conversation with readers on subjects as varied as her family history, racism, politics, and, most essentially, the poet herself, “the body […]
