Literature

A canonical writer of the fantastic and foundational modernista poet, the reactionary polymath Leopoldo Lugones (1874–1938) was considered Argentina’s greatest “official” writer during his lifetime. Admired by Borges, he committed suicide at an island inn outside Buenos Aires, professedly depressed about his son’s disapproval of his relationship with a young poet. César Aira (b. 1949) distorts

If you enjoy reading Electric Literature, join our mailing list! We’ll send you the best of EL each week, and you’ll be the first to know about upcoming submissions periods and virtual events. Last week, Slate published an essay by a writer who claims to have inspired “Cat Person” by Kristen Roupenian, the viral 2017

The Chaotic Insides of Other People’s Homes Genevieve Plunkett Share article If you enjoy reading Electric Literature, join our mailing list! We’ll send you the best of EL each week, and you’ll be the first to know about upcoming submissions periods and virtual events. “A Bone for Christmas” by Genevieve Plunkett An old woman had

If you enjoy reading Electric Literature, join our mailing list! We’ll send you the best of EL each week, and you’ll be the first to know about upcoming submissions periods and virtual events. Mirror Window Years ago I wrote a poem, “Mirror Window.” The gist of it was that I kept mixing up the words,

When I met Emmanuel Carrère in 2014, I had one question for him. I was sent by the magazine I worked for at the time to interview him at a literary festival in which he was participating. Carrère had just published his new book, Limonov, and was already one of the most respected authors in

If you enjoy reading Electric Literature, join our mailing list! We’ll send you the best of EL each week, and you’ll be the first to know about upcoming submissions periods and virtual events. Near the end of Pik-Shuen Fung’s debut Ghost Forest, the narrator laments: “…I am overcome with envy for the people who live

Motherhood Made Her a Literal Dog If you enjoy reading Electric Literature, join our mailing list! We’ll send you the best of EL each week, and you’ll be the first to know about upcoming submissions periods and virtual events. Nightbitch That night, as she waited in bed beside the boy, her husband lounged in a

Sylvia Petter recalls Austrian writer Friederike Mayröcker, who passed away June 4, not long after the book-themed TV series ÜBER featured her in its first episode. Friederike Mayröcker passed away on June 4, 2021, in Vienna, aged ninety-six. She was farewelled to Louis Armstrong’s “What a Wonderful World” and was laid to rest on June

If you enjoy reading Electric Literature, join our mailing list! We’ll send you the best of EL each week, and you’ll be the first to know about upcoming submissions periods and virtual events. At first glance, I believe that all fiction is about intimacy. The act of reading is a search, driven by curiosity and

If you enjoy reading Electric Literature, join our mailing list! We’ll send you the best of EL each week, and you’ll be the first to know about upcoming submissions periods and virtual events. “Man hordes [:] a blessing or a curse? Tonight we hold a debate.” All over the United States, men (“always white men”)

If you enjoy reading Electric Literature, join our mailing list! We’ll send you the best of EL each week, and you’ll be the first to know about upcoming submissions periods and virtual events. Many people of African and Asian heritage living in Britain today are descendants of immigrants from Britain’s former colonies, who arrived after

If you enjoy reading Electric Literature, join our mailing list! We’ll send you the best of EL each week, and you’ll be the first to know about upcoming submissions periods and virtual events. Growing up I was touched inappropriately and repeatedly by someone I loved and trusted. The first few times it happened, I think

If you enjoy reading Electric Literature, join our mailing list! We’ll send you the best of EL each week, and you’ll be the first to know about upcoming submissions periods and virtual events. Anyone on Dionne Warwick’s internet in the year of our Lord 2021 is familiar with the ubiquity of infographic jargon like, “No

If you enjoy reading Electric Literature, join our mailing list! We’ll send you the best of EL each week, and you’ll be the first to know about upcoming submissions periods and virtual events. You know the rules: the second person is a gimmick, the first person plural is distracting, and omniscience is antiquated. It’s all

Despite political differences, a client finds common ground with his barber in 1990s NBA players and teams. Trimming my bangs, my barber starts up. “Jordan’s killa. Shaq’s killa. Kobe’s killa.” He stops snipping and makes eye contact with me through the mirror. “LeBron’s not killa,” he concludes, wagging his scissors. I take a swig of

We Don’t Need to Be Sober to Guard a Wax Museum Chris Stuck Share article If you enjoy reading Electric Literature, join our mailing list! We’ll send you the best of EL each week, and you’ll be the first to know about upcoming submissions periods and virtual events. “Cowboys” by Chris Stuck We were supposed

Photos by Mai Al-Nakib / Courtesy of the author Civilizations, empires, dynasties, and monarchies end, leaving behind ruins of their fabled splendor. Traces of achievements become more or less decipherable, contingent upon the mercy of elements and vagaries of time. Global ascents have been awesome. The point, however, is that no matter how accomplished or

If you enjoy reading Electric Literature, join our mailing list! We’ll send you the best of EL each week, and you’ll be the first to know about upcoming submissions periods and virtual events. Aptly named after the ritual in the Black church of passing a basket down each aisle so that worshippers can give monetary