Literature

When my parents died, I expected grief. I expected flowers and casseroles, sympathy cards and awkward hugs from well-meaning acquaintances. I did not expect sticker shock. According to the most recent statistics from the National Funeral Directors Association, the median cost of a funeral with burial is $8,300. The median cost of a funeral with

Writing in Notebooks Is My New Personality Imogen Clarke Share article “Notebooks” by Imogen Clarke I first found out about the notebooks from David. Interesting that somebody so pedestrian would change my life, but I suppose it had to come from somebody. If it wasn’t him it would have been one of the others. Or

Emily Nemens’s Clutch is a sprawling, ambitious, and deeply-felt story of friendship. The five women—Hillary, Reba, Gregg, Carson, and Bella—are old enough for their fair share of regrets and responsibilities, and the book focuses on how they still show up for one another. Despite kids, addiction, ambition, parents, and career, these women will get on

As a shy junior high student, I had a love-hate relationship with my art teacher, Mr. Krezanosky. Love, because he paid attention to me. Hate, for the same reason.  “That drawing would be half good if we could actually see it,” he’d say. “Make it darker.”  I tried, but my version of dark was featherlight.

Electric Literature is pleased to reveal the cover of Acid Green Velvet by Grace Krilanovich, which will be published on September 8, 2026 by Two Dollar Radio. You can pre-order your copy here! The breathtaking and consequential first novel in nearly two decades from the award-winning author of the cult sensation, The Orange Eats Creeps. In the late 19th

“She was Radical” by Tanzila Ahmed “But where was she radicalized?” they’ll ask.  “Why here, in the streets of Los Angeles, born and raised,” I’ll say. 1. My mother said I didn’t cry when I came out of the womb. I suspect I side eyed this world from the get. Though I was born in

It is now officially the year of the horse, specifically the fire horse, which makes way for new beginnings, newfound energy for change, and a death of old patterns that no longer serve. Take a deep breath and welcome this newness after the reckoning that was 2025, the year of the snake. The year of

My Lust Will Melt All the Snow in Antarctica Steam He—for of his gorgeous sex there could be no doubt—was sitting opposite me in the steam room. White towel tied around his waist, legs spread apart. He was speaking, of all things, of Antarctica. Of Robert Scott and his doomed expedition, and of the fate

Two years ago, I stood in Jasmin ‘Iolani Hakes’s home office in the South Bay, surrounded by a whirlwind of color-coded index cards, open notebooks, and stacks of books, all orbiting a large whiteboard crowded with both historical facts and imagined possibilities. She told me—almost casually—that this was the research for the novel she was

There’s something undeniably compelling about stories of getting lost. They capture not only literal misplacement but also the emotional, spiritual, and intellectual ways we can feel unmoored. Being adrift is rarely just a setback; it can be a catalyst for insight, resilience, and self-discovery. Moments of disorientation, upheaval, and confusion often push us to look

The first half of 2026 is shaping up to be a particularly strong season for translated fiction. We move through queer Tokyo nightlife, militarized Estonian farmland, Parisian attics full of exiles, music festivals at the foot of Andean volcanoes, and even other galaxies. What links these books isn’t geography or genre so much as their

The Childhood Friend I Abandoned Is Trying to Save Me Lim Sunwoo Share article “That Unfamiliar Night” by Lim Sunwoo When I saw Geumok again, it was in front of Exit 4 at Sinchon Station. I didn’t recognize her right away. I merely thought, She looks familiar . . . and nothing more. The first

Early memoirs of people living with HIV and AIDS played a crucial role in humanizing the disease. Those books, alongside public service campaigns and media representations, put a face to HIV and helped generate not just compassion for those affected but also a deeper understanding of the complexity of the illness. Many of the first

I first discovered George Saunders’s writing as a college student, home for summer break. Tenth of December had just come out, and I picked it up at the sole independent bookstore in my hometown on the recommendation of a writing professor. At this moment in my life, I was feeling a bit disillusioned with literature.

Watching the steadily increasing discrimination against people from Latin America and the Caribbean [LAC] in the United States of America has been horrific; equally troubling is seeing the way in which certain people in the United States remain uninformed about their own country’s role in creating the conditions which force people to immigrate in the

“Late, Blooming” by Roxane Gay, excerpted from The Big M, edited by Lidia Yuknavitch Recently, my father sent me a picture of my cousin Ariane’s christening. In it, I was fourteen or so, her godmother. Another cousin was her godfather. We were all very young. We stood with the priest around the baptismal font, in

Rock climbing, the niche sport where people scramble up jagged cliff faces and large stones using only the tips of their fingers and toes, is, improbably, having a moment. Dedicated gyms are mushrooming up in stripmalls, warehouses, converted churches, and oversized basements. Pretty much every major city now has a veritable buffet of options for

Trauma Bonding at the Five-Year Reunion Five-Year Reunion Click to enlarge and scroll Lapse Click to enlarge Take a break from the news We publish your favorite authors—even the ones you haven’t read yet. Get new fiction, essays, and poetry delivered to your inbox. YOUR INBOX IS LIT Enjoy strange, diverting work from The Commuter