Resisting Obsolescence
Confronted by a government with the power to exile readers into obsolescence, one must question: what do books represent that poses such a threat to a governing force? Other than simply generating knowledge, do books have the capacity to bestow power, evoke transformation, or embody hope?
UNLOCKING THE TOMB: BEYOND LITERARY & COLONIAL STRUCTURES
Between necromancy and sword-fighting, spaceships and crumbling towers, Tamsyn Muir’s Locked Tomb series shoots readers face-first into a richly layered post-apocalyptic universe, ten thousand years in the future.
More Book Reviews
From Text to Tapestry: The Graphic Novel Adaptation of The Raven Boys
The trees speak Latin. Spirits rise again on ley lines. A long-dead Welsh king sleeps in Henrietta, Virginia. In Maggie Stiefvater’s wonderfully mystical world of The Raven Boys, all of these details—and more—have gripped readers for over a decade.
The Sound of Miles
First, let me preface this review by noting that I am not big on the auditory; I use my ears but think with my eyes. I read before I listen.
Meaning and mortality in kaveh akbar’s MARTYR!
This tender story unfolds with enough levity to balance out the weight of its existential themes. Akbar maintains this delicate balance well by seamlessly transitioning between witty dialogue and philosophical discussions, alongside chapters told from the perspectives of other characters.
Commentaries
Emerald Fennell’s “Wuthering Heights” Adaptation Barely Warrants the Name
After months of torrential promotion and a whirlwind global press tour, director Emerald Fennell’s long-awaited adaptation of Emily Brontë’s seminal 1847 novel, Wuthering Heights, was released on Valentine’s Day. Could this be a faithful version of Brontë’s gothic, windswept masterpiece?
Reading for Reading’s Sake: Bill Walton’s Book List and the Joy of Reading in a WALL-E World
Books are finally losing to BookTok. This is the age of abundance in which we are experiencing the truncation of everything.
On Exhibitions: Writing About Race
The moral here isn’t simply that writing about race as an author of color is good. I’d argue that it’s crucial. We risk forsaking ourselves if we avoid it.
Short Fiction
Paper and Wings Burn Brightest at Eight Fifteen
Misao smushed the butt of her cigarette into an orange ashtray sat at the very center of a city of paper. Skyscrapers, like the ones in America, probably, of half-graded essays and sloping homes of redded-out chicken scratch mottled the grand blueprint of her rusting…
Sustenance
I didn’t know what to do so I stayed silent. He took my arm and raised it to his full lips, kissed the delicate skin there, licked it and left a trail of warmth and saliva. He opened his mouth. He bit down.
Elliot
Nearly every night for the past two weeks, Joseph Hall has had the same dream. He’s visiting a hospital room that is always a little too cold and a little too gray. He’s sitting with Elliot, laughing over something that doesn’t matter.
Personal Essays
Self-Doubt is a Writer’s Biggest Antagonist
Though I never would have admitted to this at the time, I was convinced there was something intrinsically unfixable with my writing that no amount of rewrites could solve.
People We Meet Once
Most of our lives are composed of small exchanges, so brief they barely register as events. I thought memory belonged to the people who stayed. To friends, lovers, classmates, names saved in contacts. But slowly, quietly, strangers began proving me wrong.
(Re)Tracing Paths
There is a whole world out there, one which is changing me every day, one which I am determined to change in return. I stand in the doorway, and I move through it.
Interviews
Interview with the Author: Joan Sung on Family, Writing, and her New Memoir, Kinda Korean
I have been writing since as long as I could remember. Back in the early nineties, I would write on my dad’s old typewriters and word processors. I enjoy being able to be unfiltered, to let my feelings and thoughts flood pages.
Interview with the Director: Natasha, Pierre & the Great Comet of 1812
After wandering the UC Berkeley campus in search of a place to record, Karen Canfield and I settle into a building every English major is extremely familiar with: Wheeler Hall. We find a quiet alcove on the top floor and begin our conversation.
Talking with Tavi Gevinson
You need different things to feel like you know characters in a film than you need if you’re reading a graphic novel.
Visuals
Art: Of the Places We’ll Go
The following two pieces are part of a four-piece series titled Of the Places We’ll Go. Death, Then Life, Arami Matevosyan You never claimed residency on earth. Somehow the idea of mortality was never enough—you wanted to live through the fruits of the next couple…
Artwork: Wakey Wakey
I’m not much of an artist—or really, any of an artist. I can’t draw, can barely read my own handwriting, and if I paint it looks like a bird took a technicolor shit. But I like Photoshop—the files, clicking, filters: it’s technical, but meritocratic. Here,…
Artwork: Baby Birds
Oh what soft sweet merriment That carries with it such a beauteous glint In the hearts of all those who feel its wonder To cross their paths to make them ponder On the love that dwells In their souls as deep as wishing wells Upon…
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