Luisa Muradyan comes to America from Ukraine as a child. She grows up to study poetry at the doctorate level; meanwhile, her poems are published in Paris-American, Blackbird, Los Angeles Review, and Poetry International, among other... Read More

In the Iraq edition of wartime for American soldiers, fear of being blown to pieces by hidden explosives frequently loses out to the wiliest enemy of all—boredom. This is the wartime footing—six years in an M1A1 Abrams tank—that... Read More

With carefully planned havoc, Rae Armantrout takes a page from the jesters of old—mocking the universe’s solidity without fear of retribution. Her talent will protect her. Recently longlisted for the National Book Award, she is the... Read More

Ah, footnotes. Nothing endearing or sexy about them—unless you’re such a geek of letters, language, history, and research that you’ve developed a fetish for their unique supporting role. But the humble footnote also knows how to... Read More

Brush, charcoal, chisel, file, lathe, and potter’s wheel, yes, but what is it about artists’ tools like the chainsaw and welding torch that fail to impress so many art lovers and critics—as if real art can’t possibly come from... Read More

Artists lean toward the eccentric, it’s true—each artist in their own way. When asked about his early decision to exclusively paint still lifes of flowers and fruit, Eric Wert had this to say: “Because I’m not very social, and... Read More

Am I missing something? Who among us hasn’t whispered those words while piecing together disparate plotlines in a novel, or drew blanks at the use of symbolism and allusion practiced by certain intellectual writers—subtle references... Read More

Be so kind as to suspend your beliefs about psychoactive plants like ayahuasca and instead consider alternatives: that ayahuasca is “an intelligent entity”; “a gift of nature conveying messages from the biosphere”; “a portal to... Read More