Mexican poet Isabel Zapata probes the enduring mysteries of pregnancy and birth in "In Vitro", a memoir in fragments that travels from fertility treatment through to the early weeks of pandemic-time motherhood. “I want to shatter the... Read More

In Stine Pilgaard’s novel "My Mother Says", an eccentric woman who faces roadblocks in her academic career and relationships uses humor to sidestep her pain. After breaking up with her zookeeper girlfriend over their age gap and their... Read More

In "Veganistan", Sally Butcher spotlights Middle Eastern and Mediterranean flavors through spice-rich, plant-based meals. Butcher and her Persian husband run Persepolis in London, a restaurant where “the Middle East is Allah’s gift... Read More

Steven Moore’s nuanced, hypnotic essays about growing up in the Midwest balance nostalgia with critique, sharing childhood memories that were formative to his identity. An Iowan now based in Oregon, Moore has insider knowledge and an... Read More

Art professor A. Laurie Palmer’s musing interdisciplinary work "The Lichen Museum" draws life lessons from often-overlooked organisms. Lichens, Palmer notes, have served as food, drink, dye, and decoration for millennia, though their... Read More

In his pensive memoir, Matthew Vollmer investigates the blinking lights that appeared in the woods soon after his mother’s death. In 2019, Vollmer’s mother died of complications of Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s. Months later, his... Read More

In her memoir God’s Ex-Girlfriend, Gloria Beth Amodeo is candid about how she was drawn into evangelical Christianity—and about how she came to see it as a “common American cult” involving unhealthy relationship dynamics and... Read More

In the sixteen sumptuous historical stories of Leah Angstman’s "Shoot the Horses First", outsiders and pioneers face disabilities and prejudice with poise. An orphan shipped from Brooklyn to Illinois hopes to meet the right adoptive... Read More