Joanne Nelson’s moving memoir-in-microessays treats her life story as mosaic, made up of glistening shards of memory and quotidian events. These pieces of no more than a few pages delve into the defining experiences of Nelson’s life... Read More

“What if death can truly become part of the cycle of life?” That rhetorical question animates Lama Lhanang Rinpoche and Mordy Levine’s "The Tibetan Book of the Dead for Beginners", which explicates the Buddhist text, sharing... Read More

In Jente Posthuma’s bittersweet novel What I’d Rather Not Think About, a woman who is bereft after her twin brother’s suicide searches to understand his mental illness. The fraternal twins at the center of the story have peculiar... Read More

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