From philosophers to sitcom characters, from high finance to coal mining, here are our favorite musings on work and life.
POEM OF THE WEEK
Selfie at Delphi
By Cody Koester
There’s rubbish on the Sacred Way. A graffitied bench says: Know Thyself. I sit on it, thinking about my beloved.
ENTER TODAY
Narrative winners and finalists have gone on to win honors including the Pulitzer Prize, and have appeared in collections such as The Best American Short Stories.
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FICTION
Nemecia
By Kirstin Valdez Quade
I was afraid of Nemecia because I knew her greatest secret: when she was five, she put her mother in a coma and killed our grandfather.
Winter Issue
FICTION
FICTION
FICTION
Winter Issue
FICTION
A Small Blip on an Eternal Timeline
By Ifeoma Sesiana Amobi
My family came to America when I was one, and in my tiny luggage bag my mother stuffed dreams too large for me to carry.
FICTION
The Rage of the Squat King
By Rick Bass
What would make a sane, much less an educated, person want to watch such blood sport?
FICTION
The End of Life
By Yoon Choi
He thinks with joy and conviction that the Japanese are his enemy. It is a wonderful thing to have an enemy.
FICTION
FICTION
CLASSICS
FICTION
You Can’t Keep Going Like This
By Shane Delaney
I appreciate the Plunge is special to you, sir, the guard said. But it’s special to everyone else too.
FICTION
Naming
By Yelena Furman
I sensed that a name defined who I was and would be in the future. Renaming myself was a little like being reborn.
CLASSICS
The Joy of Writing and Other Poems
By Wisława Szymborska
I’m working on the world, revised, improved edition, featuring fun for fools, blues for brooders.
POETRY
POETRY
iPOEMS
POETRY
Miracle of Lights / Ode to My Imperfect Love
By Sara Brickman
Olive oil and paprika slant, just a little bent to the eye that’s looking.
POETRY
from “The Last Bohemian of Avenue A”
By Yusef Komunyakaa
Sweet talk an antihero with wet kisses on his eyelids, saying, Come over here & lie down.
iPOEMS
Feathered Cup
By Shangyang Fang
Read this beautiful, dreamlike poem—a complete universe on a single screen.
READERS’ NARRATIVES
CARTOONS
CARTOONS
READERS’ NARRATIVES
Washington, DC
By Jonathan Fink
My wife calls to say my daughter’s eye is out, initially suspected lost on the National Mall.
CARTOONS
Cartoon Art Volume 2020-01
By Various Artists
Unreal and all too real toons by Seth Fleishman, Charlie Hankin, Mary Lawton, Drew Panckeri, and David Rowles.
CARTOONS
Cartoon Art Volume 2019-12
By Various Artists
New art and humor by Seth Fleishman, David Rowles, Mick Stevens, Julia Suits, and P. C. Vey.
