Elizabeth Alexander on Finding Life in the Second Spring of Middle Age

By Elizabeth AlexanderSeptember 25, 2026

If I could have been a dancer, a real dancer, beyond those years at St. Mark’s, I probably would have done it. But my gifts were not that lavish, and my considerable drive was directed toward more than just dance.

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Literature & Essays

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“Narrow Escape,” by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn

Fiction by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, in English for the first time: The police lieutenant appeared to be writing down exactly what Gleb was telling him, but relying upon completely different words.

Aleksandr SolzhenitsynSep 27, 202614 min read

Literary Hub

Sanna Wani on Crafting a Poetics of Daughterhood

I have always been a writer that draws on my personal life in my writing. The two—my creative practice and my life—often travel often side by side, one after the other, each taking turns leading. So when I am asked

Sanna WaniSep 24, 2026

The Paris Review

John Berger, Death’s Secretary: A Conversation with Tom Overton

“The first letter I sent to him was about a print that he’d made, which was in the archive—a Chagall-inspired Virgin Mary standing on a donkey.”

Scott SchomburgSep 24, 2026

Literary Hub

Two great works of art to ease your transition into autumn.

To my fellow summer weary, too sweaty, beach-skeptical readers out there: We made it. We’ve officially crossed the threshold into fall, and it feels great. Summer’s brash extroversion is finally at an end and I’m very much looking forward to

James FoltaSep 23, 2026

Public Books

The Treachery of Machine Realism

“The bombed elementary school in Iran appears to have become a target thanks to satellite imaging. In this case, what the image represented — and to who — was a matter of life and death.” The post The Treachery of Machine Realism appeared first on Public Books.

Morgan BarrySep 23, 2026

The Paris Review

“Do You Think This Conversation Is Going Well?” and Other Pickup Lines

“The dating app has engineered what one might call an Enneagrammatical system of bookish star signs.”

Gemma SieffSep 25, 2026