Fiction & Poetry

The poet joins Kevin Young to read and discuss “In the Waiting Room,” by Elizabeth Bishop, and her own poem “Love Poem Like We Used to Write It.”

“Every memory palace should have a damp basement / with frozen pipes and mouse bones, / shreds of pink insulation, you dare not enter.”

“O Holy Mother of Moths, brighten the light / that fills the scene where I fall.”

Julia had longed to be an educated mother like Vroni, but there was never a serviceable father in view, so she had limited herself to being educated.

The author reads her story from the December 29, 2025 & January 5, 2026, issue of the magazine.

It’s the annual Christmas poem: so turn the carols to eleven!

“When we try to pretend the moon moves / across our faces, we get a disco ball.”

The author reads his story from the December 22, 2025, issue of the magazine.

Despite our best efforts, we were going to be, in the end, two more thirtysomethings from Brooklyn getting married in the Hudson Valley.

“Bob Kaufman loved San Francisco’s / gentle malaise, long views of bay / & insistent bridge, the ocean right after.”