Recent posts
Rumpus Articles
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Found Poem: South Carolina Instructional Materials Uniform Parent Complaint Form
On May 6, 2025, the South Carolina Board of Education voted to remove 10 books from all public schools for all grade levels. This brings the total to 22 books removed or restricted statewide in South Carolina public schools.
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On Arriving at My Partner’s Place to Meet His Mother
a mother calls to me and asks if i am her son’s partner. in her house, my laughter is careless and unpoised.
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My Personal Essay
There is an undercurrent to learning, a movement below the surface activity that pulls in the opposite direction. Sometimes a rip develops, a powerful surge that can carry you or drown you or maybe it generates just off to the…
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You Can’t Go Home Again: The Displacement and Grief in Aracelis Girmay’s “Green of All Heads”
Colonization is central in the web of elements that shape the book toward a mournful tone. Girmay sets us up knowing we are situated in an unstable reality. Point of view and even personhood are interchangeable. Identity is lost. Through…
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Enduring “The Long Walk”
Critics have also noted that several of the characters in the film are composites of characters from the book. They have pointed out that the filmmakers conflate two memorable characters from King’s novel—Scramm and Stebbins. In the book, Scramm is…
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Magic and Beauty and Wonder: a Conversation with Aaron Burch
“The real magic of a piece comes out when you let a work become what it needs to become, and when you let go of original intent. I’ve been thinking about this a lot lately: a lot of short stories,…
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A Hollow Kingdom All My Own
I write in the margins of existence. Between shifts. During bus rides. In the quiet hours when my neighbors finally stop screaming or blaring out the trash they call music. My laptop’s held together with duct tape and stubborn hope,…
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Given Limits Exist, Streets, Oblivion
I don’t want to be at peace. Outside, the buffalograss rails at the houses. Terracotta storms the bougainvillea. Each street in any direction is directionless. I’m beginning
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Mouth and Muscle
In Tierney’s shows, hockey runs on two blades: muscle and mouth. You need the athletic strength, speed, and skill — and if an opponent asks you, “Nice onesie, does it come in mens?” You need to be able to shoot…
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The National Shutdown
Tomorrow, Friday January 30th, there will be a national shutdown to protest the ongoing, egregious violence being perpetrated by ICE and other federal law enforcement agents in Minneapolis and all across the country. In solidarity, we won’t be posting any…
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Helga Seeks the Unicorn
Helga met her boyfriend, Adam, in college at a party. They’ve been dating for seven years, which is long enough to accept as a necessary albeit boring part of life, like filing taxes or going to the dentist. At one…
