A Perfect Sketch of a Moment: Janet Malcolm’s Still Pictures
"Memory is not a journalist's tool. Memory glimmers and hints, but shows nothing sharply or clear."
Rumpus Original
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Rumpus Original Fiction: Three Flash Fictions by Nathan Xie
"Sprezzatura," "An Attempt to Explain Myself," & "The Last Norwegian Wolf"
Inheritance, Family, and Beauty: A Conversation with Olivia Wolfgang-Smith
Olivia Wolfgang-Smith’s debut novel Glassworks (Bloomsbury Publishing, May 2023) follows one family through four generations. The story begins in 1910 with the wealthy young philanthropist Agnes Carter, and then follows…
Rumpus Original Poetry: Three Poems by Winshen Liu
Grief is the Easter Moon lily that blooms in / an empty room. It is not the canyon / glowing, like the inside of a persimmon torn / open by thumbs, but all of the hours, and / only ever those hours, waiting for that glow.
Our Own Messy, Imperfect Reactions and Feelings: Talking with Hannah Matthews
I'm working on a piece right now for the New York Times where I knew the last sentence before I knew the argument I was making.
Female Trouble: Cookie Mueller’s Walking Through Clear Water in a Pool Painted Black
If you want to evoke the idea of who someone really is, start by showing us what they see.
Rumpus Original Fiction: Slime
The slime problem had hatched when her daughter’s first grade class learned how to make putty they took home in plastic eggs.
They Are The Bones: A Conversation with Kelly Link
Going around the world because you can't go through it
The Work We Can Do Only As We Age: A Conversation with Priscilla Long
I approach research dutifully and compulsively.
From the Archives: “After the Plantation Fire,” a Rumpus Original Poem by Traci Brimhall
I’ve made the choice // between brushing flies from a child’s eyes or digging / a grave deeper. It’s easier than you’d think.
RUMPUS POETRY BOOK CLUB EXCERPT: SAGITTARIUS by Megan Fernandes
The June 2023 Rumpus Poetry Book Club selection is Megan Fernandes' I DO EVERYTHING I'M TOLD. Subscribe by May 15 to the Poetry Book Club to receive this title and an invitation to an exclusive conversation with the author via Crowdcast.
The No-Man’s Land Between Art and Self: Seth Rogoff’s The Kirschbaum Lectures
We look for ourselves in literature—for comfort or for guidance—but the page rarely provides a clean mirror.