From the Archives: Rumpus Original Fiction: Emergency Lifeboats: 24 (12 on Each Side)
“What’s a six-letter word for ignoring truth,” she might say, without looking up from the puzzle.
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Join NOW!“What’s a six-letter word for ignoring truth,” she might say, without looking up from the puzzle.
...moreAfter the memorials, the funerals, the endless influx of flowers and casserole dishes and well-meaning texts, the collective retreats back into their lives and all that is left is the individual, grieving for months and years and perhaps even the rest of their own life.
...moreDolly Alderton discusses her new novel, GHOSTS.
...moreJoshua Henkin discusses his new novel, MORNINGSIDE HEIGHTS.
...moreIs he there? Does he hear? Does he understand?
...moreI remember when I learned there is a syntax to love.
...more“While the past remains always present, old women exist in the present.”
...moreFor Chang, figurative language proves unsatisfactory when compared to the depth of her grief.
...moreMusic was noise, and noise was music, and George Antheil was on his way.
...more“Trust that if you want to write that much it will find a way out of you.”
...morePoets Barbara Crooker and Marjorie Maddox discuss their writing.
...moreBarbie Chang is an intelligent, lively portrayal of the pressures on contemporary women (especially mothers), and a breathlessly entertaining read.
...moreJorie Graham discusses her latest collection, Fast, the terrifying destruction of our planet, a happy formal accident, and how to live in times of world crisis.
...moreIs HBO’s bookish Westworld poised to give science fiction the Game of Thrones treatment? Antelopes, Bollywood, climate change, Brönte. National Geographic‘s autumn book recommendations—sushi, hiking, murder, oh my! Elon Musk name-drops Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy. (Also, we’re going to Mars?) Spotting dementia through diction in Agatha Christie.
...moreThe Caretaker’s Leyland Kirby will be chronicling through music the changes wrought by dementia on his own newly diagnosed mind. Kirby released a statement outlining the project: The series aims to enlighten our understanding of dementia by breaking it down into a series of stages that provide a haunting guide to its progression, deterioration, and […]
...moreDavid Rivard discusses his new collection Standoff, writing as both a public and private act, the interiority of reading, and Pokémon GO.
...moreAt Vela Magazine, Leslie Kendall Dye discusses living with her mother who has dementia, and the connection between her mother and her own daughter: After dinner, I watch my mother and child play in my daughter’s shoe-box room. My daughter is dancing to Dick Hyman’s jazz rendition of The Nutcracker Suite. My toddler instructs my mother […]
...moreDoes the time come for everyone when holding it in just won’t do anymore? I kept the story of my abortion to myself until Michael broke up with me two years later.
...moreHoping to gain some insight into the nature of love and family, Elizabeth Tannen begins to visit the elderly woman who was once like a grandmother to her and who now has Alzheimer’s.
...moreIf you loved Jerry Stahl’s essay “Bad Moments in Parenting” as much as we did, be sure to check out the beautiful, devastating account of of one woman’s experience with dementia by Gerda Saunders. Her deeply personal essay gives insight to how a person reckons with keeping her identity as she struggles to remember her […]
...moreThe New York Times shares some sad news: Gabriel García Márquez has dementia, according to his brother Jaime. “He is no longer writing and is simply living this stage of life in peace… He reads every day and is with his family.”
...moreNo one comes in to check on me, no one asks if I’m okay after I finally emerge, embarrassed, my eyes completely red. They all love me, but not enough to forgive what I’m about to do.
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