Rumpus Exclusive: “Dirty Little Secrets”
They were alone, and in his apartment, but not in the way he’d imagined it to be.
...moreThey were alone, and in his apartment, but not in the way he’d imagined it to be.
...moreShe wanted more, but couldn’t fathom releasing what she already had.
...moreDeesha Philyaw discusses her debut story collection, THE SECRET LIVES OF CHURCH LADIES.
...moreI want to see myself as a whole person.
...moreThere is nothing I want more than a happy ending.
...moreI wanted to stop withholding from them, but withholding was like a drug.
...moreThe narrator is trapped here, in the summer her family and her life fell apart.
...moreRosebud Ben-Oni discusses her new collection, TURN AROUND, BRXGHT XYXS.
...moreIn my secret mind I saw him; I spoke to him every day.
...moreWho is Adèle Robinson, really, and what is it, exactly, that happened to her?
...moreAdrienne Brodeur discusses her new memoir, WILD GAME.
...moreIt always feels like I’m making a mistake on purpose.
...moreWe sleep and we pretend to sleep. We wait for the day to turn into night.
...more“It’s cruel to not say, I see you. I know you exist.”
...moreAnd this is all like. The cloud is going around me.
...moreI wasn’t into girl stuff, but I loved James Bond!
...moreIt is often a curse, this imagination of mine. Life pales in comparison.
...moreKristi Coulter discusses her debut essay collection, NOTHING GOOD CAN COME FROM THIS.
...moreI imagined myself from the outside: the picture of a woman waiting.
...moreWhen the physical therapist explains the electric dildo she holds in her hand will reset the nerve endings in my vagina so I won’t need to pee every hour, I say, “Get it in me and let’s go.”
...moreOnce upon a time, there was a man and a wife and a child that the wife decided she didn’t want.
...moreWhen you finished, several minutes passed before we spoke. You dipped a finger in a pool of candle wax. How could I know this was the only real secret you’d ever kept?
...moreDaniel Olivas discusses his recent short story collection, The King of Lighting Fixtures, writing humor, and the role of religion in his work.
...moreThis is what I want him to think of me. The girl poised to surf a wave under the heaviness of the full moon, the ocean around her radiant with light.
...moreAriel Levy on The Rules Do Not Apply, the illusion of control, and language’s inability to express grief.
...moreAt the end of the week, which was long with sleepless nights, Miri picked her heart out of the kitchen sink, put it in a paper lunch bag, and took it to the witch.
...moreRatika Kapur discusses her latest book, The Private Life of Mrs. Sharma, the disappointing romance of affairs, and how people carry on after doing the unthinkable.
...moreWhat is marriage but another form of colonization? A renaming? A power taken, a power taken away?
...more“What do you think about this,” he said, measured and cool. “What if we offer a service where people can pay to be in our family, but only for a few hours.”
...more