June 4, 2018
Literary Wife
A few years ago, a fellow writer and I were chatting about a famous male author when she leaned in and said, “He has a literary wife, you know.” A […]
January 17, 2018
An Interview with Naima Coster
Naima Coster’s debut novel, Halsey Street, examines critical issues such as gender, gentrification, anger, and art making. Recently Coster wrote a thoughtful, important essay on the significance of having a […]
July 13, 2017
A Short History of Weird Girls
A few weeks ago, Jill Soloway wrote about being a “weird girl” in Lenny. The piece was more battle cry of a brave soul in the wilderness than your typical […]
June 8, 2017
Women Who Like to Watch
Pop quiz: Do eggs look like breasts or eyes to you? It’s crucial to identify whether they resemble how we are seen or how we see. I got three double-yolked […]
May 10, 2017
On Why Poem Titles Matter (Part 1 of 2)
I. Names Poems are not people. They resist qualitative judgments based on their actions or potential—it doesn’t matter that a poem is musical. So is music. Perhaps this is why […]
October 6, 2016
And She Lay Down Deep Beneath the Sea (Part 2)
Caminante, no hay puentes, se hace puentes al andar. (Voyager, there are no bridges, one builds them as one walks.) —Gloria E. Anzaldúa Once we realized She could […]
September 28, 2016
She Is That Thing from Another World (Part 1)
“Women have one of the great acts of all time. The smart ones act very feminine and needy, but inside they are real killers. The person who came up with […]
March 8, 2016
Gender fluidity versus genre fluidity and hybridity’s hubris
In her amazing SPQR: A History of Ancient Rome, Mary Beard writes that “Greek and Roman intellectuals were fascinated by word derivations, which they were convinced gave the key not […]