Sample Essays
We’re looking for essays that seek to understand the world from a fresh perspective and that wrestle with questions that resist easy answers. Here are a few recently published essays and the qualities of each that caught our eye.
Essays for My Daughter
June 2022In this inventive series of linked mini-essays, Torres works his way backward through time to explore the evolution of his relationship with a daughter he doesn’t see often. In the moments they spend together, the author reflects on his identity as a father without romanticizing it.
Ghost Dogs
July 2021Dubus uses his dog Rico’s declining health to frame an essay in which he considers why he keeps his emotional distance from the dog. The author takes us through a lifetime of heartbreaking experiences with pets, offering frank acknowledgment that trauma hardened his attitudes. His shame and dismay about how that changed him are powerful.
The Unknowing
July 2021Steele’s essay guides us through her wife’s complicated pregnancy and childbirth. Its immediacy is arresting without resorting to hyperbole, and its clarity keeps us grounded in the author’s emotional experience throughout.
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