Love — Perfect
“We all lived in a hostel on Green Avenue in Bed-Stuy. My days were spent cleaning the rooms and making.” Michael E. Wilson Jr. writes of life and love at an international hostel in New York City.
Read Moreessays
Daring the Volcanoes in Central America
“Central American countries with the Pacific Ocean as their coastline are considered to lay “in a ring of fire known to have so-called “volcanic national parks.†Sankar Chatterjee shares his journey around the volcanoes of Central America.
Read More
Alaphae, Charlotte, and Tall Trees: My Great-Grandmothers
“She couldn’t see very well, but her eyes still lit up whenever she smiled. Her skin was soft too, and wrinkly, a little bit like a tissue. ” Laney Burrell remembers three great-grandmothers, from three different Native American tribes.
Read More
Passports
“So on they talked freely, in their ignorant western European way, and though Moji seemed fine I knew why he didn’t speak.” Dakota Hall writes about passports and what some can do, while others cannot.
Read More
Empty Houses
“Cemeteries keep company with cities like trails of smoke…Like an actual city, the public cemetery is made up of twelve neighbourhoods, including the areas where the Chinese (including my great-grandfather) and Jews were once buried.” Kevin Chong meditates on his father’s death in Canada.
Read More
Mumbai Blues
“…What Mumbai is not, is impersonal. One comes across gracious, courteous, and helpful behavior in what would seem unlikely places.” Saleem Peeradina writes about returning to his “country of origin.”
Read More
The Letter I Never Sent Harper Lee
“This letter does you about as much good living as dead, so I opted to share it only when doing so wouldn’t disrespect the bounds you so clearly set forth in your life.” Mandy Shunnarah writes to her dead mentor.
Read More
Tracing Ink in China
“My curiosity was piqued: Who are the people getting tattoos? Who is doing the tattooing? And, are there any female tattoo artists?” Jill Boyles looks at the growing tattoo trend in China.
Read More
Calling Bhutan’s Fire Department to Save a Cat from a Roof Got Pretty Weird
“Periodically, I heard this cat in the distance, doing something I call meowling — a cross between meowing and howling.” Sarah Lyn Rogers recounts saving a cat from a roof in Bhutan.
Read More
The Inheritance of Illnesses
“When sickness becomes a permanent member of your house, it is better to give it a bed to sleep on.” Manjiri Indurkar looks at the darker side of ageing in one New Delhi family.
Read More