Damage

When I was younger, someone took a knife to my clitoris and cut out a small but significant part of me. I blamed my mother. I despised her. I loved her.

Heroin: A Love Story

An addict heads for the shelter of home. But she’s not ready.

Long before I got clean I made a trip back home to Boston.

I had spent time romancing thoughts of the familiarity of home, creating ideas…

The Proper Weight of Fear

Ten years after fleeing in terror, an American expat revisits Somaliland to consider who she has become.

Hargeisa — June 13, 2014

Hattie Brazier Stands Up

By Mary Kelly

James and Hattie Bell Brazier had a reputation for a higher standard of living than most blacks and even some whites in the small Georgia town of Dawson. They were African-Americans who owned their home. Between them they worked five…

A Life in Check

Chess is hard. Life is harder

Gregory Garrett knocks down his adversary’s queen, drawing the game to a checkmate. With a victorious grin that exposes two bright golden teeth, he calls after his opponent, who sighs and turns away from the chess area at New…

The Long Run

Meet Kadra Mohamed Dembil, an obscure athlete from an obscure country, racing for more than gold

By the time Kadra Mohamed Dembil went to the Junior Olympics in Nanjing China in 2014, when she was seventeen…

P.I.C.U.

It is the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit, but they call it “Pick-You.” And you wonder over and over why you’ve been picked.

Last night, I dreamt that a little boy crawled out of my kitchen cabinet. His thin…

Escaping the Gaokao

Each year, more young Chinese men and women pour into American universities, by the thousands. Who are they? What do they want?