2+ hour, 44+ min ago  (73+ words) Freedom. What a concept. Free of pain and most importantly," other people's intolerance, their hatred and their violence. As Nina Simone once so famously said: "Freedom is living without fear." I cannot better such a description. That's about as clear…...

4+ day, 20+ hour ago  (767+ words) God, I won't be your sacred chicken if it means I have to fight, but I will fight. / I already scan the perimeter. / Testosterone, yes, I take it. Which is not the same as fighting. / The shape you see has…...

5+ day, 3+ hour ago  (134+ words) Roxane Gay's writing appears in Best American Mystery Stories 2014, Best American Short Stories 2012, Best Sex Writing 2012, A Public Space, Mc Sweeney's, Tin House, Oxford American, American Short Fiction, Virginia Quarterly Review, and many others. She is a contributing opinion writer…...

6+ day, 45+ min ago  (108+ words) Genevieve Hudson is the author of Boys of Alabama, which was a finalist for the Oregon Book Award and shortlisted for the Stonewall Book Award. Her story collection Pretend We Live Here was a Lamda Literary award finalist, and her…...

5+ day, 22+ hour ago  (290+ words) When Debbie and I took the helm of The Rumpus, supporting writers and editors was one of our most fervent ambitions. To that end, we have launched a series of initiatives that allow us to do so in the ways…...

6+ day, 22+ hour ago  (152+ words) Roxane Gay's writing appears in Best American Mystery Stories 2014, Best American Short Stories 2012, Best Sex Writing 2012, A Public Space, Mc Sweeney's, Tin House, Oxford American, American Short Fiction, Virginia Quarterly Review, and many others. She is a contributing opinion writer…...

1+ week, 1+ day ago  (322+ words) Over the course of Semana Santa, I corresponded over email with El'as, a multidisciplinary artist of Cuban and Syrian descent based in Chicago. We spoke about the role of faith in his character's lives, mapping out queer landscapes in novels,…...

1+ week, 2+ day ago  (100+ words) Nidhi Chanani is an award-winning author and illustrator. Her graphic novels include Pashmina, Jukebox the Shark Princess series and the Super Boba Cafe series. She also creates picture books. Some of her titles are I will be fierce, Strong, Binny's…...

1+ week, 2+ day ago  (1924+ words) When he and I spoke over video, Glenn Dixon seemed delighted to discuss how Scout relates to the heroes in the books of his own childhood. With its childlike protagonist who ultimately performs an act of great bravery, the book…...

1+ week, 5+ day ago  (799+ words) Between 2003 and 2009 I was a South Side boxer and Chicago Golden Gloves champion. It's a detail about me so idiosyncratic, so at odds with my wispy appearance and my cerebral mien, that it surprises me too when I think about…...