Books

10 Essential Books About Writing

An illustration shows a person with brown skin and brown hair with a pencil in their mouth, bookshelves with blue, purple, yellow, and pink book covers behind them, and a laptop in front of them.
by Nylah Burton
April 6, 2022 at 12:07pm
Must-read titles for writers include works by Elena Ferrante, Akwaeke Emezi, Meg Wolitzer, Yoko Ogawa, and more.
A black and white photo of a woman posing nude with a camera pointed towards a mirror. On the mirror there is one sign that reads $5 and another that reads 3 minutes in bold, black font.

Private Eye: Inside Cammie Toloui's "5 Dollars For 3 Minutes"

by Lily Burana
February 10, 2022 at 1:14pm
Toloui’s photos turn the peep show around on its audience. Read more »
A Black woman wearing glasses and a gray button-down shirt with long braided locks and gray highlights on a tan background.

Admitted But Not Accepted: Kendra James Shares the Undertold Story of BIPOC Students at Elite Boarding Schools

by Jaelani Turner-Williams
February 3, 2022 at 11:47am
In “Admissions,” Kendra James opens up about her difficult time at the elite Taft School. Read more »
A Black man wearing a pink shirt and black blazer is pictured next to the book cover for "And the Category Is..." Both images are on a bright pink background.

In Vogue: Ricky Tucker's Essential Read on Ballroom Culture

by Dr. Jon Paul
January 31, 2022 at 2:08pm
Ricky Tucker’s “And the Category Is…” offers a careful and thoughtful examination of ballroom culture. Read more »
Portrait of American author Joan Didion as she poses outdoors, Berkeley, California, April 1981

Joan Didion Taught Us How To Embrace Complication

by Elly Belle
January 24, 2022 at 11:48am
The lens we use in storytelling impacts the reality of readers, and Didion was committed to getting it right. Read more »
The book cover of "The School for Good Mothers" by Jessamine Chan is pictured on a beige and burgundy background.

Policing Parents: Jessamine Chan’s “The School for Good Mothers” Imagines a Carceral State for “Bad” Moms

by Nylah Burton
January 20, 2022 at 2:40pm
In Jessamine Chan’s debut novel, “The School for Good Mothers,” the question of how to punish bad mothers is answered by the state, in an America not much different from our own. Read more »
Photos of Najmieh Batmanglij, Madeleine Kamman, and Marcella Hazan vertically spliced together

Rethinking Legacy: "Tastemakers" is a Starting Point for the Problematic History of Recipes and Food Media

by Aditi Kini
January 14, 2022 at 10:32am
The James Beard award winner Mayukh Sen’s first book invites trouble, but more questions come up in the process. Read more »
A gif of people perusing a collection of over-sized books, including Girl from the Sea, The Other Black Girl, and Detransition, Baby.

BitchReads: 11 Books We Loved Reading in 2021

by Bitch HQ
December 27, 2021 at 10:00am
Read more »
Author Juhea Kim in a bright red shirt in front of an orange background. To her right is a picture of the cover for Beasts of a Little Land

Juhea Kim Talks Korean History and Why Books Should Break Us Open

by Edi Kim
December 13, 2021 at 2:34pm
A new book explores the power of artistic imagery from Venus to Beyoncé. Read more »
An image of the book cover of A Snake Falls to Earth. On the cover, a Native American femme wears a yellow shirt and headphones. Her red clay colored skirt turns into a snake at the bottom.

“A Snake Falls to Earth” Gives YA Readers a Vivid Coming-of-Age Story

by Amanda Gokee
December 8, 2021 at 12:11pm
Darcie Little Badger’s second novel follows an unlikely pair: Nina, a young Lipan Apache girl, and Oli, a cottonmouth snake. Read more »
Author Catherine McCormack, a young blonde woman with long hair, stands in front of green foliage. Next to her is an image of her book cover for Women in the Picture.

Women in the Picture: The Art Historian Challenging the Western Gaze Through a Feminist Lens

by Nicole Diaz-Radlauer
December 2, 2021 at 12:27pm
A new book explores the power of artistic imagery from Venus to Beyoncé. Read more »

Pages

Best of Bitch

Know & Tell: The Literary Renaissance of Trans Women Writers

by Katherine Cross
Winter 2015 • (Re)Vision
For so long, the people who wrote about us were not us. Finally, that is beginning to change. Read more »

Demanding the Impossible: Walidah Imarisha Talks About Science Fiction and Social Change

by Kristian Williams
April 13, 2015 at 2:23pm
Before she was a poet, journalist, documentary filmmaker, anti-prison activist, and college instructor, Walidah Imarisha was fascinated... Read more »

Mock & Awe: Janet Mock on Truth-Telling, Community Building, and Writing the Story She Had Been Waiting for Her Whole Life

Janet Mock, a transgender Hawaiian woman with curly, brown hair, smiles
by Tina Vasquez
Spring 2014 • Maps & Legends
“Redefining Realness” is written with astounding honesty and heart. Read more »

Rewriting the Future: Using Science Fiction to Re-Envision Justice

by Walidah Imarisha
Spring 2015 • Law & Order
Our justice movements desperately need science fiction. Read more »