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.
An illustration of a young Black woman with a shaved head sitting on a blanket inside a large open book. She is reading a book, petting a cat, and has a cup of coffee resting on another book.

BitchReads: 13 Books Feminists Should Read in October

by Rosa Cartagena
October 1, 2021 at 12:29pm
Cozy up with a new title this month. Read more »
photo of the author flanked by images of Unbound book jacket

Soul Survivor: Tarana Burke's "Unbound" Brings #MeToo Back to Its Roots

by Nicole Froio
September 22, 2021 at 11:55am
Burke continues a tradition of Black feminist thought that centers Black girls and women. Read more »
Author photo alongside book cover with heart-shaped lollipop

Love Is the Drug: “Crazy For You” Puts a Societal Lens on Love and Sex Addiction

by Oliver Haug
September 21, 2021 at 12:59pm
Reframing the way we think about love and sex can change our lives.  Read more »
Blue book cover with abstract yellow shapes and figures

Socialist Anxiety: Sally Rooney’s New Novel Reveals an Author Trapped By Herself

by Nylah Burton
September 10, 2021 at 3:59pm
The insistent classification of Rooney’s work as Marxist has long felt like a stretch. Read more »
A photograph of a Black woman sitting outside engrossed in a book, with greenery out of focus in the background.

BitchReads: 11 Books Feminists Should Read in September

by Evette Dionne
September 1, 2021 at 12:03pm
Greet fall with these upcoming titles. Read more »
a collage of two book covers: How We Fall Apart, a photo of an Asian teenage girl with black hair split up into various pieces and A Lesson in Vengeance, a black book cover with an illustration of purple flowers and cobwebs

Academia Is Even Darker than We Thought

by Alaina Leary
August 31, 2021 at 11:24am
Katie Zhao and Victoria Lee are shaping the canon of dark academia. Read more »
Made in China, a yellow book cover that features a photo of rusty scissors, is cropped against a photo of Anna Qu, a thin, Chinese woman with a black bob

Loose Threads: Anna Qu Wants Us to Know the Truth About Garment Factories

by Hannah Bae
August 26, 2021 at 1:20pm
Anna Qu relied on her powers of observation to survive a punishing home environment. Read more »
Nichole Perkins, a brown-skinned Black woman with long brown braids, poses in a blue shirt against an outdoors background

Soft Power: Nichole Perkins Redesigns the Politics of Desire

by Vanessa Willoughby
August 23, 2021 at 9:00am
People still have a hard time recognizing that Black women need to be protected. Read more »
Deborah Copaken, author of Ladyparts, is a white woman with long, brown hair

Written On the Body: For Deborah Copaken, Biology Is a Battlefield

by Andi Zeisler
August 6, 2021 at 10:43am
She is using her body as a megaphone. Read more »
Emilly Prado, a light-skinned Latinx woman with long, brown hair, poses in a black dress and doorknocker earrings against an orange background

Emilly Prado Closes the Coffin on Her Old Life

by Michelle Ruiz Keil
August 5, 2021 at 12:17pm
Everybody’s sense of memory changes over time. Read more »

Pages

Best of Bitch

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 »

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 »

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 »

Black Girls Hunger for Heroes, Too: A Black Feminist Conversation on Fantasy Fiction for Teens

by Zetta Elliott
December 17, 2013 at 3:19pm
What happens when two great black women fiction writers get together to talk about race in young adult literature? That's exactly what happens... Read more »