VQR Editor Charlotte Kohler chose Nadine Gordimer’s short story “The Catch” for publication in the Summer 1951 issue. It was the young South African writer’s first letter of acceptance for publication in an American magazine. Some forty...
We all know how Jane Austen wrote her books in the parlor, that most public of spaces. When she heard someone approach, she slipped her pages unobtrusively beneath the blotter.
The surge in the number of unaccompanied minors crossing the US border is so alarming that President Barack Obama described it as “an urgent humanitarian situation.” Following the president’s comments, the federal government announced a $2...
We are tired of arguing about who is the most hurt. Better to toddle off for a little Chinese. The locust flowers each year like cornmeal in the gutters.
I am not yet dead. Do not call this miracle or raise your hands in praise. First, you should know how long I prayed, and how I came to know the silence of the Lord.
We are at Cape Coast Castle, and Callie refuses to be held. She won’t let me carry her in my arms. She won’t let me put her in the cloth carrier on my back. She won’t ride on her father’s shoulders. She won’t sit astride my hip. She wants...
