People
Bad Genes: On Fertility and Disability Rights
Living with an unquiet mind is like living with a noisy, restless, anxious human who tugs on your sleeve for attention.
Tics of the Saints: On Conversion Disorder, Mental Illness, and Searching for a Voice
On the gendered aspect of conversion disorder, how it might have historically manifest in nuns and mystics, and the strange comfort of being diagnosed.
The Cactus Mother: Nine Plants, Zero Kids
I used to tell people I needed to write a novel before I could consider offspring. I have written one novel. I am considering purchasing a fern.
The Perils of Raising a Black Feminist Girl
I promised myself I would not threaten, shame, or scare my daughter into compliance. I kept that promise.
If Famous Authors Described My Daily Meals
The lady inhales the entirety of the burrito. How is she to expect the courtship of a gentleman with such brash and unrefined manners?
How an Octopus Helps Me Think About My Mother’s Eating Disorder
On “the animal kingdom’s bravest and most vigilant mother.”
Two Encounters with Poison: Becoming a Doctor in Nigeria
“A smell of burning flesh fills the theatre. I was expecting the smell of blood—its rich, metallic, almost bitter-tasting organic scent.”
The Distance Test: A Comic by Liana Finck
“You have to go away first.” “Like this?” “No. Farther.”
Men Who Are Ready to Devour the Young
My changing body made me the object of stares and comments from men far older than my father.