Arts in Society
Boston Review’s Arts in Society section publishes poetry, fiction, creative nonfiction, and criticism. It focuses on how the arts loosen the hold of convention, bear witness to injustice, provoke new ways of seeing the world, and speak to the most pressing political and civic concerns of our time.
Browse by Genre
Criticism, Poem, Memoir, Short Story
Browse Criticism by Topic
Half-Moon Teeth
“When I flick the light on, my ceiling hangs open, a wide mouth.” After her bedroom springs a leak, an English professor tries to help a struggling student.
The Lifeblood of Iranian Democracy
From street demonstrations to song, dance, film, and poetry, women are advancing a long legacy of struggle against authoritarianism.
Hilary Mantel, Historian
The celebrated novelist treated the past seriously, depicting its psychological complexity and drawing out its present-day political implications.
Two poems by Simone Person
Selected by Sonia Sanchez as a winner of the 2021 Boston Review Annual Poetry Contest
How long have you gone without seeing a tree?
I ask my brother if he can hear cicadas where he is. My brother doesn’t know what cicadas are. He is 40 years old. He asks me to repeat it.
Two poems by Adebe DeRango-Adem
Selected by Sonia Sanchez as a winner of the 2021 Boston Review Annual Poetry Contest
The Democratic Potential of Cruising
Cruising extends the political value of the city as a space that brings us into contact with people who seem unlike us until we realize our shared desires.
Two poems by Raisa Tolchinsky
in your carpeted office you lay my life down / and say open up to that small room in my sternum.
Science Fiction as Poetry
In her new book, Danish poet Olga Ravn writes with open love, pity, and compassion for her strange yet familiar creations.
The Paris of China
“I was my father’s son. My father was Nai Nai’s least favorite.” A Taiwanese American man, driven from home by a secret, reevaluates his childhood memories of his grandmother.
Three poems by Porsha Olayiwola
a slave ship hauls / bodies as cargo and / both the surface and ocean floor / rifts. even the clouds break / open in sobs.
When I Stutter My Name
loving mother, come watch me be patient, / watch how i describe things that never leave my mouth
Her Face in the Darkness
“Closing her eyes, she pictured Abbie in the funeral home.” Grieving the death of her best friend, a young woman travels to Singapore to stay with an aunt she barely knows.
Two poems by Willie Lee Kinard III
Selected by Sonia Sanchez as a finalist for the 2021 Boston Review Annual Poetry Contest
The Healing Song
“Never do unto me what your uncle has done to us.” A family member’s disappearance leads to personal revelations.
Warm Juice
“My mother has not slept for seven days.” A Taiwanese woman’s brother avoids calling their mother, setting off an insomniac unraveling.
Three poems by Lolita Stewart-White
Selected by Sonia Sanchez as a finalist for the 2021 Boston Review Annual Poetry Contest
Recovery
“‘No,’ Miho said, shaking her head. ‘I don’t want to share.’” Private tragedy forces a New York woman into attending group addiction therapy sessions.
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