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
Three poems by Donia Elizabeth Allen
. . . I am
nott afrayde of swells
that lift mee
off my feet,
or of a strong
undertow
The Protagonist in Someone Else’s Memoir
Every city I’ve lived in has been filled with racism, whether out in the open or hidden in an invisible dialogue of economics and housing. Birmingham taught me to never question what it meant to be a Black American.
The Critic of Gay Desire
Why groundbreaking queer studies scholar Leo Bersani rejected the word “queer.”
Repair—A Virtual Celebration of Literature
Boston Review hosted a virtual reading to celebrate the release of our annual arts anthology.
Nijla Mu’min: three poems
“Just let me just lay here and do nothing
cause boss bitches get lonely too”
Ingeborg Bachmann’s “Dream of Language”
On the first English translation of the Austrian poet’s critical writings, composed in the shadow of fascism.
The Baker’s Tale
“The Earth’s skin had become a million toads.” After a town undergoes a disturbing transformation, a boy finds a solitary companion.
Magritte’s Prophetic Surrealism
No other artist more perfectly anticipated the banal strangeness of life in the twenty-first century.
West Side Story and the Tragedy of Progressive Hollywood
A “woke” remake that peddles in symbolic representation is not the film Puerto Ricans deserve.
Edith Wharton’s Ghosts
Known mainly as a realist, the writer used the gothic form to explore the horror of being confined by gender.
The In-Between of Environmental Crisis
Two recent essay collections explore the interplay between literary genre and a rapidly changing planet.
“Representation doesn’t just mean heroes. We need the villains as well.”
Marlon James discusses writing realistic Black characters, being inspired by African folktales, and why we don’t have to let go of the world of make-believe to tell serious stories.
From the Editors: Repair
In this new anthology of poetry, fiction, memoir, comics, and essays from renowned writers and newcomers, contributors explore whether and how we can repair from terrible ruptures.
Neither Chaos Nor Quest: Toward a Nonnarrative Medicine
Narrative medicine claims to champion the experience of patients—but it does so by requiring that the sick “earn” their care by telling a redemptive tale about what is wrong with them.
Simon Stålenhag’s Alternate Histories
Amazon’s Tales from the Loop has introduced a new audience to the speculative worlds of the Swedish artist, whose books depict worlds in which humanity has, in one way or another, run afoul of technology.
Winter 2022: Repair
Our new arts anthology explores whether and how we can repair from terrible ruptures, life-threatening illnesses and pandemic, toxic politics, racist horrors, and more.
Ensoulment
“The rising voices wanted to twist arms. The violence of their speech spread across her shoulders, inched down her backside.” A young woman struggles to have an abortion.
Day Heisinger-Nixon: Two Poems
“Room, Room, Room, in the many Mansions of Eternal Glory for Thee and for Everyone” & “Publick Universal Friend Adopts a More Androgynous Appearance . . .”
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