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.
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Criticism, Poem, Memoir, Short Story
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Petra Kelly and the Radical Green Past
The Greens are on track to become Germany’s second strongest party. Was abandoning radicalism was the right choice?
Writing Our Ancestors
A recording of the launch event for Boston Review’s new literary anthology, Ancestors. Renowned writers read their poems, fiction, and more.
Using Formalism to Explore U.S. Systems of Power
Through careful and often irreverent uses of traditional poetic forms, Amit Majmudar offers affecting insights into geopolitics and contemporary life, from the War on Terror to hyperincarceration.
Everyone on the Moon Is Essential Personnel
“Come back, Sebastian. You are shaking. That is not a productive movement.” As Sebastian prepares to go work on the moon, he reviews his contract’s terms and conditions and wonders what his mother must think.
The Millions
A trip to Machu Picchu ends up offering surprising insights into what it means to be a survivor of the genocide of Native Americans.
A Parable and Parody of Restorative Justice
The Netflix series Dead to Me suggests that we might get closer to justice by forgiving each other and ourselves for the sometimes literally fatal flaw of being human.
From the Editors: Ancestors
In our new book, some of today’s most imaginative writers consider what it means to be made and fashioned by others.
Untangling Fiction and Reality in the Balkans
On Honeyland, the award-winning documentary from directors Tamara Kotevska and Ljubomir Stefanov.
New Book: Ancestors
In our Winter 2021 book, some of today’s most imaginative writers consider what it means to be made and fashioned by others. Preorder now.
Caring in Viral Times
Amid widespread indifference toward the most vulnerable, even small acts of kindness can make a difference.
Reading Camus in Time of Plague and Polarization
The French Algerian writer steadfastly defended democracy and humanity against dogmatic ideologies of all stripes.
Witnessing Grace
In Be Holding, celebrated poet Ross Gay interweaves the legacy of one of basketball’s greatest moments with a meditation on Black resilience.
Museums and Mourning in COVID-19
Museums rose to the challenge of responding to HIV/AIDS. They can do so again in the face of COVID-19.
Poet of the Impossible: Paul Celan at 100
Among the most innovative poets of European modernism, he forged a new path for poetry after the terrors of the twentieth century.
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