For the full flash nonfiction piece, see it on Cheap Pop. Originally published on September 16, 2014. --- In the red of night, I float between places. The neon sign across the street fills my dark room with a sharp scarlet light. I
For the full essay, see it on The Toast. Originally published on August 19, 2014. --- I used to be a regular at the pet store on the second floor of my local mall, down by Sears. Whenever I had to go with
Before I was a nonfiction writer in Columbia’s Graduate Writing Program, I was a student of Russian Language and Literature at Wellesley College. I started taking Russian 101 the fall of my first-year – sick of the Latin I could
For the full essay, see it on Fiction Advocate. Originally published on February 27, 2014. --- I met the other Elizabeth Bartels at a family reunion in New Jersey when I was in middle school. I had long been used to sharing my
For the full essay, see it on Vitamin W. Originally published on February 14, 2014. --- I went to MoMA PS1 the other day because I felt guilty. I have been living in New York for the better part of two years now
First, a confession: I never finished reading Elif Batuman’s essay collection, The Possessed: Adventures With Russian Books and the People Who Read Them. The book came out my senior year of undergrad, when I was already drowning in Russian literature
I can’t pinpoint an exact moment when I decided I wanted to write. It was an idea regularly reinforced throughout my childhood, adolescence, and adult life: reading Walk Two Moons by Sharon Creech for the first time, writing a letter
For the full essay, see it on Ploughshares. Originally published on January 29, 2014. --- Usually, when writing, I practice what I call The Withholding Method: You wake up—time to write. But first you want coffee. STOP. Have you written a sentence yet? Write
For the full essay, buy a copy of the anthology The Places We've Been: Field Reports From Travelers Under 35 (The Places We've Been LLC, July 2013). --- As athletes make mix CDs to pump themselves up for games, I have a
For the full essay, see it in Volume 1, Issue 1 of Agave Magazine. Originally published in August 2013. --- Since it opened in 1930, Andersen Insurance, in Somerville, Massachusetts, has offered incredible job security. I started making photocopies and filing policies when