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Craft and Criticism
Literary Criticism
Craft and Advice
In Conversation
On Translation
Fiction and Poetry
Short Story
From the Novel
Poem
News and Culture
History
Science
Politics
Biography
Memoir
Food
Technology
Bookstores and Libraries
Film and TV
Travel
Music
Art and Photography
The Hub
Style
Design
Sports
Lit Hub Radio
The Lit Hub Podcast
Awakeners
Fiction/Non/Fiction
The Critic and Her Publics
Windham-Campbell Prizes Podcast
Memoir Nation
Beyond the Page
First Draft: A Dialogue on Writing
Thresholds
The Cosmic Library
Culture Schlock
Reading Lists
The Best of the Decade
Book Marks
Best Reviewed Books
CrimeReads
True Crime
The Daily Thrill
Log In
midwest
Is My Small Town the Center of the Universe?
Robyn Ryle on the Consistent Delight of a Familiar Face
By
Robyn Ryle
| October 20, 2025
From Red Dust to Distrust: On the Unhealed Wounds of Nuclear Testing
Emily Yates-Doerr Explores a Family History of Illness, Government Cover-Ups and Institutional Skepticism
By
Emily Yates-Doerr
| January 9, 2025
How Willa Cather Chronicled the Development of American Theater
James Shapiro on the Social and Cultural Impact of Film’s Triumph Over the Stage
By
James Shapiro
| May 28, 2024
Never-Ending Nostalgia: Who and What Inspired Willa Cather
Benjamin Taylor on the Early Years of America's Chronicler of the Great Plains
By
Benjamin Taylor
| November 15, 2023
Stories Where Nothing Happens in the Middle of Nowhere: A Reading List
Michael Martone on Placeless Stories and “Not Narratives”
By
Michael Martone
| September 19, 2022
Interview with an Indie Press: Belt Publishing
Telling Stories from the Rust Belt and Midwest
By
Corinne Segal
| July 9, 2021
Best Reviewed
Books of the Week
Unexpected Lessons from the Back Roads of the American Midwest
By
Tom Zoellner
| October 16, 2020
Learning to Be Black in a Strange, Strange Country
By
Ajibola Tolase
| October 9, 2020
Heading North to Become
a Poet
By
Michael Torres
| October 7, 2020
The Irresistible Dream of a Prepper's Life
When There Are No More Real Frontiers, People
Tend to Invent Their Own
By
Phil Christman
| April 2, 2020
Flyover and Proud: TaraShea Nesbit Reckons With Home
Because Sometimes the Floor Needs Swept
By
TaraShea Nesbit
| March 18, 2020
Annie Proulx on One of Her Favorite Short Stories
A Close Reading of William Gass's "The Pedersen Kid"
By
Annie Proulx
| June 24, 2019
As a Teacher of Gothic Lit, I Should Have Known Better Than to Move into a Haunted House
Emily Waples: A Fable of Modern-Day Homeownership
By
Emily Waples
| May 23, 2019
On the Overlooked Eroticism of Mary Oliver
Poetry as Affirmation of Queer Desire
By
Jeanna Kadlec
| January 23, 2019
7 Novels That Explore Motherhood's Complexities
November 4, 2025
by
Donna Freitas
To Break Up with Friends, or to Murder Them: 5 Novels Featuring Fatal Friendship Failings
November 4, 2025
by
Jenna Satterthwaite
The Trauma Behind the "Good Old Days": Christina Henry on the Dark Trap of Nostalgia in Fiction
November 4, 2025
by
Christina Henry
The Best Reviewed Books of the Week
"Not much happens In fact there is much in the text that is not made…"