Nonfiction

A collection of nonfiction written by students worldwide.

Volodya’s beige Toyota sedan sits still at a red light as I sit slumped in the back seat, tired after school. The voice on the Read more
She could never forget the look on the doctor’s face when her hologram flickered into the hospital. The sorrow was so obvious that even she—an Read more
“What’s in your hand?” Mom asks from the driver’s seat when I settle myself into the backseat and toss my backpack beside me. “A gold Read more
On Moreno Drive the only sound is the echo of a woman’s leather boots hitting the ground. Lemons, grown too heavy for their stems, have Read more
I think I’ll get home before two in the morning for once. Bar’s closed—they had a leak in the roof from Monday’s storm and chicks Read more
We used to lie on top of the machines at laundromats flat on our backs and listen to the quiet rumble of clothes swirling beneath Read more
The first time I lied about my writing, the line between truth and dishonesty was a two-letter word. In a text conversation with a friend, Read more
I: 783,1371 The ancient man beside me in the library wore a black leather jacket. He sat before a black computer screen, one of the Read more
Last night I slept in a stranger’s bed. The first time I saw him, he was leaning over a blue, sand-eaten bridge, looking at the Read more
Thinking of my grandfather brought me back to times of routine hospital visits where I’d drink the fun-sized cups of orange juice nurses would pass Read more
“Sir. Do you know what this means?” Pointing to the bold Korean words on top of the paper written 국적이탈 (Gook Jeok-E tal). I was Read more
Entropy, in relation to thermodynamics, is the amount of randomness in a system. Defined more precisely, entropy is the energy of unordered molecular motion in Read more
Have fun reading, and welcome to Wonderland. There is no Wonderland in Daniel Barnz’s 2008 film Phoebe in Wonderland. Not really. There is no Alice Read more
Scattered around the desk were the colored crayons which started to stub as they became worn from relentless usage, their paper covers chipping on the Read more
[A DVD clicks into place, spinning, and the video starts.] Wobbly footage thuds slowly, drifting from room to room. Here, you can see the borders Read more
Bubbles are meant to break. The tip of a ballpoint pen can puncture their film, releasing never-ending possibilities. My mom and I had a nightly Read more
Ever since my father got COVID he’s been obsessed with ramen. Not the kind you buy at a restaurant, or Ippudo, but the instant type. Read more
This essay first appeared in The Penn Review. Mother eyes the space above me, the air seemingly pushing my head down back into my body, Read more
In 1835, the French chemist Adrien-Jean-Pierre Thilorier noticed that when he opened a container of liquid carbon dioxide, a solid ice which evaporates without melting Read more
I had always closed my eyes while on highways. My mother and I would frequently take road trips after my days at pre-school and her Read more
I’ve always liked taking showers that feel like a thunderstorm against my bare back. It could be a sign I’m spoiled somehow, and I probably Read more
I’ve always had an affinity for cheese—an inexplicable yet overwhelming penchant for the stuff. It easily ranks among my favorite food items, along with Chinese Read more
“No doubt, humans will do a lot of damage before we ultimately destroy ourselves.” –Zeena Schreck, Beatdom #11: The Nature Issue ——— Dolly Sods Wilderness, Read more
Although the sun appears to be struggling, it is drowning in the orange abyss. The afterglow resembles a fleeing messenger bringing the sun's final remarks. Read more
You dream of apathy                You fear you will not cry at his funeral                 Thus, in six months you must learn to love                  Cancer is a slow way to Read more
The man in my room               brings electricity,                            a chair, and a location on his charred tongue.               He is love from a loveless world.  He is everyone I don’t know Read more
I.  Hungry waves slash the sides of the ship. Rocky teeth rip open the clamshell hull, swallowing meaty chunks of wood and rope. I slip over the edge.  Read more
If the sink is clogged and dishes are piling up there has to be a reason. What life will I find when the drain finally relents?  Let Read more
they say the wheat fields go on for miles, that i can look up at blue sky, that it swallows everything like one big gaping mouth.  Read more
loose plait, hair bulges like humid sky preparing to rain ungainly, untidy, unlawful hair an untidy smile too: metal braces gleam like stray coins in Read more
I cut my gums on my sister’s engagement ring. They ooze bright red sweet and sour sauce. The thin skin of oil on the nighttime Read more
Fever Carries me in its Burning arms, Mine Like strings. My marionette body Sways With each turn and stop, Head Pulsing under Fever’s gentle touch, Read more
i want to know if du/dt is an accurate measurement of the rate at which you were dying, of how fast your tears greeted the Read more
Step.              Stomp.                                        Thud.                                       Step.  Thud.              Stomp. Step.                   Thud. Stomp.               Step.                                         Step.                                         Stomp. Thud.  Wind Tugs my hair and whips the grass. The nearby dandelions dither.  Dirt Paves the narrow and jagged trail. We Read more
the color perceived by the eye in total darkness. the Germans gave it a name, and it meant intrinsic gray,  an essential shade visible only when nothing is Read more
in the years between the weeksa thicket was waiting, a tree was waiting, its wood was waiting, the phloem was waiting, a bead of bodily Read more
the sun’s sorry kiss goodbye and the sober summer night.the streets are laced with a prescription for catharsisthe air is thick with malaise, like memories Read more
I.  Dirt caked knees, bloody teeth, and strawberry stained hands. The trees resist our attempt at domination like Mother resists Father, and you resist silence. Read more
Last night I was with you under a dusting blue sky. This tryst, like so many before, with rigid fingers, felt like inky blots along a page, a familiar kind Read more
i want to inherit the rhythms of crimson-lantern bloodlines & the shadows of unspoken prophecies, to unveil a stutter-stop tongue thick with stories beneath the eyelash Read more
The moon raced us along the interstate without a breath. The map was wrong and so were my mother’s eyes; a punched-in confidence and sharp inhale, resignation was Read more
I’m working on a conspiracy theory: that my face could fit in a lion’s mouth if She wanted me.  And if She needs  it, I’ll stare down the alleyway of Her Read more
miscarriage /ˈmisˌkerij,misˈkerij/ noun “the spontaneous loss of a woman's pregnancy.” My stomach is now distended / Bearing new blood Soon, you will be brought into this world / Like a bud unfurling, becoming a blossom / But Read more
Say, what if we danced a little? What if we danced every time it rained so hard it made the oceans cripple? What if we linked our fingers every Read more
Hot sun does not deter the boy shooting a basketball in the driveway Past the hoop, green leaves sit still on a cloudless day A block Read more
ALL LIVING THINGS MUST PASS GENETIC MATERIAL FROM PARENT TO OFFSPRING.  My thin-lipped great-grandmother is as porcelainand pale as a bobbed virgin Mary. The black Read more
When I wake, sleep-hazy and half-dreaming in the small and dark hours, the moon is a dime. The moon through my bedroom window shines silver, Read more
The cat had died sometime during the night, hours before Isabella had woken and discovered the stiff body still curled tightly beside her. Isabella’s job Read more
Birds of a feather nest together, weave dandelion-thorn flower crowns.A primordial giant towers over dollhouse hallucinations, reaches out to embrace theastral overstory with atlas arms, Read more