BOOKS

THE BEST WOMEN’S TRAVEL WRITING (VOL. 12): TRUE STORIES FROM AROUND THE WORLD My essay “Come and See” is part of this phenomenal collection of travel writers (SUSAN ORLEAN!).

ESSAYS

NO CURE FOR MOTHERHOOD
Coffee+Crumbs

There’s Instagram Motherhood (where you always look like a good mother) and then there’s Real Motherhood. What I’m saying is sometimes you can be in sunny, shimmering Southern California watching the seals with your beloved kids and the clouds will still descend. Nobody else will see them, but they’ll eclipse your joy. Dim your heart. Obscure you from yourself. …

HOW TO EAT CRABS WITH YOUR MOTHER-IN-LAW
CNF’s Sunday Short Reads

1) At exactly 5:50 p.m., your mother-in-law will anxiously announce, “Someone needs to go get the crabs right now!” When you first met her, shortly after meeting her son, you called her by her first name, an accidental faux pas for which you reluctantly apologized. These things happen when you drop a West Coaster onto the Eastern Shore of Maryland. …

MATRILINE
The VIDA Review

My mom doesn’t say dying when she calls, but she does say “nothing to eat or drink in three days.” She doesn’t say she needs me but maybe she will. And she doesn’t say come quickly but I think I should. Even over the phone, I hear the words beneath her words. …

FRIENDSHIP PARK
Panorama Journal

As usual in December, the dirt road to Friendship Park is washed out from a rainstorm, so we walk the mile to the La Posada gathering. The mud smells faintly of fabric softener and will linger in the soles of my shoes for weeks. …

A RELENTLESS KIND OF COURAGE
Coffee & Crumbs

I had a miscarriage in December, I confess on the updated medical history form at my dentist, proud I can write that and continue with my day. The hygienist calls me back. I slip onto the leather exam chair and she hands me unfashionable sunglasses. …

HOW TO MAKE A BIRTHDAY CAKE
Motherwell Magazine

1. As soon as your baby turns eleven months old, obsessively begin Googling healthy sugar-free first birthday cake recipes. This will give you something to do since you can’t stop time. …

COME AND SEE
Nowhere Magazine

The key master died in Mount Merapi’s 2010 eruption. Most of the villagers living on the volcano’s slopes evacuated safely, fled in the middle of the night with only the clothes they happened to be wearing. …

SUCH A THING
The Rumpus

The day I found out I was having a miscarriage, three days before Christmas, it had rained all twenty-two days in December. It was the rainiest month in Portland’s history. By the twenty-seventh the rain had turned to snow, and still I was waiting. …

LUXURY CRUISING IN THE WAKE OF REFUGEES
Narratively

Our bags were already on board, along with my in-laws. Someone in a cheesy naval outfit had whisked them all away as soon as we arrived at the cruise terminal in Barcelona. I’d insisted on bringing my backpack, not a roller suitcase, because I’m a backpacker at heart, skeptical and resistant to this other side of travel. …

FEAR THE VOLCANO, CONQUER THE CLIMB
Narratively

Should you find yourself lounging on one of the countless white sand beaches of the Gili Islands, and should you look across the perfect turquoise water toward the horizon where the sun rises, your gaze will inevitably fall on the great Gunung Rinjani. …

LONGFORM

HARMONY IN THE GARDEN: THE LIFE AND WORK OF RUBINA FEROZE BHATTI OF PAKISTAN
The Joan B. Kroc Institute for Peace & Justice, University of San Diego

I had the honor of documenting the life and work of Rubina Feroze Bhatti, a courageous human rights activist from Pakistan. I wrote this in 2009, but it is still one of greatest privileges I’ve had as a storyteller. Rubina is a dear friend to this day, who continues to devote her life to protecting and uplifting her fellow Pakistanis.