Electric Literature

Emily St John Mandel is a powerhouse of a writer. Like many, I’ve been a fan for the long haul, devouring each of her books as soon as they release. Her writing is unlike any other: utterly original, boundary-pushing, and full of sharp observations. The creativity in her novels is boundless, and I’m always delighted to spend time in her worlds—even the dystopian ones.

Somewhere in France, two girls launch a boat into the sea. So begins Naima Coster’s latest novel, Take What You Can. We follow the girls—Milly and Val—as they navigate the waves and, as the novel unfolds further, become successful women, continuously pulled against the ...

It’s the middle of the night when the Speaker first calls, and the timing is awful.

It’s nearly 2:00 a.m., for one thing, and Kate teaches first thing in the morning, but what’s worse is that Tom’s neighbor—her neighbor, now, she keeps reminding herself—didn’t wear himself out from all the screaming until like half an hour a...

The following coming-of-age novels by African women authors are shaped by an understanding of the deep and complex relationships between women. In these works, the individual path of the traditional bildungsroman narrator is transformed into a dual path involving two (or more) young women at the cusp of self-realization. Kinship and sisterhood mean something bigger than just ...

When I get the call, I’m sitting cross-legged on a golf course in the redwoods, perched on one of those artificial mounds of grass. It’s the only place where I have reception in this small town. I look up and the evening light moves through the trees like mist. This is a beautiful place to find out that my father is dying. Dying quickly, or...