By Christen Gresham

I saw Catcher’s parents at Taco Bell last night. I shouldn’t have been surprised to see them there, because in my town, every Baptist goes to Taco Bell after Wednesday night church. My family and Catcher’s family were no exception. Only this time it felt different, because I didn’t know what to say to Catcher’s parents, [...]

By Daniel Barbare

Studying

In the notebook, I’m studying
for a test, closing my eyes.
Some words are coming out
of the dark. Others are hiding
on the page. Some words are [...]

YARN is thrilled to offer our readers an end of summer treat: an interview with Dorothy Hearst, author of The Wolf Chronicles Trilogy. It’s been said, by the legendary author Jean Auel, no less!) that Hearst is doing for wolves what “Watership Down” did for bunnies. That’s some pretty heavy praise indeed [...]

Colleen’s Pick: For another Great end-of-summer Re-Read, check out Allison Malecha’s poems, “Distortions”and “Creed to Deal.” Just when you think you might get nostalgic about summer slipping by, her poems will snap you out of the romanticized reverie – in a good way. Allison’s writing is tough and beautiful at the same time [...]

Shannon’s Pick: Emily Deibel’s compelling short story

Emily Deibel slams her reader in the driver’s seat by her engaging use of the second person. This rare narrative style makes the viewpoint of the main character compelling, heartbreaking, and uncomfortably real [...]

Kerri’s Pick: A great teen essay!

Shannon and I loved Lili’s essay right away. It’s a raw, honest self-examination that begins with the surprising admission that she was “some suburban snob.” Throughout, the prose is dense and atmospheric, and we can really see and feel what Lili does in that subway car. In a rather short essay [...]

Lourdes’s pick: Michele Tallarita’s short story.

Originally published on March 7, 2011 “Swamp Monster Bonanza” is, as in the words of character Attison, weird in its beauty. I cannot explain in words my fascination with this story. Maybe I am in awe of how people who once ridicule Robin and Attison can suddenly be paying to see them do tricks. Or it could be [...]

Kerri’s Pick: Tomas Mournian’s essay

Last summer, I received an email from Tomas Mournian asking if YARN would cover his new novel “hidden.” Being the scrupulous editor that I am, I did a little checking up on Mr. Mournian, and discovered that not only was he a hot-s–t journalist in LA, and “hidden” his first buzz-worthy novel, he’d also graduated from Berkeley, just like moi! So we exchanged a few emails [...]