Phil Klay talks about contemporary war literature, writing nonfiction versus writing fiction, and the narratives we tell ourselves about war.
Defining Veteran Identity in the Age of the Forever Wars
Matthew Komatsu traces the changing sense of veteran identity in the United States, from Vietnam to Afghanistan and Iraq.
Japanese Poetry Never Modifies
You get to be Odysseus. I’m typecast as Penelope.
Review: Museum of the Americas by J. Michael Martinez
Museum of the Americas interrogates the white gaze and how the curation of the archive is another palimpsestic layer of control and power.
Three Poems by Franco Buffoni Translated from Italian
I’d like to talk to this photo of me next to the piano,/ To the eleven year-old boy with flaming cheeks.
Complexity and Ambiguity: An Interview with Chelsea Hodson
In this interview, Chelsea Hodson, author of Tonight I'm Someone Else, speaks about writing from the self and interrogating ideas.
Sting Harsh and Hot
It was two in the afternoon, but the aquarium bar was dim and quiet, an artificial slice of night.
Blurbed: What to Read, See and Do in November 2018
Each month, Blurbed features a curated list of things to read, literary events to attend and news from the Columbia Journal.
The Word Process: An Interview with Jericho Brown
Jericho Brown discusses his (lack of) writing desk, the books that inspire him as a writer, and the one thing that makes writers better.
Three Poems by Sara Shagufta Translated from Urdu
Three poems from Sara Shagufta's book Aankhein which have been translated from the original Urdu by Arshi Yaseen.
The 2018 Winter Contest is Now Open for Submissions
Submit your poetry, fiction, and nonfiction to the 2018 Columbia Journal Winter Contest, judged by Jericho Brown, Lauren Wilkinson, and Alexander Chee.
Losing Memory
How could you know it would be like this:/ touching the keys of a piano/ and not finding a sound about it.