I read a story by Lydia Davis about a woman who, upon turning sixty, began sprouting hair from...

Incantations for Unsung Boys
The most powerful magic often remains invisible, except to those who know how to recognize it. The act...

Anti positivism by Evana Bodiker
The skin on my shoulders peels. Slack and careless, I was out all afternoon in a meadow. Ever...

Three Poems by June Daowen Lei
Obviously, the word is state. As in "of emergency" yet a body continues to rattle onto the train...

Feeding the Birds
"Feeding the Birds," by Margaret Hetherman, is the winner of the Columbia Journal's Special Issue on Loneliness.

Review: Memorial Drive by Natasha Trethewey
Trethewey’s memoir is a lyric confrontation with grief—the way it shapes and reshapes memory over time, permeating even...

See the Memes, Cancel the Rent
I had just been laid off from my job, my roommate had bolted to his home country, and...

You Should Be Paying Attention: An Interview with Lynn Steger Strong
Lynn Steger Strong discusses her second novel Want, a book that explores the complexities of motherhood, lost friendship,...

cycle of salmon
i wonder if salmon are aware of their orange pink flesh inside them.

Review: Blue Ticket by Sophie Mackintosh
Mackintosh examines the nature of rebellion, the innate strength of motherhood, and the paradox of choice.

Between Screens: My Bathroom Desk
I didn’t choose the bathroom for its grandeur. The room is narrow and yellowed with a bathtub against...

Call for Submissions: Special Issue on UPRISING
Columbia Journal wants to read and publish your best work on the theme UPRISING. Submit!