Broad Street

Adieu, and Be Well … Broad Street is now closed.

One last time, and forever, we thank all of our contributors, our readers, our boards, and our editorial staff over the last almost-decade. We had a great run and published so much of which we are deeply proud. We started laying plans in 2011 with a dream and a shoestring...

“You Want Me to Be Happy About Dying” — an essay by Ramona Grigg.

Reflections on life, afterlife, and the reality of the dark, dark passage. “Nothing in my life will be erased after I die.” Photo by the author. To most of you out there, I’m old. I’m so old, odds are I’ll probably die soon. You can think on that for a few seconds and move...

“The Politics of Art, 2020”: Our interview with Alexandra Blum, mixed-media artist.

A pandemic and other global breakdowns inspire a visual journal of diverse styles and influences. “I think for me what is interesting about this series of work is the diversity of voices within myself.” “Vitriol.” Editors’ Note: Alexandra (Ali) Blum is a California-based artist who draws on influences from around the...

Taking Down the Confederacy in Richmond, Virginia: On Civil War monuments, graffiti art, and protest. Photos by John Moser.

The BLM movement is writ large on the Civil War monuments of the Confederacy’s former capital. And now some controversial statues are being removed. “We Just Want Justice,” protesters and graffiti at the base of the Robert E. Lee statue. Broad Street’s home is in Richmond, Virginia, where Jefferson Davis once presided...

From the COVID Journals of Lise Haines.

On learning that she should sacrifice herself for the good of the public. pikrepo.com On the television this morning, an idea was floated with great sincerity. I could sacrifice myself for the public good. If anyone had to get sick or starve or die from a lack of oxygen, I was...

“Going Home in the New Normal,” an essay by Joe Milan, Jr.

A young family takes a risk to return from abroad. “In the last few years, when I’ve gone abroad it has become an increasingly bigger test of courage to state I’m from the U.S.” The New York Times maintains an interactive daily global virus tracker at https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/world/coronavirus-maps.html. Shortly before leaving England, I took my daughter to our...

News: “Ghosts of the Walldogs,” by Michael Griffith, was named Notable in this year’s Best American Essays.

Congratulations to Michael Griffith! If you haven’t read his fantastic piece about advertising and the way it shapes us … and has made its mark on the architecture around Cincinnati … take a look now! Lavishly illustrated and part of Michael’s latest book, due out next year. Read “Ghosts of the Walldogs” here. *...

Contributor News: Judith Sara Gelt’s first memoir is published.

“A powerful and heartrending story of personal recovery.” —Kirkus Reviews Judith Sara Gelt’s essay “A Pious Fraud” appeared in our very first issue, Dangerous Territory. Now her memoir, Reckless Steps Toward Sanity, has been published by University of New Mexico Press. We’ll let the publisher describe it: At sixteen Judith Sara Gelt finally rebels after spending years watching her...

[born], a poem by Frederick Ramey.

Every morning, a choice. “… the clarion reach from the New World mist …” To save and enjoy this poem as a broadside, drag the image to your desktop. … [born] in the morning of the year we decide who is equal and who is not, the clarion reach from the New World mist, slave songs on...

Our Best of the Net nominations, 2020.

We give thanks for good work in a difficult time. Image: Jefferson Davis statue on Monument Avenue in Richmond, Virginia. Photograph by Gregory Weatherford. We at Broad Street are proud of everything we publish, and we wish we could nominate all of it for every award out there. Alas, we can choose only a handful....