Issue #59, Marriage
Spring 2016
Our spring issue surveys the contemporary landscape of matrimony, as writers recall walking down the aisle for the first or third or fifth time; vow never to wed again, except in the role of officiant; dissect the first year of marriage; brave city hall; and realize what it means to bind yourself, for better or for worse, to another person. There's no one way to get or to be married, and when it comes to the ties that bind, it's a new world.
Plus, a profile of New York Times obituary writer Margalit Fox; why divorce memoirs are flourishing; and a special single-author collection of Tiny Truths.
READ NOW
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What's the Story? by Lee Gutkind
From the editor -
A Story We Tell Ourselves and Others by Randon Billings Noble
Finding inspiration in marriage memoirs -
The Math of Marriage by Elane Johnson
One simple equation compels the author to take a fifth trip down the aisle -
The Marrying Kind by Jane Berstein
Married for twenty years, happily divorced for six, the author vowed never to wed again—except in the role of officiant. -
False Intimacy: A Cautionary Perspective by Patrice Gopo
Marriage can provide a unique entry point into another culture—but it's not a substitute for immersion reporting
Table of Contents
From the Editor Lee Gutkind ... read more
A Story We Tell Ourselves and Others Randon Billings Noble ... read more
Splitsville: On the Rise of Divorce Memoirs Vivian Wagner
The Math of Marriage Elane Johnson ... read more
Economy Class Shahnaz Habib
The Marrying Kind Jane Bernstein
The Currency of Moons Kim Wyatt
Stealth Heather Osterman-Davis
Alphabet for the First Year Jeff Oaks
That Night: Fifty Years Later Melissa Shepherd
How You Know Kathleen McKitty Harris
What We Cannot See Maribeth Fischer
False Intimacy: A Cautionary Perspective Patrice Gopo ... read more
Afterlife: New York Times Obituary Writer Margalit Fox Has the Last Word Jane Maher
Nobody Ever Sees It Coming Candace Opper
[Family Secret] Amanda J. Crawford
Tiny Truths Matthew G. Miller
Contributors
Jane Bernstein
Jane Bernstein’s most recent books include the memoirs Bereft: A Sister’s Story and Rachel in the World. She is also an... read more
Amanda J. Crawford
Amanda J. Crawford is a writer, professor, and musician, whose work has been published by the Baltimore Sun, the Arizona Republic, National... read more
Maribeth Fischer
Maribeth Fischer is the author of two novels, The Language of Good-bye and The Life You Longed For, and has received two Pushcart Prizes... read more
Patrice Gopo
Patrice Gopo is the child of Jamaican immigrants and was born and raised in Anchorage, Alaska. Her essays have appeared in a variety of... read more
Lee Gutkind
Lee Gutkind, recognized by Vanity Fair as “the Godfather behind creative nonfiction,” is the founder and editor of Creative... read more
Shahnaz Habib
Shahnaz Habib’s fiction and essays have appeared in Brevity, Elsewhere, the Guardian, Afar, and the Brooklyn Rail, and is forthcoming... read more
Kathleen McKitty Harris
Kathleen McKitty Harris is a native New Yorker who now lives in northern New Jersey with her husband and two children. Her work has... read more
Elane Johnson
Elane Johnson’s nonfiction has been anthologized, featured in college creative writing curricula across the United States and... read more
Jane Maher
Jane Maher is the author of four biographies, and she is currently completing a profile of Sister Tesa Fitzgerald, the founder of Hour... read more
Matthew G. Miller
In 2013, as his marriage of nineteen years began to unravel, Matthew G. Miller started a Twitter feed for catharsis. He tweeted almost... read more
Randon Billings Noble
Randon Billings Noble is an essayist. Her collection Be with Me Always was published by the University of Nebraska Press in March 2019, and... read more
Jeff Oaks
Jeff Oaks is the author of four chapbooks, most recently Mistakes with Strangers (Seven Kitchen Press, 2014). His poems and essays have... read more
Candace Opper
Candace Opper’s work has appeared in Guernica, Brevity, and Bitch magazine, among others. After receiving her MFA from Portland State... read more
Heather Osterman-Davis
Heather Osterman-Davis lives with her family in New York City, where she attempts to balance creative and domestic endeavors. Her work has... read more
Melissa Shepherd
Melissa Shepherd has been a high school teacher, a university instructor, a medical instrumentation company executive, and a writing... read more
Vivian Wagner
Vivian Wagner is an associate professor of English at Muskingum University in New Concord, Ohio. Her work has appeared in Zone 3, the... read more