literature

Sci-Fi’s Lessons in Neutrality

By Suspending Reality, We Can Better See What Is Possible

Can we, and should we, ever really be neutral? In a new series, Zócalo explores the idea of neutrality—in politics, sports, gender, journalism, international law, and more. In this essay, philosopher Matías Graffigna explains how science fiction and fantasy can help us contemplate a wider range of possibilities.

“I just wanted to be honest. I don’t want to get mixed up in this conflict. I want to remain neutral,” Geralt of Rivia tells his good friend Yarpen, a dwarf. “It’s impossible!” yells Yarpen in response. …

by Matías Graffigna |

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What Is a 21st-Century ‘Writer’s Home’?

Twain Had a Billiard Room. Hemingway Had a Cuban Abode. St. Vincent Millay Had Pool Parties. But Nowadays Poetry Won’t Pay the Mortgage

by Derek Mong |

In my many pilgrimages to writers’ homes, I’ve felt two responses, often simultaneously. There’s excitement about my proximity to creation. About the whiff of genius that lingers—like lavender, like music—beyond …

Authors Aren’t Perfect. Why Should Readers Have to Be?

A Writer Wrestles With Separating the Art from the Artist

by Emily R. Zarevich |

In April 2024, British author J.K. Rowling appeared in the news for the same reason she’s been wont to gain attention lately—not for writing acclaimed new books, but for writing …

Who Is the Real Monster in Frankenstein?

Mary Shelley’s Novel and Its Many Adaptations Challenge Us to Explore Bias and Belonging

by Daniel A. Olivas |

In 2022, I found myself reaching back to my childhood’s favorite monster for literary inspiration.

That year’s midterm elections had brought with them another round of angry MAGA candidates promoting the …

Reading Animal Farm in Zimbabwe

From Minority White Rule to Dictatorship and Beyond, Orwell’s 1945 Novel—Now in a New Translation—Has Proved Prescient

by Beaven Tapureta |

I began to notice Animal Farm references proliferating in Zimbabwe in 2008.

That was the year hyperinflation nosedived the economy, and long-time leader Robert Mugabe felt threatened enough by a newly …

In Mexico, a New Vocabulary for Grief and Justice | Zocalo Public Square • Arizona State University • Smithsonian

In Mexico, a New Vocabulary for Grief and Justice

Most Murders in the Country Go Uninvestigated. Activists and Writers Are Coming Together to Demand Accountability

By Natalia Villanueva-Nieves |

“Almost everyone lost someone during the war,” writes Cristina Rivera Garza in The Restless Dead: Necrowriting and Disappropriation.  

In 2006, Mexican president Felipe Calderón initiated the …


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