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Morgan Jerkins

Morgan Jerkins is a fiction writer, essayist, occasional screenwriter, and a fanatic tea drinker. Follow her on Twitter: @MorganTheScribe.

A Re-Reading of CITIZEN in Light of the Baltimore Uprising

“You take in things you don’t want all the time. The second you hear or see some ordinary moment, all ...

Tips On Writing A Character of Color

1. Don’t. Just kidding. I’m beyond excited that you want to embark upon this exciting task of creating a person who ...

To Junot Díaz

Hi again. You probably don’t remember me whatsoever but I sent you an email last year—September 27th to be exact–for ...

On The Beauty of Recitation

This week, I was reminded of my stepfather, who passed away almost three years ago.  I think about him at ...

Riot Round-Up: The Best Books We Read in March

We asked our contributors to share the best book they read this month. We’ve got fiction, nonfiction, YA, and much, ...

The Genius Behind Nameless Protagonists

I believe one of the greatest things that a bibliophile can do is to question everything “to the nitty-gritty”, as ...

Is Our Concept of “Well-Read” Elitist?

For quite a while now, I have been thinking about what it means when we say that someone is well-read. ...

A Defense of Teaching Black Authors During Black History Month (and At All Other Times)

Last week, Irvin Weathersby Jr., a Black school teacher working in Baltimore, wrote an op-ed for The Atlantic about why white authors ...

Just Keep Swimming: On Overcoming Writer’s Block

A few weeks ago, during my residency, I was able to catch a lecture by critically-acclaimed poet Marie Howe on the ...

Literary Tourism: St. Petersburg, Russia

In my opinion, St. Petersburg is very underrated in terms of its vivid literary history. Almost every street corner and neighborhood ...