The Importance of Literature

April 17, 2013

“Our bookstores hold a place in our communities where people go to escape their lives, to talk to a real person and just sit in a comfy chair surrounded by personally curated literature. This is what we do, who we are, so let’s make an extra effort to step away from our desks and computers and provide a safe and compassionate place for people to share their anger and grief today.” In the wake of Monday’s tragedy, Boston’s bookstores figure out how to deal. And at The New Yorker, a poem for Boston.

lives in New York. Her work has appeared in The Baffler, BOMB, The Nation, The Paris Review Daily, The Yale Review, and more.