The Best American Essays

Wednesday, May 27, 2026

Jillian Barnet

https://www.jillianbarnetwrites.com/

Jillian Barnet’s poems and essays have appeared in North American Review, New Letters, Nimrod, and Image, among others. She holds an MFA in poetry from Vermont College of Fine Arts, is a Pushcart Prize nominee, and the author of the poetry chapbook Falling Bodies. Links to some of her work can be found at jillianbarnetwrites.com. She taught writing and literature at Pennsylvania State University and Chatham University, and now lives on a tiny farm in the Finger Lakes where she is at work on a memoir.

- Contributors' Notes, The Best American Essays 2023.

Ciara Alfaro

https://ciaraalfaro.com/

Ciara Alfaro is a Chicanx writer, romantic, and descendant of magicians from Texas. Her work has appeared in Cutthroat’s Puro Chicanx Writers of the 21st Century, Water~Stone Review, swamp pink, and elsewhere. Most recently, she won Iron Horse Literary Review’s 2022 PhotoFinish Contest. Her work has been supported by awards and fellowships from Colgate University, the Anderson Center, Hedgebrook, and others. She holds an MFA in creative writing from the University of Minnesota. Currently, she is at work on a memoir about queer mestiza girlhood, monsterhood, and magic.

- Contributors' Notes, The Best American Essays 2023.

Monday, February 17, 2025

Vibe

https://www.vibe.com/

Founded in 1992 by iconic music and film producer Quincy Jones as a print publication, VIBE is a leading entertainment and lifestyle brand delivering content across multiple media platforms to a diverse audience around the world. With over 25 years of celebrating Black culture, VIBE continues to embrace the soulful roots that chronicle the artists, celebrities, sounds, fashion, and events—from hip-hop and R&B to the modern-day converging music landscape. VIBE has significantly refocused its efforts to the digital space as a top-tier trusted brand for music and entertainment fans, while also highlighting themes like the social justice movement, sparking dialogue that informs and issues change. In 2020, VIBE officially joined the esteemed Penske Media Corp. portfolio of content brands with plans on continuing its legacy of excellence.

- https://www.vibe.com/about-us/. Accessed 17 Feb. 2025.

Village Voice

https://www.villagevoice.com/

Founded by Dan Wolf, Ed Fancher, and Norman Mailer in 1955, the Village Voice introduced free-form, high-spirited, and passionate journalism into the public discourse. As the nation’s first alternative newsweekly, the Voice today carries on the same tradition of no-holds-barred reporting and criticism it embraced when it began publishing more than 68 years ago.