As 2021 comes to an end, we want to celebrate the pieces our readers loved! Below, you can browse our list of 2021’s most-read pieces to see the writing that left an impact on our readers.
Split Me in Two by Celeste Mohammed (Essay)
“Instead of dreaming up more labels and double-barreled categories, maybe we need to build a better value system. Maybe we need to change what we value in people, how we weigh and measure them, and what we measure them against.”
Mother’s Tongue by Jennifer Shyue (Essay)
“The man walked toward us and, without preamble, planted himself before me to ask if I knew a noted translator from Japanese. The translator is Asian-American, like me. (Or—maybe there was a preamble; maybe he asked us our names first.) I felt my smile gelatinize on my face. No, I said. I had never met that translator.”
Badge of Honor by Susan Choi (Essay)
“This isn’t to say I was duped: I deplored, I deconstructed, I considered myself a smart reader, I wrote critical essays. But the insidious beauty of the book never lost its hold on me. The gaseous cloud of romance was never fully dispelled. It’s built to last.”
Delusions of Grandeur by A. Natasha Joukovsky (Essay)
“I don’t think it’s an exaggeration to say that in the four years since, the former President sought to become the state. ‘I alone can fix it,’ he said, while trying to break things, not in the least the 2020 election. He very nearly succeeded.”
Excerpts by the Restless Books Prize for New Immigrant Writing 2021: Natasha Burge, Ani Gjika, Lisa Lee Herrick, and Nina Kossman
“In novels, short stories, memoirs, and works of journalism, immigrants have shown us what resilience and dedication we’re capable of, and have expanded our sense of what it means to be global citizens.”
