Helen Murray | 2020 My first time at the roller rink was similar to many other people’s first time. I walked up to the guy standing at the counter with rows and rows of quads and inlines lined up behind him. He looked bored, and I could tell by the continue reading…
Helen Murray | 2017 0: An old woman approaches the stroller with your tiny newborn body swaddled in a soft blue blanket inside. “What a cute little boy you have!” “She’s a girl.” “Oh.” The old woman pauses, unsure of what to say next. 1: Your mother bounces you in continue reading…
Helen Murray | 2017 Many people oppose the idea of linguistic injury or, simply, the idea that words can hurt. This in turn leads to an opposition to political correctness. We elected a president simply because he said whatever he wanted to without thinking about being what we would call continue reading…
Helen Murray | 2016 “I feel most colored when I am thrown against a sharp white background.” – Claudia Rankine Claudia Rankine’s book Citizen: An American Lyric has been called many things. Some call it poetry, others call it a criticism; Rankine herself calls it a lesson, a lesson on continue reading…
Helen Murray | 2016 Representations of what we would now call biracial women in popular American literature of all genres have been ever changing throughout the decades. During slavery, the one drop rule kept near white blacks in servitude, as exemplified by the character Iola Leroy in the novel of continue reading…
Helen Murray | 2018 yellow and i, we didn’t know each other very well on that balmy night not even the moonlight shone as bright as the warm yellow laugh the bright yellow eyes yellow and i, we introduced ourselves yellow has a softness i had never known but yellow continue reading…
Helen Murray | 2018 The strange and unexpected sense of comfort one feels the first time at a public bath, surrounded by naked strangers. The cab driver rolled up to the curb and looked back at me to confirm the destination. I nodded my head quickly and he told me continue reading…
Helen Murray | 2017 It was a regular Monday night. Max was finished with his homework. His mother was home from work and had ordered chinese takeout, the families typical Monday night indulgence. His father had yet to return from the office; maybe he had a meeting. The home was continue reading…
Helen Murray | 2018 So, you’re feeling lonely, or you’re scared of feeling lonely. You consider a dating app. Tinder seems fun. Your best friend met their partner on Tinder. If they can do it, maybe you can too. You download it, and begin swiping, begin matching, begin dating. How continue reading…
Helen Murray | 2018 I heard them before I saw them. The sound of chatter and an upbeat and familiar tune reached my ears as we walked through the park on that sunny August day. I was with my family on the way to the Daniels’ family reunion. As we continue reading…