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Articles by Jo Lou
8 Dark Academia Novels Set in Art School
Reading Lists What happens when ambition and talent go awry? Who doesn’t love dark academia? The malevolent architecture and forced proximity cut with the youth and ambition that sets it all aflame? Ever since chancing upon a marked-up paperback of The Secret History in the late ’90s, I’ve been obsessed with dark academia and all the micro-genres contained within it: gothic mysteries, boarding school thrillers, Neo-Victorian suspense, and my new favorite—what I’m calling art school academia.
9 Books About Filipino Fathers
While writing my memoir-in-essays, Returning to My Father’s Kitchen, I sometimes found myself pondering over how fathers are depicted in Filipino books and movies. A harsh, distant, unforgiving father came to mind when I thought of the archetypal Filipino padre de pamilya. This didn’t quite align with my own father’s approach to fatherhood: my father was warm, nurturing, and unguarded, a far cry from the authoritarian figures I’d come to know from Filipino movies and TV shows.
7 Books That Turn Social Media Into a Plot Twist
A 2024 report estimated that an average internet user spends six hours online per day. That’s a quarter of our lives being spent attached to a device. Even now, you’re staring at one as you read this article. With so much of our time spent online, it makes sense why many of us fail to escape the addictive trap of social media.
8 Irish Novels About the Rise and Fall of Big Houses
Reading Lists From aristocratic estates to crumbling ruins, these books capture the changing fate of Ireland’s great mansions Big houses are a feature of Ireland: our countryside is dotted with these mansions—or at the least their ruined remains.
7 Graphic Memoirs About Motherhood
Reading Lists These stories illustrate the emotional, psychological, and physical transformation of motherhood Becoming a mother is a deeply transformational experience that shifts every aspect of identity. This metamorphosis is often overlooked as much of the focus in society is placed on the baby and the baby’s development.
7 Books That Turn the Workplace Into a Nightmare
Reading Lists The suffocating pressure of a soul-crushing job transforms the workplace into a gothic landscape I’ve worked in a wide range of jobs in a wide range of buildings: pubs, malls, posh houses, offices, small individual stores. My CV is frankly, bizarre. It is only really looking back on my time clocking in shifts in the vast, open plan offices or the seemingly endless, run down malls that I can realistically call those moments of my professional life gothic.
Why Vauhini Vara Used ChatGPT to Write a Book About Big Tech and Herself
Vauhini Vara is a writer of everything—short stories, novels, journalism, texts and emails, Amazon reviews, and now, Searches, a book-length work of inventive nonfiction exploring the offerings and exploitations of large technology companies, and the undeniable hold they have on our lives. Vara is not new to the world of technology. Having grown up in Seattle in the 1990s and then attended Stanford University, Vara has always found herself surrounded by the industry.
8 Books Featuring Cats as Characters
Reading Lists From mischievous troublemakers to wise companions, these felines offer mystery, hilarious adventures, and even a touch of romance Have you noticed the cats-on-book-covers trend lately? I sure have. Clearly, someone in publishing has decided that cats on covers sell books. Today, there are approximately 600 million cats in the world, and in the United States, 25% of households have cats. So maybe this publishing trend is actually onto something.
In "Freakslaw," the Carnival Is Where Freaks Take Power and Pleasure Reigns
Skip to content interviews Jane Flett discusses why the best revolutions end in joy and the thrill of misbehavior It’s just another grim and grimy summer in the small Scottish town of Pitlaw when a thrillingly deviant funfair pitches its tents at the town’s edge.
A Taunting of Blank Pages and Other Collective Nouns for Your Writing Life
8 Books About Queer Hauntings To summon queer ghosts is to counter queer invisibility, to invent a language for what's inarticulable The Birthday Clown of Your Queer Fantasy An excerpt from STOP ME IF YOU'VE HEARD THIS ONE by Kristen Arnett, recommended by Laura van den Berg These poets balance delight and despair in their verse
8 Graphic Novels Set in New York City
Reading Lists Explore the city that never sleeps, one page at a time I grew up in a terribly small town on the other side of the world but ours was a home filled with books to the brim. After reading the Great Gatsby, I started seeking out New York in both books and the popular culture I consumed. First with novels—from Nella Larsen to Jack Kerouac to Sylvia Plath to Colson Whitehead. Then, once I encountered Alison Bechdel’s inimitable Fun Home, in the form of comics.
“The Book of Disappearance” Explores a Fictional World Where Palestinians Vanish
Take a break from the news We publish your favorite authors—even the ones you haven't read yet. Get new fiction, essays, and poetry delivered to your inbox. YOUR INBOX IS LIT Enjoy strange, diverting work from The Commuter on Mondays, absorbing fiction from Recommended Reading on Wednesdays, and a roundup of our best work of the week on Fridays. Personalize your subscription preferences here.
7 Folkloric Novels About Humans Merging with Nature
Reading Lists In these stories, humans embrace the wild and become something more In the old tales, humans come together with animals and plants, mountains and rivers, rain and sky. The wood nymph, Daphne, turns into a laurel tree to escape the pursuit of a god. Seal women slough off their selkie skins to live on land for a time. Some traditions even tell of the first humans being made from trees. Folklore has a way of muddling binaries.
7 Terrifying Horror Novels Set in Small Towns
Reading Lists Small towns are paradoxes filled with polite villains, outright renegades, unspoken rules, fearless loyalty, and everything in between Cozy small-town America is built into the bedrock of our cultural ethos. The charming vision of provincial life extends well into the modern era. One needs to look no further than The Gilmore Girls to understand that the allure of an entire community embracing, celebrating, supporting, and knowing one another holds a comforting appeal for many.
7 Novels About Freakshows and the Price of Being Different
Reading Lists Step into the bigtop, where being different is both a spectacle and a survival strategy Human oddities compel and repulse us, even given the enlightenment we claim today. It’s the old car crash dilemma: we don’t really want to see it, yet we can’t help but stop and look. My interest in sideshows dates to the 1960s-era North Florida fair and to the first time I saw the 1932 Tod Browning movie “Freaks.” What were these folks’ lives really like?
8 Graphic Novels About Authoritarianism
The rise of authoritarianism is a global problem, with political rights and civil liberties declining across countries for the 18th consecutive year, according to Freedom House. Democracy is hanging on by a thread. Fifty-two countries saw setbacks, and the majority of the world’s population now live in what the organization considers “partly free” or “not free” states.
Patrycja Humienik Explores the Tenderness and Tension of Being an Immigrant Daughter
“Where do we go to find the myths that make us?” asks Patrycja Humienik in her debut poetry collection, We Contain Landscapes. This question, explored in Humienik’s crystalline voice that wields imagery with sensuality and aching precision, takes her readers to the mouth of a river, to letters exchanged with immigrant daughters, and to the gaps in memory that migration leaves behind. The speaker of We Contain Landscapes is “unbearably present.
10 Novels in Translation You Should be Reading This Winter and Spring - Electric Literature
Spanning countries as far and wide as South Korea, Colombia, and Denmark—and including both emerging and acclaimed authors—the year is off to an exceptionally strong start. From the latest novel by Nobel Prize winner Han Kang to the outlandish fiction of Sayaka Murata and unapologetic new voices like Asta Olivia Nordenhof and Hon Lai Chu, these 2025 titles promise to confront the established order, speculate about potential futures, and resonate across borders.
7 Comics About Trauma
When I first told people I was working on a comic about trauma, I sometimes got funny looks. I can’t be certain, but I think the correct translation of this type of body language would be something like this: “Why are you doing a comic about that?
Rejection Letters from an Editor Who Is Going Through Some Stuff
Dear Writer, We regret that your story does not meet our current needs—much as we apparently do not meet Mandy’s current needs. We wish you luck placing this piece elsewhere. We also wish Mandy would give us one more chance. We suppose we don’t always get everything we wish for. Sincerely, The Editors Dear Writer, Thank you for sending us your poetry. Please know we have fully considered your work. We have also fully considered all our old text conversations with Mandy.
7 Books to Read When the World Is on Fire
Reading Lists Steps for a sustainable path forward “System Change, Not Climate Change,” we chant during environmental marches. We write the slogan on signs and hashtag it on social media. But how do you change systems when your government denies climate change, silences experts, and promises to increase fossil fuel production? When my daughter was born in 2014, it was the warmest year on record; each year since has been warmer.
7 Writing Retreats Around the World For Emerging and Established Writers
Writing retreats offer the opportunity for writers to fully immerse themselves in their craft, free from the distractions of daily life. These getaways combine inspiring locations, structured time, and a like-minded community to reignite creativity and boost productivity. Whether you’re seeking solitude to finish a manuscript or a collaborative environment to workshop ideas, a retreat can serve as the perfect catalyst.
Shubha Sunder on Writing an Immigrant Story Through the Lens of a Visa Year
Skip to content interviews Told through conversations with others, “Optional Practical Training” follows an immigrant creating a new life in Boston on a ticking clock In this land of opportunities, being an immigrant can often feel like playing a round of Twister. A certain contortion of mind, language, and will power seems written into the script; a lot of territory remains untouchable.
In "Woodworking," A Trans Teen and a Closeted Teacher Forge A Bond in Rural America
Emily St. James’s debut novel Woodworking chronicles the developing friendship between a 16-year-old trans girl and her recently-out-to-herself English teacher in Mitchell, South Dakota in the months leading up to the 2016 election. In a town like Mitchell, secrets are few and far between, making Abigail’s transness and Erica’s recent divorce fodder for gossip and inquiry.
9 Books That Will Make You Want To Go Outside And Touch Grass
Do you know that moment when you can’t stand to look at your phone another minute? The messages keep coming in, red news alert bubbles are pinging, an email pops up from your boss reminding you of that thing you’re trying to compartmentalize.
Omar El Akkad on How the Empire Weaponizes Language to Numb Itself to Genocide
Skip to content interviews "One Day Everyone Will Have Always Been Against This" explodes the myth of the West’s moral superiority Omar El Akkad’s nonfiction debut, One Day Everyone Will Have Always Been Against This, is a timely account of a severance from the West and its systems that have long betrayed espoused values.
The Best New Books of Winter, According to Indie Booksellers
There’s no season better well-suited to curl up with a book than winter. Whether you’re seeking a Tuscan adventure or a book with a hot monster, these new titles—recommended by indie booksellers from across the country—span genres and styles, offering something for everyone.
Exclusive Cover Reveal of "Algarabía" by Roque Raquel Salas Rivera
Electric Literature is pleased to reveal the covers of Algarabía by Roque Raquel Salas Rivera, which will be published by Graywolf Press on September 02, 2025. Pre-order your copy here. Algarabía is an epic poem that follows the journey of Cenex, a trans being who retrospectively narrates his life while navigating the stories told on his behalf. An inhabitant of Algarabía, a colony of Earth in a parallel universe, Cenex struggles to find a name, a body, and a stable home.
8 Queer Retellings of Classic Stories
Reading Lists From mythology to fairy tales, these familiar tales are transformed to explore gender, sexuality, and identity in powerful ways Retellings have experienced a remarkable renaissance in recent years. But instead of simply retrodding familiar ground, authors are increasingly reclaiming these stories to explore narratives that have either long been overlooked or deliberately obscured.
Exclusive Cover Reveal of "Intemperance" by Sonora Jha - Electric Literature
news The design reflects the satirical feminist folktale’s take on courtship and love Electric Literature is pleased to reveal the cover of Intemperance by Sonora Jha, which will be published by HarperVia on October 14th 2025. You can pre-order your copy here.
9 Books About Chaotic White Girls Getting High
There is something particularly annoying about chaotic white girls, isn’t there. I say this as a recovering chaotic white girl myself. The heady cocktail of privilege and self-pity, the culturally approved beauty, the patriarchal casualty. During my harrowing yet transformative early weeks and months of early sobriety, I was compelled to read all the books in this problematic genre that I could get my hands on. It was research. It was work.
Queer Love Poems for Whatever You’re Feeling
Reading Lists Whether you’re falling, yearning, or moving on, these poems speak to every kind of messy emotion Love isn’t always as straightforward as romantic movies and pop songs would have us believe. More often than not, love is complicated and encapsulates myriad emotions, like lust, sorrow, yearning, heartbreak, hopefulness, confusion and ecstasy. These 10 poems from LGBTQIA+ writers celebrate all types of love, no matter how complex.
8 Contemporary Novels with Omniscient Narrators - Electric Literature
The omniscient, intrusive narrative voice was common to many novels dating to and before the early 1900s: the sweeping perspective of a narrator who functions almost as a god, able to show us anything—and who often interrupts the story at hand to make wry comments at the expense of the characters and the society in which they function.
"Loca" is A Year in the Lives of Dominican Immigrants in 1999 New York
Like many of the characters in author Alejandro Heredia’s debut novel, Loca, he migrated to the United States from the Dominican Republic. Though he did so at a different age and time than the characters presented in the text, it’s the experiences of the lives of immigrants—his own and the people he knows—that he both excavates and explores to craft a capacious novel that unfolds over one year in 1999.
Is the Book You're Reading Literary or Genre Fiction? A 100% Definitive Guide
essays Are you contemplating the meaning of life or just swooning for a hot werewolf? 1. Check the cover for clues. Literary fiction will have the title in Helvetica along with amorphous shapes in shades of that year’s Pantone color. Genre fiction will have a little cutout showing the face of either a wizard or a rakish duke. It opens to reveal the whole picture, and they’re standing in the snow. 2. Contemplate the book’s central questions.
9 Haunting Books About Catholicism
I was raised Catholic. I became an atheist at eighteen and then had a period of devoutness that spanned my mid-twenties to my early thirties. I lost faith again in a much bigger and more substantial way when my son was born. I turned away from religion and didn’t look back. Except when I did. My work is imbued with Catholic imagery and symbolism. My characters are, for the most part, practicing Catholics or at least culturally Catholic.
A Literary Crossword for Book People
In my opinion, most crossword puzzles have too many boring trivia about sports, obscure historical events, and science questions (seriously, who cares how many molecules are in an atom?). So, we decided to take out the bits we didn’t like to create a crossword puzzle tailored for those of us with English degrees or who simply love to read.
Exclusive Cover Reveal of Hothouse Bloom by Austyn Wohlers
news The design is a psychedelic take on the American nature novel, exploring the emotional and material necessity of human connection Electric Literature is pleased to reveal the cover of Hothouse Bloom by Austyn Wohlers, which will be published by Hub City Press on August 26 2025. You can pre-order your copy here.
Your Writing Horoscope For the Year of the Snake
On January 29th, 2025 the Lunar New Year sheds its skin, and emerges into the Year of the Wood Snake. Mysterious and maligned, the Snake is a misunderstood beast. Sixth of the twelve animals of the Chinese Zodiac’s cycling universe, the coils of the Snake represent the inner self, the unknown, and that which cannot be held. For a writer, the Snake is the sting of mystery. Can the world’s white noise be rendered graspable?
Aria Aber on Finding Transcendence in Berlin’s Underground Scene
Skip to content interviews The author of "Good Girl" discusses writing a pulsing, provocative novel about an Afghan German woman growing up and falling down Good Girl—the debut novel by award-winning poet Aria Aber—follows nineteen-year-old Nila as she becomes charmed in a Berlin club and falls manically in love with Marlowe, an older brooding American writer.
Exclusive Cover Reveal of "Bind Me Tighter Still" by Lara Ehrlich
news The design celebrates otherworldly beauty and the fierceness of female strength in a male-dominated world Electric Literature is pleased to reveal the cover of Bind Me Tighter Still by Lara Ehrlich, which will be published by Red Hen Press on September 09, 2025. You can pre-order your copy here. The youngest of three siren sisters, Ceto is weary of an existence driven by hunger, no better than a fish.
How a Chance Rescue Saved Zora Neale Hurston's Unpublished Novel From Turning into Ashes
Skip to content interviews Editor Deborah Plant discusses the process of bringing "The Life of Herod the Great" to publication When Zora Neale Hurston died in January 1960, much of her belongings, including a trunk holding her papers, were burned. But in a series of fortuitous circumstances, a neighbor and friend salvaged some of Hurston’s papers, which were later turned over to the University of Florida in Gainesville.
Adam Ross Discusses Child Actors, Ethics, and the Inspiration Behind "Playworld"
Adam Ross’s new novel Playworld, a 500-page epic, chronicles a year or so in the life of 14-year-old Griffin Hurt, a reluctant child actor whose life changes when his parents’ friend Naomi falls in love with him. Griffin’s account of his coming of age, from wrestling meets to contentious family dinners to clandestine meetings with Naomi, is irresistibly immersive, a fully-realized portrait of both an adolescent psyche and of Manhattan in the early 1980s.
8 Newsletters Demystifying the Publishing Industry - Electric Literature
The publishing industry can feel like an opaque, black box to aspiring authors, with countless gatekeepers—agents, editors, publicists, book buyers and more—shaping the process behind the scenes. Even established authors can find the sector confusing as they attempt to read the tea leaves behind changing advance sizes, varying levels of publicity support and shifting print run amounts. Fortunately, there are now dozens of newsletters that aim to demystify the publishing business.
Recommended Reading's Most Popular Stories of 2024
It’s been a crazy year. It feels like the world has turned upside down, right side up, and sideways…and as we compiled 2024’s most read issues from Recommended Reading, it became clear that you felt like that too. Of all 53 stories we published, these five have one thing in common—instability. They are stories about a world in flux.
Can You Guess the Book Titles from These Emojis?
Skip to content Reading Lists Test your knowledge of classic novels and contemporary bestsellers Put your book smarts to use in this fun quiz, devised by the Electric Literature team. We’re challenging you to guess the book titles based on emojis! From classic novels to contemporary bestsellers, these emoji will give you a hint, but can you crack the code? If you’re stumped, don’t worry, scroll on to the very bottom for the answer key.
The Commuter’s Most Popular Posts of 2024
There’s no perfect metaphor for the experience of looking back on a year of The Commuter issues. It’s a little like holding a whole packet of loose M&Ms in your hand all at once. There’s an element of wandering through the mirror-room at the funhouse, but also The Commuter is way more fun than that because there are no rules when it comes to what makes a Commuter piece a Commuter piece.
The Most Popular Personal Narrative Essays of 2024
news Discover the nonfiction we published this year In 2023, we saw a widening gap in places publishing longform creative nonfiction, and we announced that Electric Literature would step in to help fill that space. The response was tremendous, and our first submission call for general creative nonfiction reached its cap in just 36 hours. This initiative ultimately became our Personal Narrative series, publishing a new essay every Thursday on our site.
Exclusive Cover Reveal of “Transplants” by Daniel Tam-Claiborne
Skip to content news Electric Literature Urgently Needs Your Help For the 15,000 people who visit our site every day, reading Electric Literature costs nothing. And yet Electric Lit is not free. We need to raise $25,000 by December 31, 2024 to keep Electric Literature going into next year. If the continued existence of Electric Literature means something to you, please make a contribution today.
Every Writer We've Published in 2024
Electric Literature Urgently Needs Your Help For the 15,000 people who visit our site every day, reading Electric Literature costs nothing. And yet Electric Lit is not free. We need to raise $25,000 by December 31, 2024 to keep Electric Literature going into next year. If the continued existence of Electric Literature means something to you, please make a contribution today. Below is a list of the 475 writers Electric Literature has published so far in 2024.
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