Off Assignment

“River East, River West” by Aube Rey Lescure is a mesmerising reversal of the east–west immigrant narrative, set against China’s economic and political rise. The novel is a deeply moving exploration of race, identity, family, capitalism’s false promises and private dreams.

This past summer, I said goodbye to a lot of things, including my favorite bar in Brooklyn. I wrote about change and letting go (things I fundamentally dislike). Thanks to the dream team at @OffAssignment for giving this a home offassignment.com/gttp/diana-hub…

“In August of 2022, I rode the purple line from Evanston into Chicago. I was going to Madison and Halsted.” Read Ingrid Rojas Contreras’s essay, “Goodbye to the Chicago Intersection Where I Was Reborn,” in @OffAssignment! #HispanicHeritageMonth offassignment.com/gttp/ingrid-ro…

“You’d chosen a fitting alias—unique enough to stand out from Sean Cody’s stable of all-American jocks named Mark and Ken, but not laughable like Knox or Shamu.” —Steven Tagle's “To the First-Time Porn Star” in @OffAssignment #FilipinoAmericanHistoryMonth offassignment.com/articles/steve…

“We meet on a rainy evening in early March. Earlier that week, I had been lying in Dolores Park listening to a John Lennon song, and I thought of…” —from Rolando André López’s “To the Man Who Killed My Poem” in @OffAssignment #HispanicHeritageMonth offassignment.com/articles/rolan…

“It’s not often that a glass smashes. But it happens. At home, in a restaurant, at a party. And when it does, whether in a gay bar in New York’s West Village…” Read Mohsin Zaidi’s essay “To the Child I Could Not Help” in @OffAssignment this #PrideMonth: offassignment.com/articles/mohsi…

“You sat next to me on the sofa, and asked to take off my shirt when I told you it was wet from wandering in the rain…” Ani Kayode Somtochukwu’s essay “To Divine, from Grindr” (@OffAssignment) is featured on our reading list for #PrideMonth: offassignment.com/articles/ani-k…

#callforsubmissions to our Letter to a Stranger, No Equivalent, Under the Influence, Witching Hour, & What I Didn’t Say columns. And, we've increased our payment: $500 for long-form essays ($100 for Witching Hour)! Full submission guidelines here: offassignment.com/write-for-us

Excited to share my latest words in one of my favorite literary magazines @OffAssignment. Thank you to my wonderful editor! offassignment.com/witching-hour/…

Wrote about my buddy Kate's Garfield from Memory art project for @OffAssignment offassignment.com/undertheinflue…

If you're looking to attend a writing seminar this summer, check out @OffAssignment's new series on Writing the Body! Guest authors include SLM contributor @christinajcooke and memoir editor @krysmalcolmbelc, so you know it'll be great. Learn more here: buff.ly/FUxQphC

In this week's "Behind the Essay," @nguyen_p_quemai tells us about what surprised her while writing her Letter to a Stranger, her hopes surrounding the 50th anniversary of the end of the Vietnam war, and the books that inspire her. Read the full interview: mailchi.mp/offassignment/…

In 2007, @nguyen_p_quemai stood at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, unable to enter—until a letter at the foot of the black marble changed her life. This month marks the 50th anniversary of Vietnam war; this essay calls for humanity in the face of horror: offassignment.com/articles/nguye…

We've long been thinking about how farewell can mediate our relationships to place: whether it be temporary departure or, in the case of @lsjamison's essay this week, permanent loss. Read about the inspiration behind our new column, Goodbye to That Place: mailchi.mp/offassignment/…

@juliaOTwriter @lsjamison Yes indeed!

Introducing our new column—"Goodbye to That Place"—with a gut-punch of a short piece by @lsjamison (one of OA's very first contributors!) about a home—now lost—that witnessed her childhood and adolescence in the Palisades. Read this stunning piece here: offassignment.com/gttp/leslie-ja…

"Where I practiced what I'd say to everyone on the first day of junior high. (I love how rain looks falling on water.) Where I learned what junior high was really like. Where I was quiet & angry & turned into myself." An elegy for my childhood home 💔 offassignment.com/gttp/leslie-ja…

"Where I practiced what I would say to everyone on the first day of junior high. (I love how rain looks falling on water.)" @lsjamison @OffAssignment offassignment.com/gttp/leslie-ja…

Launching our new @OffAssignment column, "Goodbye to that Place," with this stunner of an essay by @lsjamison. Please read: short & oh-so-powerful. Writers, if you have your own narrative farewell to a bygone place--start drafting, we'd love to read it. offassignment.com/gttp/leslie-ja…

Last summer, @OffAssignment's month-long “Writing the Modern Love Essay” Masters’ Series course, led by @LaviniaSpalding, gave me insight into the column’s structure & helped me answer the trickiest question: What's my unique revelation about the nature of love and relationships?