The New Nonfiction 2026
Essays by debut authors Nita Noveno, Phill Branch, Megan O’Grady, Joseph Trinidad, and Elena Dudum, as well as excerpts from their books.
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Essays by debut authors Nita Noveno, Phill Branch, Megan O’Grady, Joseph Trinidad, and Elena Dudum, as well as excerpts from their books.
Haunted houses are often depicted as decrepit manses with crumbling Victorian architecture, sitting on top of hills, surrounded by creepy dark woods, isolated from civilization. The house in Brenda Iijima’s second novel, Shelter Is Necessary for Existence (Two Dollar Radio, 2026), is set instead in a densely populated, affluent brownstone neighborhood in Brooklyn, New York, and is haunted by the ghosts of previous tenants and psychogeographical history, as well as its new owners’ preoccupations and paranoias. Write a story set in a haunted home located in a neighborhood that doesn’t lend itself to conventional spooky tropes. Start with a scene of exploration or discovery of something that formerly went unnoticed, in or around the home. How might gentrification, exploitation, or constant construction contribute to a sense of dread as elements of psychological horror seep into your story?
Dressed up as a witty, dramatic page-turner, Deesha Philyaw’s first novel, The True Confessions of First Lady Freeman, forthcoming in September, is at heart a withering critique of church and patriarchy.
The third novel by Min Jin Lee, American Hagwon, is an epic story of families, schools, and societal change, offering its readers a deeply personal education in the pressures, passions, and pulses of the human heart.
An author outlines her technique for developing a writing calendar that turns aspirations into deadlines met and builds a professional writing life.