Review

One might already know about Brevity’s place in the literary world, the fact that they’ve been at it for nearly two decades and have published many luminaries in the course of sharing their vision of nonfiction with the world, but one would probably still be surprised (and excited) to see a nonfiction essay by Roxane Gay, “Black in Middle America” starting off the latest issue.

The essay is a revelation, at once measured and explosive, showing in detail what POC deal with by simply being alive in the Midwest, Gay’s existence either serving as amusement in largely-Finnish...