Sections

Introspection

Holding Space

By Ciana J. King

Big-City Blues

Acceleration

Noteworthy Passion

Stripping on Sundays

On Bearing Witness

People’s Vegetable

I hesitate to call “Dictee” anything but an autobiography. It is nothing if not a lifetime condensed into pages, a reclamation of all that is lost in translation.

Dear Junior Year

My grief didn’t shrink — I don’t know that it ever will — but my heart expanded.

The Big Bangs Theory

As I felt pounds of my hair slide off my head, I cast my mind wildly for a positive spin on my new reality. But I could latch on to only one thing: At least this would be the beginning of something new.

How Not to Be a Big Sister

Looking back, I realized that because I had tried to be the perfect long-distance sibling, I had turned myself into someone unrelatable and distant. I thought that because they looked up to me, I should only show the parts of myself that were worth admiring. Instead, I wondered if the best thing I could do for them was to be totally honest.