Articles & Media
I Feel Safest (re Covid) in My Own Hospital
When it comes to Covid, our patients seem to be moving on. We healthcare workers, however, don’t have that option, as Covid is now the third leading cause of death in the U.S. Covid may not be the only thing on our mind as it was at the outset, but it’s still part of every staff meeting, every communication, every clinical day. More
Being a Nurse and a Patient
Join Danielle Ofri for a fascinating interview with Theresa Brown, RN, about her new book, “Healing: When a Nurse Becomes a Patient.” Brown has been an oncology nurse and a hospice nurse, as well as an op-ed writer for the New York Times and author of two best-sellers: “The Shift” and “Critical Care. More
Covid: Primary Sources
The Covid Pandemic at Two Years: A conversation about creativity in the face of a global pandemic, from both artists and healthcare workers who experienced it firsthand. More
“What Patients Say, What Doctors Hear” in Japanese
こんにちは Kon’nichiwa! Beacon Press is excited to announce that “What Patients Say, What Doctors Hear” is now available in Japanese! More
“What Patients Say, What Doctors Hear” in Chinese
你好 Nǐ hǎo! Beacon Press is excited to announce that “What Patients Say, What Doctors Hear” is now available in Chinese! More
“What Doctors Feel” in Chinese
你好 Nǐ hǎo! Beacon Press is excited to announce that “What Doctors Feel” is now available in Chinese! More
The Beauty of Medical Language
The clinical language is so dry that it sticks in my throat like the grits they used to serve in our hospital cafeteria. It handily abides by our hospital’s infection control guidelines; the writing is so sterile that nary a staphylococcus could hope to achieve mitosis in its midst. It is as though the practitioners of the scientific literature of medicine reached a covert agreement to ban even the slightest of hint of creativity, the slimmest suggestion of beauty. Of course, it was not always that way… More
Imagining Vesalius
While we typically envision the brain as a palpable whole, the spidery latticework of nerves is a more ephemeral affair. At best the nerves come across as limp linguini, flopping languidly over whatever bone, muscle or organ offers a convenient landing pad. Seeing the nervous system entirely disembodied is revelatory. More
Words That Move Us
From beloved songs to unforgettable headlines, from great speeches to hilarious jokes, and beyond, what are the words that move you? Danielle Ofri in conversation with Black Thought, Josh Gondelman and Ammon Shea. More
Covid Vaccination: the Last Mile
The COVID vaccine engenders a unique obstinacy that seems to blot out conversation. We doctors and nurses are exhorted to listen to our hesitant patients and hear their concerns, but this is difficult to do when patients don’t even want to talk. More
NPR’s ShortWave podcast
Emily Kwong interviews NPR Arts Reporter Neda Ulaby about her story on Danielle Ofri and BLR’s 20th Anniversary for the ShortWave Podcast. More
NPR’s Morning Edition
NPR’s Neda Ulaby interviews Danielle Ofri and Celeste Ng on “Morning Edition” about BLR’s 20th Anniversary (and how a literary journal came to be founded in a storied public hospital). More
BLR Turns 20!
For 20 years, Bellevue Literary Review has been at the forefront of publishing at intersection of healthcare and the arts. For 20 years, Bellevue Literary Review has been at the forefront of publishing at intersection of healthcare and the arts. BLR publishes fiction, poetry, & nonfiction about health, illness, and healing. Watch the historic celebration. Co-hosted by BLR editor-in-chief Danielle Ofri and actor Kelly AuCoin More
White Hot Light
Frank Huyler was different than the other doctor-writers I’d been reading. His patients weren’t named, not even with pseudonyms. They weren’t meticulously described with MFA-honed adjectives. His language seemed ordinary, his sentence structures plain. There was no thesaurus lurking just beyond the page. But it was not a literary laziness. It was a seduction. More
Florence Nightingale in the Age of Covid-19
May of 2020 marked the 200th anniversary of the birth of Florence Nightingale. That her bicentennial fell during a worldwide pandemic is both illuminating and ironic. Nightingale’s experience as a nurse during the Crimean War led her to three insights that came to define her professional life, insights as revolutionary as they were unpopular. More
