Writing and Writers

The past year has been difficult for many people. The pandemic, the politics, the job loss and the isolation — most Americans have had to find some new coping mechanisms to make it through. Here’s one: erasure poetry.Creativity can be healing in difficult times, but it’s not always easy to tap into those creative juices.…

Another lens through which to look at language? The Times’s Upshot team used data analysis to create the interactive “The Words Men and Women Use When They Write About Love,” pictured above. It mines the language of four years of Modern Love essays. What questions does it raise for you?You can see graphs the team…

In your comment, do your best to document your process of learning this word. This could include guessing the word’s definition incorrectly (or correctly!), making a personal connection to the word, or offering a compelling explanation for why the word intrigued you. The best submissions will capture memorable encounters between a student and a new…