A new literary journal arrives on the scene with unpublished works from such superstars as Dave Eggers, Louise Erdrich, Haruki Murakami, and others. In this inaugural edition of Freeman’s, a new biannual of unpublished writing, former Granta editor and NBCC president John Freeman brings together the best new fiction, nonfiction, and poetry about that electrifying moment when we arrive. Strange encounters abound. David Mitchell meets a ghost in Hiroshima Prefecture; Lydia Davis recounts her travels in the exotic territory of the Norwegian language; and in a Dave Eggers story, an elderly gentleman cannot remember why he brought a fork to a wedding. End points often turn out to be new beginnings. Louise Erdrich visits a Native American cemetery that celebrates the next journey, and in a Haruki Murakami story, an aging actor arrives back in his true self after performing a role, discovering he has changed, becoming a new person. Featuring startling new fiction by Laura van den Berg, Helen Simpson, and Tahmima Anam, as well as stirring essays by Aleksandar Hemon, Barry Lopez, and Garnette Cadogan, who relearned how to walk while being black upon arriving in NYC, Freeman’s announces the arrival of an essential map to the best new writing in the world. “A terrific anthology . . . Haruki Murakami, David Mitchell and a host of other lively writers let loose their imaginations in editor John Freeman’s first outing with a new literary journal that is sure to become a classic in years to come.” —San Francisco Chronicle

Featuring new work from Rebecca Makkai, Aleksandar Hemon, Rachel Khong, Louise Erdrich, and more, the tenth and final installment of the boundary-pushing literary journal Freeman’s, which explores all the ways of coming to an end Over the course of ten years, Freeman’s has introduced the English-speaking world to countless writers of international import and acclaim, from Olga Tokarczuk to Valeria Luiselli, while also spotlighting brilliant writers working in English, from Tommy Orange to Tess Gunty. Now, in its last issue, this unique literary project ponders all the ways of reaching a fitting conclusion. For Sayaka Murata, keeping up with the comings and goings of fashion and its changing emotional landscapes can mean being left behind, while in her poem “Amenorrhea,” Julia Alvarez experiences the end of a line as menstruation ceases. Yet sometimes an end is merely a beginning, as Barry Lopez meditates while walking through the snowy Oregonian landscapes. While Chinelo Okparanta’s story “Fatu” confronts the end of a relationship under the specter of new life, other writers look towards aging as an opportunity for rebirth, such as Honorée Fanonne Jeffers, who takes on the role of being her own elder, comforting herself in the ways that her grandmother used to. Finally, in his comic story “Everyone at Dinner Has a Max von Sydow Story,” Dave Eggers suggests that sometimes stories don’t have neat or clean endings—that sometimes the middle is enough. With new writing from Sandra Cisneros, Colum McCann, Omar El Akkad, and Mieko Kawakami, Freeman’s: Conclusions is a testament to the startling power of literature to conclude in a state of beauty, fear, and promise.

“A necessary piece in a literary California collection” with new work from Tommy Orange, Rabih Alamdeddine, Mai Der Vang, Jennifer Egan, and others (Los Angeles Times). From immigration rights to climate change, California has been ground zero for the most crucial questions of our time. In a bravura essay, Rabih Alamdeddine remembers bartending during the worst years of the AIDS crisis. William T. Vollmann visits the Carr fire and discovers that gas masks are the new normal. Natalie Diaz describes growing up in the desert and remaking her body on the basketball court. Award-winning journalist Lauren Markham revisits her family’s tales of their arrival in a town built by a con man on stolen land. Karen Tei Yamashita tells of a Japanese-American man going to Hiroshima after the bomb dropped, writing letters home. Reyna Grande witnesses her mother never adapting after migrating from Mexico. Tommy Orange conjures a native man so lost and broke he’s either going to rob a bank or end his life—but love might rescue him. Rachel Kushner sings a hymn to the danger and beauty of cars. And since the Beat movement, California has also given birth to an explosion of poetry. New poems by Frank Bidart, Robin Coste Lewis, D.A. Powell, and recent poet laureate Juan Felipe Herrera join newcomers Mai Der Vang and Javier Zamora in this investigation and celebration of California writing. Featuring new work from Héctor Tobar and Jennifer Egan, Oscar Villalon and Anthony Marra, Geoff Dyer and Elaine Castillo, Freeman’s: California will become a benchmark for California anthologies before and to come. “In this collection, California in all its glorious complexity comes vividly to life.” —Kirkus Reviews

“A superb anthology” on the theme of sanctuary with original work by Viet Thanh Nguyen, Edwidge Danticat, Aleksandar Hemon and more (Kirkus Reviews). The third literary anthology in the series that has been called “ambitious” (O Magazine) and “strikingly international” (Boston Globe), Freeman’s: Home, continues to push boundaries in diversity and scope, with stunning new pieces from emerging writers and literary luminaries alike, including in this edition Leila Aboulela, Barry Lopez, Amira Hass, Emily Raboteau, Kjell Askildsen, and many others. “This edition of Freeman’s manages to do what the world off the page cannot: provide a place where diversity can safely reside. A sanctuary for stories…Home is often the stories of others. Let these poems, shorts and stories guide you to what is your home.”—Literary Hub

This volume of the acclaimed literary journal explores the hope and pain of an ever-changing present with new work by Lauren Groff, Ocean Vuong, and more. The Covid-19 pandemic forced many of us to reimagine our homes, work, and relationships. And yet, in this period of intense isolation, we faced dilemmas which are nearly universal. How to love, to care for aging parents, to fight for justice. This vast range of experiences is captured by our greatest storytellers, essayists, and poets, in this issue of Freeman’s: Change. In Joshua Bennett’s essay, a Coltrane playlist sets the stage for early morning dances with his newborn son as they watch the sun come up. In Lina Mounzer’s “The Gamble,” a father’s incessant hope for a better life festers and sinks the whole family after they leave Lebanon during the Civil War. In Kamel Daoud’s heartbreaking tale, a widow’s attempt to retreat into the unchanging past edits her son right from her reality. And in “Final Days,” Sayaka Murata imagines a future without aging, where people must choose how and when they want to die. With new writing from Julia Alvarez, Sandra Cisneros, Zahia Rahmani, Yoko Ogawa, Yasmine El Rashidi, Lina Meruane, and Aleksandar Hemon, and featuring work from never-before-published writers like Elizabeth Ayre, Freeman’s: Change opens a window into the many-sided ways we adapt.

A diverse anthology of new fiction, essays, poetry, and photography exploring the subject of family from this “illustrious new literary journal” (Vogue.com). Following his acclaimed debut issue of collected writing on the theme of “Arrival,” the renowned editor and critic John Freeman circles a topic of constantly shifting definitions and endless fascination for writers: family. In an essay called “Crossroads,” Aminatta Forna muses on the legacy of slavery as she settles her family in Washington, DC—a place where she is routinely accused of cutting in line when she stands next to her white husband. Award-winning novelist Claire Vaye Watkins delivers a stunning portrait of a woman in the throes of postpartum depression. Booker Prize winner Marlon James takes the focus off absent fathers to write about his mother, who calls to sing him happy birthday every year. Novelist Claire Messud’s writes of the two four-legged tyrants in her home; Sandra Cisneros muses about her extended family of past lovers; and Aleksandar Hemon tells the story of his uncle’s desperate attempt to remain a communist despite decades in the Soviet gulag. With outstanding, never-before-published pieces of fiction, nonfiction, and poetry from literary heavyweights and up-and-coming writers alike, Freeman’s: Family collects the most amusing, heartbreaking, and probing stories about family life emerging today.

New work from Tommy Orange, Anne Carson, Louise Erdrich, and others propels this tribute to love from Freeman’s, “a powerful force in the literary world” (Los Angeles Times). In a time of contentiousness and flagrant abuse, it often feels as if our world is run on hate. Invective. Cruelty and sadism. But is it possible the greatest and most powerful force is love? In the newest issue of this acclaimed series, Freeman’s: Love asks this question, bringing together literary heavyweights like Tommy Orange, Anne Carson, Louise Erdrich, and Nobel Prize winner Olga Tokarczuk alongside emerging writers such as Gunnhild Øyehaug and Semezdin Mehmedinovic. Mehmedinovic contributes a breathtaking book-length essay on the aftermath of his wife’s stroke, describing how the two reassembled their lives outside their home country of Bosnia. Richard Russo’s charming and painful “Good People” introduces us to two sets of married professors who have been together for decades, and for whom love still exists, but between the wrong pair. Haruki Murakami tells the tale of a one-night stand that feels like a dying sun. Together, the pieces comprise a stunning exploration of the complexities of love, tracing it from its earliest stirrings, to the forbidden places where it emerges against reason, to loss so deep it changes the color of perception. In a time when we need it the most, this issue promises what only love can bring: a solace of complexity and warmth. “The anthology packs an emotional wallop from the start.” —Shelf Awareness