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Independent Literary Review · Est. 2015

“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness…”

— Dickens, A Tale of Two Cities
Literary criticism for the serious reader


This Week’s Picks

The Covenant of Water
Literary Fiction
The Covenant of Water
Abraham Verghese
★★★★★

“A multigenerational saga of breathtaking scope—Verghese writes about love and loss with the precision of a surgeon and the heart of a poet.”

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Crying in H Mart
Memoir
Crying in H Mart
Michelle Zauner
★★★★★

“A devastating, gorgeous memoir about grief, identity, and the way food holds memory. Every sentence feels earned.”

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The Silk Roads
History
The Silk Roads
Peter Frankopan
★★★★☆

“A dazzling reorientation of history that places the East at the center of world civilization where it has always belonged.”

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2015 – 2025
Inaugural Edition
Announcing
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Inaugural Edition · A Decade of Literary Excellence

Ten years of independent literary review, distilled into a single prize. The Writers Review Meridian Award honors the books and authors that defined a decade of extraordinary reading—and the critics bold enough to champion them.

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Meet Our Editors

MC

M. Chen
Fiction · Literary Fiction

“Every great novel is a conversation across time. My job is to introduce you to the other side.”

DO

D. Okafor
Memoir · Biography

“The best memoirs teach us something about ourselves we didn’t know we needed to learn.”

SP

S. Park
Poetry · Essays

“Poetry refuses to be rushed. I give it the time and silence it deserves.”


Independent · Since 2015
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