Latest Stories
Most recently published stories in Critique.
Taking a Different Approach on Valentine's Day
U.S. consumers are projected to spend nearly $28 billion on Valentine's Day this year, with $6 billion of it would be spent on jewelry. For yours truly, I've always had a huge disdain over this day, mainly because of it being too commercialized and also shames single people not being in relationships. Normally, I wouldn't disclose details about my romantic life, but I'll share some things about the last Valentine's Day I celebrated. It was Valentine's Day 2019 and received a package from my now ex-fiancé. I'll explain the ex-fiancé part in a bit. I received some roses, chocolates, and some underwear. In June of that year, he and I were engaged. Our wedding date was set for March of 2020. I was in love with him and eager to live the rest of my life with him and also take his last name. During Pride Month, he came from Wisconsin to Arkansas to attend the Pride Parade, after months of him talking to me via text. Unfortunately, at the end of October, we mutually decided to split up. It wasn't because of unfaithfulness or arguments. It was due to circumstances that made it impossible for us to be together. Don't get me wrong. We loved each other so much. The dagger that stung inside my heart was my now ex-roommate married my ex-fiancée. I'm a believer that you shouldn't date someone else's ex, because there's a good chance that it won't go well. My ex-roommate didn't respect my boundaries, and I wasn't pleased with that. I was betrayed by my ex-roommate, and I've always had suspicions that he had been lusting for the man I was with once he arrived in Arkansas for the aforementioned visit. It took me a year and a half to get over the end of my relationship, but I've since stopped speaking to my ex-roommate and I'm still good friends with my ex. He's always expressed how much he still loved me and wished we were still together. We talk every now and then, but we never stopped caring for each other. Alas, I had to move on with my life. At the time we first started talking, he was over 20 years older than me, which I had no problem with. I've always been attracted to older men, as opposed to someone my age.
By Mark Wesley Pritchard about a month ago in Critique
On a Publisher’s Refusal
There was a day in my life, a kind of point of no return, when I lost everything: an apartment, a boyfriend, all my belongings, any clear vision of my future, and, icing on the cake, my bank account was in the red. By pure chance, a man I barely knew picked me up, and we set off on a road trip. We didn’t become a romantic couple by the end of the journey, as happens in movies: we just spent a month together, and then I was on my own again. That was when I decided to write about everything that had happened to me. Since I was no longer attached to anything in this world, my ability to write was the only thing still holding me up…
By Anastasia Tsarkovaabout a month ago in Critique
Small Prophets
Introduction I enjoyed Mackenzie Crook's first series, "Detectorists" which I wrote about here: So when "Small Prophets" was announced, I was obviously tempted and was glad I was. If you have access to the BBC's iPlayer, you can watch it here:
By Mike Singleton 💜 Mikeydred about a month ago in Critique
SHE STILL GOT IT Amerie At 46 Is Still The Definition Of Fine And She's Dropping Style Tips In The Street!
Amerie is pushing 50 and still has the style and grace of women half her age. With that arresting smile and her perfect diction, she exhibits the aspects of a lady to the fullest degree.
By Skyler Saundersabout a month ago in Critique
Diaries to Nietzsche. Top Story - January 2026.
Quotation from Friedrich Nietzsche "He who wrestles long with monsters should beware lest he himself become a monster. And if you gaze long into an abyss, the abyss also gazes into you. Man is not destroyed by suffering, but by the meaning he makes of it."
By LUCCIAN LAYTHabout a month ago in Critique
The Feminine Face and American Roots of Young Russian Literature
Toward the end of the 2010s, many new authors emerged on the Russian literary scene. It was the voices of writers in their thirties that made themselves heard most strongly. Born at the twilight of the Soviet Union, they had absorbed its painful legacy with their mother’s milk before their lives took an unexpected turn. Barbies, Transformers, Disney comics, action films on VHS, the PlayStation, and finally MTV, along with access to the endless stream of information on the Internet, entered their childhood with the fall of the Iron Curtain, overturning the rigid cultural system shaped by the Soviets.
By Anastasia Tsarkovaabout a month ago in Critique
Speaking to Time Instead of the Room
Much of modern communication is oriented toward immediacy. Writing is framed as something meant to be consumed quickly, reacted to instantly, and replaced just as fast by whatever comes next. Under this model, the value of a piece is measured almost entirely by its initial reception. If it does not land immediately, it is treated as a failure. This assumption narrows the purpose of writing and misunderstands how meaning actually travels through time.
By Peter Thwing - Host of the FST Podcastabout a month ago in Critique
Katie Holmes Honors Dawson’s Creek Costar James Van Der Beek After His Death at 48. He Is Beloved.
Image credits This article includes images obtained from a third party source (people.com). James Van Der Beek and Katie Holmes appear in these images. Image credits belong to Jim Spellman for WireImage and the Everett Collection.
By James Andersonabout a month ago in Critique
What is a Valentine?
What really is a valentine? Is it flowers usually roses, but could be any variety or is it candy that comes in heart-shaped boxes or even is it just a special greeting card expressing something that may be kind of hard to write or say yourself or could it be just a little homemade card that says "I Love You Happy Valentine's Day? Is it only a day for couples what if you are a single? Could this day be for just friends too just like in elementary school without the 'party'? Just wondering and have a Happy Valentine's Day!
By Mark Grahamabout a month ago in Critique
What is a Valentine?
How many out there remember those Valentine's Day parties you had in elementary school? You know when the night before you had to buy cards some with various treats to give to all your classmates or not. In school during art class, you had to decorate paper bags somehow with hearts and whatever to depict this day lined up along the bottom of the bulletin board in the back of classroom. You would deliver these cards and place them in the bags, and then at the end of the day with ice cream, chips and cookies you would open it.
By Mark Grahamabout a month ago in Critique
Practice vs Performance
One of the quiet pressures shaping modern communication is the assumption that anything written should be immediately shareable. Drafts blur into declarations, and exploration is mistaken for conclusion. Under this pressure, writing becomes performative by default. The moment words are placed on a page, they are treated as finished statements rather than steps in a process. This expectation distorts both how writing is produced and how it is received, collapsing practice into performance and leaving little room for genuine development.
By Peter Thwing - Host of the FST Podcastabout a month ago in Critique
