Crimson staff writer
Emily Zhao
Latest Content
'What It Means When a Man Falls from the Sky' Balances the Weight of the World and the Lightness of Being
In the last story of her debut collection “What It Means When a Man Falls From the Sky,” Lesley Nneke Arimah writes: “Girls with fire in their bellies will be forced to drink from a well of correction till the flames die out.” Arimah’s stories are full of such girls at every stage of life, who possess every type of fire.
Salman Rushdie Presents 13th Novel, ‘The Golden House’
The conversation with world-renowned author Salman Rushdie opened by addressing the “elephant in the room”: similarities between the protagonist of Rushdie’s new novel “The Golden House” and President Donald Trump.
Springtime’s For Us
Everything comes unbolted—daily rhythms, the intent dash from heated building to heated building; relationships anchored in the needs of the semesters; perceptions of the place around us, filtered through exhaustion or habit. Warm weather makes the campus new, strange, and more ours.
Night Run
What is our obligation to not even set out to fix the wrongs of the world, but to actively seek knowledge of them in the first place? It’s not even a question of whether I’m doing enough—first, am I thinking enough?
Space Cadets
The Information Age demands data, but maybe the best information I can offer is experiential: There’s a small but tremendously positive difference to actually see sunlight first thing in the morning instead of a soulless, white, pixelated glare and in hearing snippets of bizarre, poignant, infuriating, and enlightening dialogue in passing.
Hopper Square
To be lonely is to occupy the most intimate space in the human experience, even as you feel shut out from it.
Taming of the Dimetrodon
Unlike the Dimetrodon, however, we have hope. We can learn, innovate and, most importantly, cooperate.
'All the Lives I Want' Revisits Feminization and Personhood
With a combination of personal memoir and incisive, wide-ranging analyses of pop culture from the 90s to the present day, “All the Lives I Want” shows us that scare quotes are inane.
Watch the Throne
But there’s no “should”—maybe only a hope that we can remove “should” from learning and knowledge more often and allow it a sense of luxury again.
Arts Vanity: Arts Columnist Application
Emily Zhao '19 (outgoing Columns exec) applies to be an Arts columnist. Her efforts are stunning.
Guilty Pleasures: Lil Wayne
The nadir—or maybe it was the pinnacle—of my Lil Wayne support was the $1.29 spent on “Drop the World.”
‘Fish in Exile’ Illuminates Turbid, Unexplored Depths
The impressions that last, however, will be entirely Nao’s own: all the wondrous forms she has revealed to us, the image of them luminescent, flourishing, in the seemingly dark and empty waters of grief.
In Service of Art
Incorporating art into community outreach poses challenges, but the experiences arts-based service organizations provide also offer unique fulfillment. As the roles of service and art in society remain under debate, initiatives at Harvard that meld the two areas continue to evolve, broadening arts access in surrounding communities and shaping campus artistic life.
Endpaper: Back Home in Manchuria
“Dongbei people are cu,” I’ve heard—“thick,” unrefined. I liked to fancy we were a little Visigothic, or akin to the Wildlings in “Game of Thrones.”
'Reputations' a Technical and Moral Tour de Force
In a story spanning only two days of plot-time, Mallarino and the reader successfully confront questions such as: Should one be moral if one’s surroundings require amorality to survive? What are our responsibilities in wielding power?
