New Stories All Stories
Seasons Episodes
Table of contents
Introduction 0 Why Write for the Public? 1 What to Expect, from Pitch to Publication 2 How to Write a Pitch 3 How To Tell a Great Story, Part 1: Structure 4 How To Tell a Great Story, Part 2: Style 5 Navigating Ethics and Reducing Harms 6 Habits of Thriving Public Anthropologists 7 Cultivating the Craft of Writing 8
Table of contents
Introduction 0 Why Write for the Public? 1 What to Expect, from Pitch to Publication 2 How to Write a Pitch 3 How To Tell a Great Story, Part 1: Structure 4 How To Tell a Great Story, Part 2: Style 5 Navigating Ethics and Reducing Harms 6 Habits of Thriving Public Anthropologists 7 Cultivating the Craft of Writing 8
In front of a window in a dark room, a pen rests on an open notebook on a desk. Yellow sunlight shines through the window and causes a glare.
essay / Ask SAPIENS

What Is Anthropological Poetry?

Christine Weeber and Justin D. Wright
SAPIENS’ poetry editor and inaugural poet-in-residence break down what makes certain poems anthropological and explore how poetry has the potential to transform ways of thinking and being in the world.
A dark building is featured with white trimmed windows, a white door, and six white columns underneath a dark clock face.
poem / Crossroads

Predominantly White Institutions’ Overtures to Black Students OR This Is What They Tell You Without Telling You

Justin D. Wright
A Black queer anthro-poet unveils the exploitative strategies of many predominantly White institutions that use BIPOC as a broom to sweep their racialized issues under the rug of "diversity."
A person bathed in green light stands under falling water in front of marble walls with bottles on a shelf behind them.
poem / Standpoints

I Carry My Grief With Me, but I Also Carry My Joy

Justin D. Wright
The domino effect of anguish and loss unmoors, but a Black poet-anthropologist carries their joy as ritual—in the palms of their hands, soft, delicate.
A painting of five framed portraits on a wall and young children in color interacting with older people who are black and white.
poem / Expressions

Lead Me to Life: Voices of the African Diaspora

Christine Weeber, Justin D. Wright, and Leah Zani
Through poetry and prose, anthropologists of the African diaspora unveil the echoes of the past in the present.
Cypress trees, yellow and purple flowers, and algae in resting water.
poem / Reflections

And You Watch as We Make Woodwater Again

Justin D. Wright
SAPIENS Poet-in-Residence Justin D. Wright speaks to the elemental craft of Black survival, photosynthesis, and sweet tea making in an anti-Black racist society.
the cookout justin wright
poem / Kinship

The Cookout (and All Other Manners of Heavenly Black Things)

Justin D. Wright
An anthropologist's poem crafts a dream of freedom, peace, and joyous celebration for Black folks who have died as a result of anti-Black and anti-queer violence.
essay / Crisis

Hush-Hush, a Pale-Horse Cometh: Mirabilis Manducat

Justin D. Wright
An anthropologist traces a lineage of plague, silence, anti-Black racism, white supremacy, and cities.
anti-black racism poetry - Philonise Floyd, brother of George Floyd, who Minneapolis police brutally killed on May 25, testifies at a hearing on police accountability held by the House Judiciary Committee.
poem / Human Rights

Siege

Justin D. Wright
A Black anthropologist's poem speaks to anti-Blackness, white supremacy, police brutality and murder, and trans/queer hate and violence.
National Lynching Memorial
poem / Human Rights

The National Lynching Memorial Speaks to My Black ’Bama Body OR Imma Be Here Forever, You Gon’ Remember This

Justin D. Wright
A SAPIENS poetry contest winner immerses themself in a new memorial dedicated to the lynching of more than 4,400 people between 1877 and 1950 in the United States.