Blog — Sara Schaff

The Age of Sincerity

To be called the sincerest felt like a patronizing consolation prize—good effort, kid!—when what I wanted to be was good.

Sara SchaffFebruary 11, 2024sincerity, art, creative writing, Tracy Chapman, ambitionComment

Meanwhile, Over at Saranac Review

For the last couple of months, in my capacity as editor of Saranac Review, I’ve been working with Prose Editor Gbolahan Adeola on a special issue about making art in times of crisis.

Sara SchaffFebruary 2, 2024Saranac Review, Litmag, making art, hope, crisisComment

Welcome to Lagos by Chibundu Onuzo

I found a revelatory reading experience, perfect for the moment we are in: a book about individuals with their separate hopes and fears, brought together by a need for home, hope, and the safety and support of a collective.

Sara SchaffJanuary 21, 2024Welcome to Lagos, Chibundu Onuzo, Lagos, Nigerian Fiction, Nigerian Literature, Novel, Hopeful FictionComment

Truth is the Only Real Hope

The UnReformed podcast has been in my feed for months, but I put off listening to it until last week. I knew it would be hard to listen to, but once I started, I couldn’t stop; the story is too urgent.

Sara SchaffJanuary 8, 2024Unreformed, Podcasts, Truth, Mt. Meigs, Josie Duffy Rice, juvenile detention, systemic racism, carceral systemComment

Start Again

Reading the scenes leading up to Cromwell’s execution, and reading the execution itself, my body filled with cold, hard grief. And also wonder. Because the mysticism that had touched Mantel in Sainsbury’s was reaching through the pages and living in me.

Sara SchaffJanuary 2, 2024Hilary Mantel, Reading, Rereading, Thomas Cromwell, Grief, MagicComment

New Havens

This moment is an opportunity to reflect, to change, to do better for ourselves and each other.

Sara SchaffDecember 31, 2023New Year, Community, Art, blogging, hope Comments

The Age of Sincerity: a Blog about Writing, Art, & Politics