Over the past twenty years, The Walrus has been a steady bellwether of must-read writing. For our 20th anniversary, we’ve collected works that still surprise us, impress us, move us.
Here are some of the best memoirs that we’ve published.
We Want a Black Poem
BY AUSTIN CLARKE
In search of an interview with James Baldwin, a young Canadian immigrant experiences the intensity of Harlem in the 1960s—and ultimately finds Malcolm X
My Life and Death on Opioids
BY CHRIS WILLIE
In November 2017, The Walrus started working with Chris Willie on a memoir about his fentanyl addiction. While writing the article, Willie died from an overdose. This version of his story is published with his family’s approval
How I Remember My Brothers
BY TROY SEBASTIAN / NUPQU ʔA·Kǂ AM̓
Growing up, I never knew two of my brothers—but I could picture them
Playing God
BY RICHARD KELLY KEMICK
I sold my wife’s clothes to build a Christmas village in my parents’ basement
When My Wife Developed Alzheimer’s, the Story of Our Marriage Kept Us Connected
BY STEPHEN TRUMPER
To prepare for a future of losing her, bit by bit, I began reciting a love letter
The Truth about Wanting to Die
BY ANNA MEHLER PAPERNY
Suicide is scary and messy and exhausting, Anna Mehler Paperny writes in her new book. And we need to be far more honest about it
After Two Decades on Antidepressants, Who Am I?
BY EMILY LANDAU
I was diagnosed with a mental illness at age eleven and joined one of the first generations to grow up on prescription pills
