Essays
The considered pieces — on why she writes the things people bury, what the books are really about, and the subjects that make a room go quiet. These stay here.
Why I write the things we bury
Yolanda Kinlock on why she writes betrayal, vengeance, and the private disasters people pretend are unique.
Read the essay → On the workInside Torn Lives: three stories, one question
A guide to the three novellas in Torn Lives by Yolanda Kinlock: betrayal, intimate violence, and vengeance that looks like justice.
Read the essay → On the workLove before vengeance — and after it
On Love Before Vengeance, Yolanda Kinlock’s novel of affection, deception, and the bill that comes due.
Read the essay → On the workPoems of Reality: when the life will not stay in prose
On Poems of Reality, Yolanda Kinlock’s 2016 collection that treats lived experience as evidence.
Read the essay → The deskBrooklyn, John Jay, and the long way to the desk
Yolanda Kinlock on Brooklyn, criminology at John Jay, and the long apprenticeship behind the books.
Read the essay → On craftThe stories we look away from
Why Yolanda Kinlock writes the hard subjects other people would rather not name — and why she trusts her readers to sit with them.
Read the essay → EssayCompassion is not the same thing as letting someone go free
Yolanda Kinlock on judgment, compassion, and why forgiveness is not amnesia.
Read the essay → EssayAnimals are not trophies
Yolanda Kinlock on why a culture that treats a living thing as a prize rarely stops at the animal.
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