Kim Dana Kupperman

Featuring multiple narrators, each essay is brought uniquely and vivdly to life. “The essayist needs the objective world,” writes M. Gessen, the guest editor of The Best American Essays 2026, asking, “But does the objective world need the essayist?” There is no straightforward answer to...

A collection of the year’s best essays, selected by Pulitzer Prize–winning critic Wesley Morris and series editor Kim Dana Kupperman. “Imparting some piece of yourself—any part—is arduous and warrants some kind of commendation,” writes guest editor Wesley Morris in his introduction...

“The essay has taught me how to live,” writes Jia Tolentino, this year’s Best American Essays guest editor. In a time of escalating authoritarianism and disinformation, we turn to artists and writers to make sense of the world around us. The twenty-one authors featured in this collection...