Elena Varg

“Nothing was fine, despite how other people reasoned away her worries and anger, said that this was just how things were, that things would get better, that she really needed to calm down and not be so angry, that she really should be grateful and happy, that happiness was a choice, that she was privileged and bratty and wanted too much all at once.”
― Rachel Yoder, Nightbitch

“Whenever I looked upon a peaceful scene, it seemed to be part of my DNA to superimpose miserable images over what I saw. Hideous images became superimposed over a relaxed, happy landscape. Shards of glass, blood dotting my white sneakers and the cement floor, skin stinging as if I'd been sprayed with salt, cows stumbling and dying, a long mirror showing the backs of cancer patients, people burning up in flames, women wailing, acid rain, and my body scattering in all directions.”
― Kang Young-sook, At Night He Lifts Weights

“I knew better than to challenge him; even the word 'Negro' was already some concession to my ideas because he preferred to use a more offensive term and wait, chin raised, for a reaction.”
― Sarah Moss, Ghost Wall

“Am I afraid of something? If I had pursued that thought, I would have easily come to a conclusion. No one reads my diary, so I don't have to worry about what anyone will think. But stories are different. They're written to be read—even if you're alone during the writing process, eventually another pair of eyes is supposed to see it. I couldn't face that inevitability.”
― Kotomi Li, Solo Dance