EXPRESS YOURSELF

Why Writing Matters, Even in a Pandemic

We won’t forget all the mundane intricacies of life during the time of Covid-19 — thanks to the personal essay

Demonstration at the Red Cross Emergency Ambulance Station in Washington, D.C., during the influenza pandemic of 1918. / Photo: Library of Congress

The reliance of contemporary journalism, particularly online journalism, on the personal essay has been the subject of criticism and sometimes revulsion — often…