PUBLISHING IN THE TIME OF COVID-19

Anger at friends who refused to wear masks and social distance inspired Colorado writer Johanna Levene to write “An Open Letter to My Lactose Intolerant Friend Regarding My COVID Intolerance,” a witty short piece published in McSweeney’s Internet Tendency (09/30/20).

“My family is being incredibly careful because we’re co-quarantining with my parents, who are both older,” she says. “Friends for whom we’ve made dietary accommodations in the past are unwilling to make accommodations for us in a universal pandemic. I didn’t want to write an angry rant no one was going to read, so I took a humorous approach.”

That approach is exactly what editor Christopher Monks was looking for. In the early months of the pandemic, he received between 400 and 500 submissions weekly. “We’d get dozens upon dozens of things a week piece gets published: They were funny and well-crafted. But also they tapped into the frustration, worry, anger, and fear we all were (still are!) experiencing and thus were easy to connect and empathize with.”