Arianne Zwartjes reads from her essay, “Cities of Broken Teeth, Cities of Dust and Blood” from Witness Magazine’s Fall/Winter 2020 Issue. Our readers were drawn into this thought-provoking and lyric work in which Zwartjes explores devastation in the wake of human cruelty and violence in times of war. It is an artful composition at a heartbreaking timbre; we hope you settle in for this compelling look at what remains.

Arianne Zwartjes teaches for Sierra Nevada University’s low-residency MFA program. In her other life she has worked as a wilderness-medicine instructor, an EMT, and a carpenter. She is the author of the lyric nonfiction, medical-humanities book Detailing Trauma: A Poetic Anatomy. Her writing won the 2011 Gulf Coast Nonfiction Prize, was a Best American Essays Notable Essay, and has appeared in Tarpaulin Sky, Kenyon Review, The Southern Review, and other publications. Find her at ariannezwartjes.com.

Twitter: @arizwartjes
Instagram: @ariannezwartjes