Author

Kari Howard

@karihow

I'm the woman who left a dream job as Column One editor at the Los Angeles Times because I wanted to move to Maine. Go figure how happiness works. Former editor of Nieman Storyboard. I love music almost as much as (and sometimes more than) beautiful storytelling, so expect to see that here too.

Reflections on the challenges and triumphs of masculinity in changing times

Reflections on the challenges and triumphs of masculinity in changing times

EDITOR’S NOTE: Authentic profiles are among the most rewarding, challenging and essential of journalistic art forms, requiring an alchemy of relationship, grit and elegance. The most successful often involve a…
May 17, 2019

“sweet spring is your time is my time is our time for springtime is lovetime and viva sweet love”

Why is it great? You know how it seems like spring will never arrive, you wait and you wait, and it’s dreary and cold, and then suddenly, in one day,…
April 18, 2018
"London is a very dangerous subject for a writer, because it will always betray you"

“London is a very dangerous subject for a writer, because it will always betray you”

This week we pay tribute to London, a city that seems like it’s being pulled in two directions: toward its tremendous past and its wildly creative yet uncertain future. As…
April 13, 2018

“The Sun specializes in short items unlikely to tax the mental capacities of its target audience: one-paragraph news articles, one-sentence paragraphs, one-word sentences.”

Why is it great? Well, first of all, it comes from the great Sarah Lyall, who was the longtime London correspondent for The New York Times. She has such a…
April 11, 2018
Sharing a cup of tea with London blogger "The Gentle Author"

Sharing a cup of tea with London blogger “The Gentle Author”

The writer behind the popular Spitalfields Life blog talks about intimacy, forming a community and a deep love for the East End
April 10, 2018
Point of view: a powerful narrative tool

Point of view: a powerful narrative tool

Point of view is a powerful narrative tool. Take, for example, the Newest Americans project that we spotlighted this week. For some politicians and hate-mongerers, immigrants are a scourge. But…
April 6, 2018

“Remember, remember always, that all of us, and you and I especially, are descended from immigrants and revolutionists.”

Why is it so great? When I was looking for a One Great Sentence dealing with immigration, I was struck by the differences between America’s two presidents named Roosevelt. In…
April 4, 2018
Ida B. Wells and Roxane Gay -- fierce women of color born a century apart, writing of difficult truths

Ida B. Wells and Roxane Gay — fierce women of color born a century apart, writing of difficult truths

Looking back at this week’s posts, I was struck by the similarities between two of the writers we spotlighted. Ida B. Wells was a brave, pioneering investigative journalist who fought…
March 30, 2018

“I’d rather go down in history as one lone Negro who dared to tell the government that it had done a dastardly thing than to save my skin by taking back what I said.”

Why is it so great? I found this quote from the absolutely amazing Ida B. Wells after The New York Times righted an old wrong by publishing her obit —…
March 28, 2018
As spring begins, a last look at winter and its juxtaposition of beauty and hardship

As spring begins, a last look at winter and its juxtaposition of beauty and hardship

This week we celebrated the vernal equinox, this moment of rebirth and hope as we ease out of winter. (Of course, New England got hit with another snowstorm, as if…
March 23, 2018