By Ellen Estilai | Contributing Columnist

I often think that if I could take my nutrients in pill form, I would have much more time for important tasks like reading and writing. When I do make time for literary pursuits, I frequently find myself reading and writing about food, especially memoirs that read like cookbooks or cookbooks that double as flash memoirs.

Food is connection, and writing about food can be an effective way to connect with readers and provide a door into a deeper story. Sara Spurgeon’s braided essay “Start with Overripe Bananas,” in the August 2025 issue of the literary journal, The Sun, is a great example. Paragraphs alternate between detailed instructions for making the ubiquitous and prosaic banana bread (“Push your fork firmly down through the bananas, crushing

See Full Page