Cracks in the Sidewalk

He was about her age, twentysomething; he was also, somewhere under his filthy clothes and exploding dirty hair, good-looking. Handsome even. Drug addict, she concluded. Any second her Uber would be here.

Alizah Hashmi’s When We Fell in Love

Unlike non-fiction or journalistic writing, fiction challenges norms more implicitly. I have always found audiences to be more receptive to, and empathetic towards, fiction. I appreciate fiction that is raw and brave, that sensitizes people towards truths they otherwise refuse to confront.