How are you supposed to know what to read next? This is the question that keeps us up at night, so at Day One our mission is to feed an audience of literature-hungry, time-constrained readers like you with a weekly lineup of talented authors, poets, and artists that we believe you will love. And if we can identify some of the next generation of literary stars, and cultivate an appreciation for transformative poetry and fiction, then frankly we will sleep better at night.

~ Carmen Johnson

Carmen Johnson Authors Day One Poetry Reading Writers

The chance that you will become a master in something after the first attempt is neither here nor there. You don't get master's degree by attending school on the first day! Time will tell, so you got to persist!

~ Israelmore Ayivor

Israelmore Ayivor 1St 1St Day Attempt Chance College Day One Don T Give Up Endurance Endure First First Attempt First Day Food For Thought Graduate Israelmore Ayivor Keep It Up Master Masters Degree Never Give Up Perseverance Persevere Persist Persistence School Time Time Tells

I can’t help but imagine what that would be like—to be all alone on this island with eternity taunting me with loneliness. To say goodbye to the last human you will ever see—there is no crueler hand of fate.

~ Jennifer Arnett

Jennifer Arnett Alone Day One Deserted Island Eternity Fate Jennifer Arnett Loneliness

A billion stars above us coat the sky white. It would have been beautiful back home, but not here. Here it is the ever present reminder that we are all alone and insignificant.

~ Jennifer Arnett

Jennifer Arnett Day One Deserted Island Insignificant Stars

We don’t vanish without a trace. We are not like animals, content with burrows in the ground. We are not very skilled at survival without clothing or tools. Our feet are soft, our skin is easily cooled, and our stomachs are too weak to drink water straight from a stream. We must create in order to survive. We build cities, aqueducts, and shields, for we must in order to have an edge over the beasts of the field. And so, wherever humans have tread their covered feet, their path never vanishes without a trace.

~ Jennifer Arnett

Jennifer Arnett Animals Day One Jennifer Arnett Raison D Être Survival Vanish

But every tomorrow has led to today— to us being alone, hungry, and cold on an unknown island somewhere in the South Pacific.

~ Jennifer Arnett

Jennifer Arnett Cold Day One Deserted Island Hungry Jennifer Arnett South Pacific Today Tomorrow