I have read many craft books, taken gobs of writing classes and read all manner of literature. In my personal time, I tend toward writing that challenges me as a reader and inspires me to try new things. I love hybrid work, which is disinterested in being placed solidly within a single genre. As such, I am already a good audience for the literary journal BRINK. 

Now, BRINK Books is publishing full-length works of hybrid literature. The first book they published is Malleable and True: A Hybrid Craft Anthology from BRINK Literary Journal — an anthology of mixed-genre writing, a craft book and a workbook. I have nothing to compare it to except a few really niche craft books like A Swim in a Pond in the Rain by George Saunders or Meander, Spiral, Explode by Jane Alison.

Malleable and True collects 21 pieces of writing from 21 different, established authors in the hybrid genre. Each of these pieces was originally published in an issue of BRINK. Sections of the book titled “ENGAGE” ask each of the authors to explain their process — how the specific piece was written, what they were thinking when they were writing it and how they approach a non-traditional form.

This alone is pretty novel; there aren’t any craft anthologies that I can think of that go this in-depth with the subject, and there are certainly no hybrid craft anthologies that I can think of at all. 

But it’s the next step, the “GENERATE” section, which makes this book particularly compelling (especially given that hybrid work is often not something that will lend itself well to print). Each contributor to the anthology gives the reader an assignment. The assignment relates to the writer’s own piece and their own process in developing that particular piece of writing. The “assignment” is not necessarily tied to the medium that each writer used, suiting readers who want to stick closer to their comfort zone.

Malleable and True is not meant to be read in a single sitting. To give both yourself and the book proper attention, I’d recommend taking your time with a piece per day or per week. As much as I want to quote my favorite pieces and summarize their “GENERATE” sections’ takeaways, that wouldn’t express the true value of this collection, which comes from the whole package. (It would also take more than half a page in this magazine). Hybrid writing is consistently sidelined in the literary world, but BRINK encourages writers to create whatever, and however, they’re moved to create.

In the foreword from editor Alisha Jeddeloh, she notes (better than I can) why this book is important: “By publishing hybrid writing, we empower voices previously kept silent because their stories were too messy and too complicated for print … These diverse voices and methods of storytelling make not only our art but our communities stronger.”

This article was originally published in Little Village’s November 2025 issue.