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Rahawa Haile

Rahawa Haile

Oakland, CA
Rahawa Haile is an Eritrean American writer from Miami. Her work covers culture, borders, and the outdoors. In Open Country, her hybrid memoir about the Appalachian Trail and the politics of free movement in the US, is forthcoming from Little, Brown.
Sep 30
A row of mailboxes in rainbow colors, behind a banner reading The Scratch Mailbag.

Scratch Reader Mailbag: What Does a Literary Scout Do?

We’re bringing you craft book recommendations and the basics of lit scouting.
5 min read
Sep 23
Landscape photo thick with lush green trees in the foreground and gentle sloping mountains in the background. There are a couple of low-hanging clouds toward the right.

How Three Writers Are Coping With the World Right Now

A September roundup of books, articles, and photos.
9 min read
Aug 27
A blonde white woman in a pink rhinestone suit sits at a black grand piano on a dark stage.

Dolly Parton Loved Being Dolly Parton

It was one of the most important aspects of her art.
5 min read
Aug 12
A 17th-century woodcut showing a pact being made between witches and a winged Devil.

Legacy Media Wants to Hire You (No, Not You)

Not me either, but that's OK.
5 min read
Jul 29
The top of a brown moving box that reads "Bedroom: Rahawa Books"

A Summer of Books and Boxes

No one hates books more than someone who loves books too much and has to pack them for a move.
6 min read
Jun 03
A collage of images, featuring in center, a white woman with short dark hair wearing a white sleeveless top and resting head on hand. Surrounded by book covers and magazine clips.

The Scratch Interview #5: Colette Shade on Y2K and the Limits of a Millennial Writing Career

“In order to have a society — frankly, a democracy — we have to have these areas that are protected from the market.”
20 min read
Apr 29
Multiple clipped headlines from various news sources are collaged together with rianbow colors and filters over a dark grey background.

List Full of Daggers

What we stand to lose when paperback nonfiction disappears.
14 min read