Category: BOOK REVIEWS

REVIEW: FOUR IN HAND BY ALICIA MOUNTAIN (BOA EDITIONS)

“Four in Hand is a unique and challenging collection that, in many ways, uses the structures of the system to highlight the myriad flaws in that system.” – Ronnie K. Stephens

REVIEW: FANTASY OF LOVING THE FANTASY BY JENNIFER FUNK (BULL CITY PRESS)

“Fantasy of Loving the Fantasy is a collection that warps the mind of the reader in the most magnificent of ways as the reader comes to terms with the fantasy of this 21 st century living, this world where men still exert immeasurable control.”-A.R. Arthur

REVIEW: MUSIC HAS FAILED US BY IB — (SPOKEN WORD POETRY ALBUM)

“Nigerian spoken word poet IB reflects on the ultimate question: “What is the Nigerian dream?”.”-Chris L. Butler

REVIEW: HAVE YOU BEEN LONG ENOUGH AT THE TABLE BY LESLIE SAINZ (TIN HOUSE)

“Have You Been Long Enough at the Table is essential reading for anyone concerned with Latinx poetics and the diasporic experience, but it will resonate just as powerfully for those who turn to poetry as a space of introspection and healing.” – Ronnie K. Stephens

REVIEW: PIG BY SAM SAX (SCRIBNER)

Sam Sax follows up their award-winning collection Bury It with Pig, a staggeringly layered collection that meditates on the many iterations of the pig, literally and figuratively. – Ronnie K. Stephens

REVIEW: CHOOSING TO BE SIMPLE: COLLECTED POEMS RED PINE BY TAO YUANMING (COPPER CANYON PRESS)

“I believe that Yuanming’s words speak to the complex psyche that exists within each and every one of us. This complexity of imagination is not time specific and only allows the reader to empathize further as this collection unfolds.”-A.R. Arthur

REVIEW: ALL SOULS BY SASKIA HAMILTON (GRAYWOLF PRESS)

“The collection, published posthumously, combines fragments, prose, and traditional verse, all of which give the book competing elements of incompleteness and finality.” – Ronnie K. Stephens

REVIEW: FLARE, CORONA BY JEANNINE HALL GAILEY (BOA EDITIONS)

“Flare, Corona is an essential addition to disability poetics, a collection that offers an unashamed and deeply vulnerable window into chronic illness.” – Ronnie K. Stephens

REVIEW: SOFT APOCALYPSE BY LEAH NIEBOER (UNIVERSITY OF GEORGIA PRESS)

“Soft Apocalypse is a collection of poetry that challenges the desecration of individualized humanity and the rampant ruination of collective humanity throughout this planet.”-A.R. Arthur

REVIEW: THE FERGUSON REPORT: AN ERASURE BY NICOLE SEALEY (KNOPF)

“Sealey highlights the potential violence beneath the interaction with deft efficiency.” – Ronnie K. Stephens

REVIEW: SNAKEDOCTOR BY MAURICE MANNING (COPPER CANYON PRESS)

“Snakedoctor by Maurice Manning is a sonorous collection that makes use of varying styles and forms that intrigue the reader and tantalize one’s senses.”-A.R. Arthur

REVIEW: NOT QUITE AN OCEAN BY ELIZABETH M. CASTILLO (NINE PENS POETS)

    Not Quite an Ocean by Elizabeth M. Castillo is a collection of poetry that speaks for the divine feminine and to the vapid undercurrents that constantly threaten. Castillo makes great use of the ocean as a metaphor both to affirm the notion that undercurrents are always there just

REVIEW: WEST: A TRANSLATION BY PAISLEY REKDAL (COPPER CANYON PRESS)

“West: A Translation presents the reader with unknown parallels, lived experiences and harsh realities forced onto many during the era of the Chinese Exclusion Act. Rekdal challenges the acceptance of this oppression whilst criticizing the disposability presented by white American legislation and governmental ambition that can only be said to be dangerously propagated by capitalist demands and pressures.” – A.R. Arthur

REVIEW: OTHERLIGHT BY JILL MCELDOWNEY (YES YES BOOKS)

“Mceldowney makes the reader contend with the stark reality that we often ignore in favor of living freely without fear of that assured ending, that sudden shift into the unknown. For this alone Mceldowney should be commended.” – A.R. Arthur

REVIEW: MARE’S NEST BY HOLLY MITCHELL (SARABANDE BOOKS)

Holly Mitchell offers one of the most unassuming debuts in recent memory, quietly yet faithfully interrogating life on a Kentucky horse farm and coming of age in the American South. Mare’s Nest is quiet, but never meek, a tone that mirrors the implied strength of every mare that graces its pages. – Ronnie K. Stephens

REVIEW: THE KINGDOM OF SURFACES BY SALLY WEN MAO (GRAYWOLF PRESS)

The Kingdom of Surfaces is a book that will pull readers back again and again, offering new perspectives and insights each time they revisit a poem. Sally Wen Mao reasserts her place among the most celebrated writers of our time with her expansive and philosophical third collection. I, for one, can’t wait to see what she does next. – Ronnie K. Stephens

REVIEW: THE THIRD RENUNCIATION BY MATTHEW E. HENRY (NYQ BOOKS)

“The Third Renunciation by Matthew E. Henry is a collection of sonnets that presents the theological in a way in which the reader is made to ruminate on their own faith and understanding of the divine, the religious and the unknown.” – A.R. Arthur

REVIEW: THE DIASPORA SONNETS BY OLIVER DE LA PAZ (LIVERIGHT PRESS)

Celebrated author Oliver de la Paz returns with his sixth full-length collection, The Diaspora Sonnets (Liveright Press, 2023), a brilliant follow-up to the cerebral and touching The Boy in the Labyrinth. – Ronnie K. Stephens

REVIEW: I DONE CLICKED MY HEELS THREE TIMES BY TAYLOR BYAS (SOFT SKULL PRESS)

Award-winning poet Taylor Byas offers one of the summer’s best collections with her full-length debut, I Done Clicked My Heel Three Times, from Soft Skull Press. – Ronnie K. Stephens

REVIEW: STILL FALLING BY JENNIFER GROTZ (GRAYWOLF PRESS)

Still Falling, the fourth collection from Jennifer Grotz, is a brief and impossibly rich exploration of loss, grief, and the unfettered will to endure. – Ronnie K. Stephens

REVIEW: EPHEMERA BY SIERRA DEMULDER (BUTTON POETRY)

Readers familiar with DeMulder’s work will be at home with Ephemera, which taps into her keen ability to balance trauma with inner peace. – Ronnie K. Stephens

REVIEW: POR SIEMPRE BY JOSE OLIVAREZ AND ANTONIO SALAZAR (HAYMARKET BOOKS)

Together, these two artists offer a starkly beautiful celebration of border communities that resists the tropes and mischaracterizations pervading American politics. – Ronnie K. Stephens

REVIEW: I DO EVERYTHING I’M TOLD BY MEGAN FERNANDES (TIN HOUSE)

Megan Fernandes offers an impressive third collection with I Do Everything I’m Told, a striking and complex exploration of the human condition. – Ronnie K. Stephens

REVIEW: I’M ALWAYS SO SERIOUS BY KARISMA PRICE (SARABANDE BOOKS)

I’m Always So Serious is among the best debuts in American poetry, and Price has established herself as one of the most preeminent voices of her generation. – Ronnie K. Stephens

REVIEW: I AM THE MOST DANGEROUS THING BY CANDACE WILLIAMS (ALICE JAMES BOOKS)

I Am the Most Dangerous Thing is an accessible and multifaceted debut that never shies away from its mission, to dismantle the systems that characterize queer Black bodies as inherently dangerous. – Ronnie K. Stephens

REVIEW: RADIOACTIVE WOLVES – AMY ROA (STEEL TOE BOOKS)

Amy Roa’s Radioactive Wolves is an intriguing collection, full of adventure, ponies, unicorns… and the struggle to survive the nagging hardship of the world. – Michael Imossan

REVIEW: IF SOME GOD SHAKES YOUR HOUSE – JENNIFER FRANKLIN (FOUR WAY BOOKS)

Franklin releases a fine collection, laced with the feminist struggle for freedom from patriarchy, love, loss, death, the finality of things, grief. – Michael Imossan

REVIEW: BLOODPATHS – SATURN BROWNE (KITH BOOKS)

The debut chapbook of a young, burgeoning talent in the broader literary sphere, Browne utilizes content, form, and structure in natural harmony to baptize us in the arteries of our lands. – Helena Pantsis

REVIEW: GENERAL RELEASE FROM THE BEGINNING OF THE WORLD – DONNA SPRUIJT-METZ (PARLOR PRESS)

Spruijt-Metz deftly explores the complexities of memory, healing, and the divine, delving into the profound connection between the present moment and beyond. – Martins Deep

REVIEW: MINOR POETS: VOLUME 1 – EDITED BY JOSHUA BENNETT AND JESSE MCCARTHY (PENGUIN CLASSICS)

Minor Poets: Volume 1 is a carefully curated anthology that presents key figures in Black poetics who deserve a place in conversations around American poetry. – Ronnie K. Stephens

REVIEW: BUFFALO GIRL – JESSICA Q. STARK (BOA EDITIONS)

Buffalo Girl is one of the most nuanced, complex and unique collections of the year. – Ronnie K. Stephens

REVIEW: VOZ – JENNIFER JEAN (LILY POETRY REVIEW)

Voz is a collection filled with adventures, beaches and forgiveness. – Michael Imossan

REVIEW: SALT WATER DEMANDS A PSALM BY KWEKU ABIMBOLA (GRAYWOLF PRESS)

This is a collection that far exceeds what readers might expect from a debut, quickly situating Abimbola as a preeminent and philosophical voice in American poetry. – Ronnie K. Stephens

REVIEW: THE ALPINIST SEARCHES LONELY PLACES – KYLE VAUGHN (BELLE POINT PRESS)

Kyle Vaughn opens us to how desire and hunger can be both holy and unholy. – Michael Imossan

REVIEW: READING BERRYMAN TO THE DOG – WENDY TAYLOR (BELLE POINT PRESS)

Taylor’s newest is a bold affirmation of denial which is the first stage of grieving, how one refuses to acknowledge the “dead overrunning one’s street”. – Michael Imossan

REVIEW: PROMISES OF GOLD BY JOSE OLIVAREZ (HENRY HOLT AND COMPANY)

Olivarez is particularly masterful at writing from a place of vulnerability, exposing his flaws without ever leaning into self-deprecation. – Ronnie K. Stephens

REVIEW: THE WEATHER GODS – SARAH ETLINGER (BARCLAY PRESS)

Etlinger’s The Weather Gods lives in the in-between—somewhere in the middle of ghosts and spirit, love and loss, memories and moments. – Michael Imossan

REVIEW: STANDING IN THE FOREST OF BEING ALIVE BY KATIE FARRIS (ALICE JAMES BOOKS)

Katie Farris balances grace and strength perfectly, offering poems that will linger with readers for days at a time. – Ronnie K. Stephens

IN GROWN-UP ELEMENTARY, D’MANI THOMAS GIFTS AGENCY – KB BROOKINS

Thomas gives readers the rare occasion to listen to, not judge or direct, the kid that lives in all of us. – KB Brookins

REVIEW: TRACE EVIDENCE BY CHARIF SHANAHAN (TIN HOUSE)

Trace Evidence is intensely complex and immediate, layered and poignant, positioned perfectly as a deeply personal and yet deeply relatable collection. – Ronnie K. Stephens

REVIEW: DOOM SCROLL – MATTHEW GUENETTE (UNIVERSITY OF AKRON PRESS)

Matthew Guenette navigates through past and present tragedies in a way that envisages the future. – Michael Imossan

REVIEW: COMPOSITION BY JUNIOUS WARD (BUTTON POETRY)

Junious Ward is masterful with his language, yes, but he also manages to present a collection in which every poem offers something structurally and linguistically unique. – Ronnie K. Stephens

REVIEW: THE BODY PROBLEM – MARGARET WACK (ORISON BOOKS)

Margaret Wack’s dexterity is sprawled across the pages of her debut collection which is vivid, intense and heartwarming. – Ejiro Edward

REVIEW: THROWN IN THE THROAT – BENJAMIN GARCIA (MILKWEED EDITIONS)

This collection impeccably displays Garcia’s particular style and his skillful execution of it through his mastery of words. – Bella Ciraco

REVIEW: HOW TO MAINTAIN EYE CONTACT BY ROBERT WOOD LYNN (BUTTON POETRY)

A searing collection that encapsulates the full spectrum of the human experience….It is one of the best chapbook length collections in American letters. – Ronnie K. Stephens

REVIEW: CHROME VALLEY BY MAHOGANY L. BROWNE (LIVERIGHT PUBLISHING)

Browne has repeatedly asserted herself as one of the most preeminent voices in America, and her work has always been unflinching and vulnerable. – Ronnie K. Stephens

REVIEW: BAD OMENS – JESSICA DRAKE THOMAS (QUERENCIA PRESS)

The reader is transported into the heart of myth by Jessica’s uncanny ability to capture its essence, with such depth that it is both haunting and indelible.  – Martins Deep

REVIEW: THE NAKED ROOM BY WILLA SCHNEBERG (BROADSTONE BOOKS)

Add Schneberg to the list of authors you turn to, in your own crises and in the crises of others. – Ronnie K. Stephens

REVIEW: THE MAKER OF HEAVEN & – JASON MYERS (BELLE POINTE PRESS)

Jason treats all subject matter with such delicateness that it proves almost impossible for language to account for them. – Michael Imossan

REVIEW: HOPE IS A SILHOUETTE – LANA McDONAGH (WORDVILLE PRESS)

One finds themselves trying to determine if they’re more drawn to the art illustrations or the rhythmic flow but one thing is sure, hope is a silhouette is brilliant. – Ejiro Edward

REVIEW: DEAR OUTSIDERS – JENNY SADRE-ORAFAI (UNIVERSITY OF AKRON PRESS)

There is no way one can literally navigate the waters of reminiscence, loss and nostalgia the way Jenny Sadre-Orafai does it in her collection Dear Outsiders. I say literally because the poet exhibits the trait of a thalassophile—the inescapable need to be and live by the sea. In the collection,

REVIEW: THE COMMONPLACE MISFORTUNES OF EVERYDAY PLANTS – RENEE EMERSON (BELLE POINT PRESS)

Review by Ejiro Edward   “I’ve stopped taking pictures of my surviving children. I take pictures of the snow, and what the snow covers”.  from Family therapy The author of Church Ladies, Renee Emerson has released yet another engrossing masterpiece to the world.  In the poetry collection of  The Commonplace

REVIEW: UNSHUTTERED BY PATRICIA SMITH (NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY PRESS)

I hold my breath to tempt the light. This portrait should engage the interest of some decorous and cultivated gent accustomed to the ways of wooing. All my life I’ve sent so many men so many signals, just to be upstaged…   From “7” Patricia Smith reasserts herself as one

REVIEW: DIVINATION WITH A HUMAN HEART ATTACHED – EMILY STODDARD (GAME OVER BOOKS)

Armed with surrealism, Stoddard breaks free from the constraints of reality in order to tap into the realm of the irrational and dreamlike. – Martins Deep

REVIEW: A TINDERBOX IN THREE ACTS – CYNTHIA DEWI OKA (BOA EDITIONS)

Astronauts claim it takes leaving earth   to know earth, how alone and woven we are, o zone, how   wondrously thin   the layer of glow defending us from obliteration. From “March in the Garden of Ghosts” Cynthia Dewi Oka draws on newly classified documents around the 1965 genocide

REVIEW: JUDAS GOAT – GABRIELLE BATES (TIN HOUSE)

Gabrielle Bates is one part rock star, one part bard, offering a debut that perfectly balances an unflinching, badass attitude with the practiced precision of an experienced student of poetics. – Ronnie K. Stephens

REVIEW: LYING IN – ELIZABETH METZGER (MILKWEED EDITIONS)

Told from a standpoint of bed rest, Elizabeth Metzger analyzes how the body pays the price of bearing something as fragile as another self twice as susceptible to vulnerability. – Martins Deep

REVIEW: SWEET, YOUNG, AND WORRIED – BLYTHE BAIRD (BUTTON POETRY)

Baird truly pours her heart onto each page, and it can be felt beating in every single word. – Isabella Ciraco

REVIEW: FROM FROM – MONICA YOUN (GRAYWOLF PRESS)

From From offers an opportunity to consider what it means to be an American, to reach inside oneself to critically examine the ways in which western ideology has impacted colonization and racial identity. – Catie L. Young

REVIEW: SYMMETRY OF FISH – SU CHO (PENGUIN BOOKS)

Su Cho’s The Symmetry of Fish is a summon into experience, adventure, loss, sadness, pain and enlightenment. – Michael Imossan

REVIEW: URBANSHEE BY SIAARA FREEMAN (BUTTON POETRY)

Siaara Freeman shrieks and wails, but she also knows when to pull back, when to whisper and when to let the blank space reverberate like the ghost of a storm – Ronnie K. Stephens

REVIEW: KILLING IT – GAJA RAJAN (BLACK LAWRENCE PRESS)

As is typical of confessionalism, the poet flings all caution in the face of the bull. They are the red flag, the matador, and the dust that refuses to settle. – Martins Deep

REVIEW: A HOME TO CROUCH IN – HUGH BLANTON (CAJON MUTT PRESS)

In A Home To Crouch In, Blanton introduces readers to the life of an urban recluse speaker who finds solace in a bottle of cheap liquor and a poetry book in his rundown apartment. – Caleb Jones

REVIEW: GROCERY SHOPPING WITH MY MOTHER – KEVIN POWELL (SOFT SKULL PRESS)

The emotional language and distinct structure in Kevin Powell’s collection will leave you with a new perspective on love, injustice, and devotion to your people that will make your sorrows soothed and your soul uplifted. – Isabella Ciraco

REVIEW: SHE HAS VISIONS – CARLA SARETT (MAIN STREET RAG)

She Has Visions packs quite the punch for the reader in realizing the everyday challenges in learning to overcome grief and loss. – Sydney Norton

REVIEW: NAMING THE GHOST – EMILY HOCKADAY (CORNERSTONE PRESS)

This ghost, this fear as depicted by the poet is seen to be ever present; constantly walking through the poet’s bones, becoming alive again in every breath and in every “gust” as the poet affirms “we know the ghost is here”. – Michael Imossan

REVIEW: BORROWING YOUR BODY – LAURA PASSIN (RIOT IN YOUR THROAT)

Through Passin’s use of varying structures, consistent diction, powerful imagery, and unique metaphors, it will seem… you are borrowing her body and feeling it as your very own. – Ciraco

REVIEWS: O – ZEINA HASHEM BECK (PENGUIN POETS)

Zeina Hashem Beck quickly and repeatedly establishes herself as one of the most talented formal technicians in contemporary poetry – Ronnie K. Stephens

THE STUDY OF HUMAN LIFE – JOSHUA BENNETT (PENGUIN POETS)

Bennett has established himself as an intensely patient and deliberate writer capable of upending genre as seamlessly as he upends our understanding of the world. – Ronnie K. Stephens

REVIEW: CONCENTRATE – COURTNEY FAYE TAYLOR (GRAYWOLF PRESS)

Taylor aptly grounds the collection in lived experience, humanizing Harlins and deliberately avoiding the familiar tropes that so often flatten Black trauma. – Ronnie K. Stephens

REVIEW: THE WORLD KEEPS ENDING, AND THE WORLD GOES ON – FRANNY CHOI (ECCO)

Choi leaves nothing on the table, offering a collection that will satisfy students of poetry and casual readers with equal fervor. – Ronnie K. Stephens

REVIEW: BETWEEN EVERY BIRD, OUR BONES – EMET EZELL (NEWFOUND)

The equation is one, in which, survival and domestic intimacy, are constants. It is true then, that emet ezell was first, a witness, before being identified as a poet. – Martins Deep

REVIEW: CONSTELLATION ROUTE – MATTHEW OLZMANN (ALICE JAMES BOOKS)

Olzmann’s choice to fully immerse himself in the epistle offers a chance to display his range of voice, to give space to seemingly disparate social inequities, to remain constantly intimate in his conversation with the reader. 

REVIEW: SO TALL IT ENDS IN HEAVEN – JAYME RINGLEB (TIN HOUSE)

Debut author Jayme Ringleb has mastered the art of language that yearns, of metronomic white space that beats with all the quiet inevitability of an unrequited heart. – Ronnie K. Stephens

REVIEW: UNRAVELING – BRANDON LEAKE (SIMON AND SCHUSTER)

This collection of poems is a mosaic of mirrors, reflecting the innerman with the wavelength of an x-ray. – Martins Deep

REVIEW: A LITTLE SMALLER THAN THE FINAL QUARK – CARSON PYTELL (BULLSHIT LIT)

Refreshingly amusing poetry that captures the fallibility of human experience––and with witty titles. – Caitie L. Young

REVIEW: NIGHT SWIM – JOAN KWON GLASS (DIODE EDITIONS)

“This collection is a testament to love beyond mortal remains, beyond the bleak stillness of nights and days consumed by stages of grief….” – A.R. Salandy

REVIEW: ALIVE AT THE END OF THE WORLD – SAEED JONES (COFFEE HOUSE PRESS)

Jones reaffirms his place as one of the most talented living poets writing in English with this collection, demonstrating an ever-evolving mastery of language and a distinct eye for structural balance. – Ronnie K. Stephens

REVIEW: A SHIVER IN THE LEAVES – LUTHER HUGHES (BOA EDITIONS)

His use of structure, rhythm and extended metaphor are among the best, and his particular utilization of the crow throughout A Shiver in the Leaves sets this debut apart as one of the most layered, complex collections of the year. – Ronnie K. Stephens

REVIEW: EVERY POEM A POTION, EVERY SONG A SPELL – STEPHANIE PARENT (QUERENCIA PRESS)

She brought me back to when I was a little girl, feeling very much alone, seeking refuge in books that I didn’t know yet would have been with me while growing up. – Valentina Lenardi

REVIEW: LOTUS & THE APOCALYPSE – AUSTIN DAVIS (OUTCAST PRESS)

It’s a testament to all of us holding depression and joy in both hands, to everyone that has ever felt their world could end before the sun goes down. – Caitie L. Young

REVIEW: MAGNOLIA – NINA MINGYA POWLES (TIN HOUSE)

The poems are clearly the work of someone who has dedicated significant time to craft, & who approaches language like an anthropologist or philosopher might. – Ronnie K. Stephens

REVIEW: THE WET HEX – SUN YUNG SHIN (COFFEE HOUSE PRESS)

At the heart of the poem is an image of the author’s passport, effectively bridging mythos and history to highlight a long and violent legacy of colonialism and its impact on colonized peoples. – Ronnie K. Stephens

REVIEW: SO, STRANGER – TOPAZ WINTERS (BUTTON POETRY)

Winters offers a layered and thoughtful critique of the immigrant experience in America, the nuances of her relationship with her father and how borders operate in our lives. – Ronnie K. Stephens

TPQ20: S3EP7 – I.S. JONES

Join Chris in a sitdown with I.S. Jones, author of Spells of My Name, and Editor at Frontier Poetry, about passions, process, pitfalls, and Poetry! 

REVIEW: DIARIES OF A TERRORIST – CHRISTOPHER SOTO (COPPER CANYON PRESS)

Soto’s poems are meant to be rough, triggering at times, and cut straight to the point. Readers can’t help but understand the message, empathize, and feel like we’re supposed to fix things ourselves.

REVIEW: LET THE DEAD IN – SAIDA AGOSTINI (ALAN SQUIRE PUBLISHING)

The language, lyrically dispensed in its distinct style, portrays bravery and reveals a poet whose voice is both an ache and a cure. – Martins Deep

REVIEW: YOUR EMERGENCY CONTACT HAS EXPERIENCED AN EMERGENCY – CHEN CHEN (BOA EDITIONS LTD)

The risk of centering a speaker who is, at times, painfully self-involved is significant, but Chen balances these sentiments with frequent moments of grace, desire and appreciation. – Ronnie K. Stephens

REVIEW: TIME IS A MOTHER – OCEAN VUONG (PENGUIN PRESS)

Vuong uses structure to further disrupt linear fluidity. His poems frequently utilize a style of enjambment that eschews natural speech, presenting fragments that time and again force the reader forward. – Ronnie K. Stephens

REVIEW: ALL THE BLOOD INVOLVED IN LOVE (HAYMARKET BOOKS)

Maya Marshall’s debut interrogates the current sociopolitical nature and its threat to reproductive rights, choice, and Blackness. – Caitie L. Young

REVIEW: ALL THE FLOWERS KNEELING – PAUL TRAN (PENGUIN POETS)

Paul Tran’s long-awaited debut collection, All the Flowers Kneeling, is a fierce reminder that Tran is one of the most talented and visceral poets writing in America today. – Ronnie K. Stephens

REVIEW: THE MASK – ELISABETH HORAN (THE BROKEN SPINE)

This shows Kahlo’s defiance as both lasting and as the catalyst for her own breaking point. Even when exploring Kahlo’s death, Horan stays true to the voice she has established for Kahlo. – Elisabeth Horan

REVIEW: DEAR GOD. DEAR BONES. DEAR YELLOW. – NOOR HINDI (HAYMARKET BOOKS)

Dear God. Dear Bones. Dear Yellow. is the divine feminine’s wrath with no apologies, and yes, you should say thank you. – Lyra Thomas

REVIEW: REVENGE BODY – RACHEL WILEY (BUTTON POETRY)

These poems rip at the meat, bone, and marrow of aspects of the institution that has settled in the hearts and minds of our societal zeitgeist. – Melissa Ferrer

REVIEW: THE TREES WITNESS EVERYTHING – VICTORIA CHANG (COPPER CANYON PRESS)

Each section speaks to a specific season, emphasizing the passage of time and its effect on our understanding of the world around us. – Ronnie K. Stephens

REVIEW: PS – PENN KEMP & SHARON THESEN (GAP RIOT PRESS)

Perhaps we have all, as in the poem, lost someone and looked up, perceived heaven, and asked for a sign, a response, but were left only in our wonder. – Cait L. Young

REVIEW: THE HURTING KIND – ADA LIMÓN (MILKWEED EDITIONS)

If I was going to try and convince someone that poetry is our most important verbal art, I would start with The Hurting Kind. – Ronnie K. Stephens

REVIEW: WHAT IS OTHERWISE INFINITE – BIANCA STONE (TIN HOUSE PRESS)

These are poems that do not lend themselves to passive reading, but rather demand deep internal reflection and renewed engagement with the most basic, unanswerable questions of human existence. – Ronnie K. Stephens

REVIEW: A PRAYER FOR A NON-RELIGIOUS AUTISTIC – LUCAS SCHEELK (MASON JAR PRESS)

Scheelk offers first-hand accounts of the effects of misdiagnosis, queer identity, and the intersections of these as an autistic person. – Caitie L. Young

REVIEW: THE BODY MYTH – HANNAH LAND (THE HUNGER JOURNAL)

The Body Myth (The Hunger Journal) by Hannah Land is beauty in words, harmonic sounds and striking imagery, all to narrate an all too familiar painful story. – Valentina Lindardi