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
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
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
Good Grief, the Ground is a stupefyingly brilliant collection filled with poems that echo the thunderstorms that crop up like clockwork. – Ronnie K. Stephens
Franklin releases a fine collection, laced with the feminist struggle for freedom from patriarchy, love, loss, death, the finality of things, grief. – Michael Imossan
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
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
Buffalo Girl is one of the most nuanced, complex and unique collections of the year. – Ronnie K. Stephens
Voz is a collection filled with adventures, beaches and forgiveness. – Michael Imossan
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
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
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
Katie Farris balances grace and strength perfectly, offering poems that will linger with readers for days at a time. – Ronnie K. Stephens
Thomas gives readers the rare occasion to listen to, not judge or direct, the kid that lives in all of us. – KB Brookins
Matthew Guenette navigates through past and present tragedies in a way that envisages the future. – Michael Imossan
Margaret Wack’s dexterity is sprawled across the pages of her debut collection which is vivid, intense and heartwarming. – Ejiro Edward
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
Jason treats all subject matter with such delicateness that it proves almost impossible for language to account for them. – Michael Imossan
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
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
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
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
It’s so embarrassing
How we used to be friends
To now I don’t care if it ends
Past making amends
– Reggie Johnson
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
She Has Visions packs quite the punch for the reader in realizing the everyday challenges in learning to overcome grief and loss. – Sydney Norton
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
Zeina Hashem Beck quickly and repeatedly establishes herself as one of the most talented formal technicians in contemporary poetry – Ronnie K. Stephens
Join Chris in conversation with former United States Poet Laureate and author of Musical Tables (Random House), Billy Collins, about passions, process, pitfalls, and Poetry!
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.
Overdue for a reset
Been climbing mountains and mountains
But I haven’t peaked yet
Still gotta eat yet
– Reggie Johnson
Who’s gonna love you
If you can’t love yourself
Because the actions that you did
Were bad for my mental health
– Reggie Johnson
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
Join Chris in a sitdown with Maya Marshall, author of All the Blood Involved in Love and an Editor at Haymarket Books, about passions, process, pitfalls, and poetry!
Join Chris in a sitdown with Brian Tierney, the author of Rise and Float (Milkweed), about passions, process, pitfalls, poetry, and a whole lot of music!
Join Chris in a sitdown with Esteban Rodriguez, author of Ordinary Bodies (word west press 2022), about passions, process, pitfalls, and poetry! LISTEN IN HERE Esteban Rodríguez is the author of six poetry collections, most recently Ordinary Bodies (word west press 2022), and the essay collection Before the Earth
It happens every blue moon
When it aligns, we eclipse
I love everything about you
Fingertips to your lips
– Reggie Johnson