#TPQ5: KATHERINE D. MORGAN
#TPQ5: KATHERINE D. MORGAN
What will Katherine D. Morgan, author of the debut chapbook “No Self-Respecting Woman”, include in today’s #TPQ5? Find out inside! Continue reading #TPQ5: KATHERINE D. MORGAN
Tag: poetry
REVIEW: 10 POEMS ABOUT BEES (CANDLESTICK PRESS)
The poems here are grounded and quaint. They’re not necessarily trying to say anything larger than themselves, and that’s why I enjoyed them so much. Continue reading REVIEW: 10 POEMS ABOUT BEES (CANDLESTICK PRESS)
#TPQ5: JENNIFER WORTMAN
#TPQ5: JENNIFER WORTMAN
What will Jennifer Wortman, author of the story collection This. This. This. Is. Love. Love. Love (Split Lip Press, 2019), include in today’s #TPQ5? Find out inside! Continue reading #TPQ5: JENNIFER WORTMAN
#TPQ5: ANNABEL MAHONEY
#TPQ5: ANNABEL MAHONEY
What will Annabel Mahoney, EIC of Wellington Street Review & Creative Director of Royal Rose Magazine, include in today’s #TPQ5? Find out inside! Continue reading #TPQ5: ANNABEL MAHONEY
REVIEW: AMUSE GIRL – HANNAH RAYMOND-COX (BURNING EYE BOOKS)
REVIEW: AMUSE GIRL – HANNAH RAYMOND-COX (BURNING EYE BOOKS)
The reader finds themself met with images of Mr. Roger’s Neighborhood and cobblestone streets, sex scenes and outbreaks of disease. Continue reading REVIEW: AMUSE GIRL – HANNAH RAYMOND-COX (BURNING EYE BOOKS)
#TPQ5: KEVIN DENSLEY
#TPQ5: KEVIN DENSLEY
What will Kevin Densley, whose Orpheus in the Undershirt, was published by Ginninderra Press, include in today’s #TPQ5? Find out inside! Continue reading #TPQ5: KEVIN DENSLEY
POWER OF POETRY #69: KIRBY
Omg. In my lifetime, moms were actually accused and hated, disabused themselves, for “making their sons homos.” Continue reading POWER OF POETRY #69: KIRBY
#TPQ5: KAREN AN-HWEI LEE
#TPQ5: KAREN AN-HWEI LEE
What will Karen An-Hwei Lee, author of two novels, Sonata in K (Ellipsis 2017) and The Maze of Transparencies (Ellipsis 2019), include in today’s #TPQ5? Find out inside! Continue reading #TPQ5: KAREN AN-HWEI LEE
#TPQ5: NISHA BHAKOO
#TPQ5: NISHA BHAKOO
What will Nisha Bhakoo, who is currently editing a Gothic Anthology for The Emma Press, include in today’s #TPQ5? Find out inside! Continue reading #TPQ5: NISHA BHAKOO
#TPQ5: SUSAN RICHARDSON
#TPQ5: SUSAN RICHARDSON
What will Susan Richardson, Best of the Net Nominee, include in today’s #TPQ5? Find out inside! Continue reading #TPQ5: SUSAN RICHARDSON
POWER OF POETRY #68: ALEXUS ERIN
Poems can express themselves as fixed and as plastic, as grounded in space and liminal, heterotopic. They can be lively and spectral- palms kissing at the intersection of here and every elsewhere imaginable. Continue reading POWER OF POETRY #68: ALEXUS ERIN
#TPQ5: VIRGIL KAY
#TPQ5: VIRGIL KAY
What will Virgil Kay, the Editor of Fowlpox Press, include in today’s #TPQ5? Find out inside! Continue reading #TPQ5: VIRGIL KAY
#TPQ5: LAUREN DAVIS
#TPQ5: LAUREN DAVIS
What will Lauren Davis, author of Each Wild Thing’s Consent (Poetry Wolf Press), include in today’s #0? Find out inside! Continue reading #TPQ5: LAUREN DAVIS
#TPQ5: SAMUEL DODSON
The Inevitable Gift Shop – Will Eaves This collection of mini vignettes of fiction and non fiction, as well as poetry, is beautifully written and frequently hilarious– “really what tortoises teach you about is abusive relationships”. It’s a book that demands to be read and re-read – and then re-read again; both front to back, back to front, and in all other manner of combinations. … Continue reading #TPQ5: SAMUEL DODSON
#TPQ5: ANNE LEIGH PARRISH
#TPQ5: ANNE LEIGH PARRISH
What will Anne Leigh Parrish, whose fourth novel, Maggie’s Ruse, releases this October from Unsolicited Press, include in today’s #TPQ5? Find out inside! Continue reading #TPQ5: ANNE LEIGH PARRISH
#TPQ5: CATHERINE GRAHAM
#TPQ5: CATHERINE GRAHAM
What will Catherine Graham, an award-winning Toronto-based writer, include in her #TPQ5? Find out inside! Continue reading #TPQ5: CATHERINE GRAHAM
#TPQ5: DANIELLE ROSE
#TPQ5: DANIELLE ROSE
What will Danielle Rose, the managing editor of Dovecote Magazine, include in today’s #TPQ5? Find out inside! Continue reading #TPQ5: DANIELLE ROSE
#TPQ5: PAUL BROOKES
What will Paul Brookes, editor of the Wombwell Rainbow Interviews, include in today’s #TPQ5? Find out inside! Continue reading #TPQ5: PAUL BROOKES
REVIEW: FIELD NOTES ON ORDINARY LOVE – KEITH WILSON (COPPER CANYON PRESS)
It’s a study in being a spectator. Viewing life and love like bird watching. Like waiting for something to happen, to change, but not knowing what it is, or what it’s changing. Continue reading REVIEW: FIELD NOTES ON ORDINARY LOVE – KEITH WILSON (COPPER CANYON PRESS)
#TPQ5: SASCHA AKHTAR
What will Sascha A. Akhtar, author of three published poetry collections with Salt, Shearsman & ZimZalla UK, include in today’s #TPQ5? Find out inside! Continue reading #TPQ5: SASCHA AKHTAR
#TPQ5: JOHN WILKS
#TPQ5: JOHN WILKS
What will John Wilks, editor of Cerasus Poetry, include in today’s #TPQ5? Find out inside! Continue reading #TPQ5: JOHN WILKS
#TPQ5: CLAIRE WALKER
What will Claire Walker, co-editor of Atrium poetry webzine, include on today’s #TPQ5? Find out inside! Continue reading #TPQ5: CLAIRE WALKER
REVIEW: EVEN CURSES END – CATHERINE GARBINSKY (ANIMAL HEART PRESS)
There is a way to not hide among the trees. A way to say no. A way to take the power back. A way to not be eaten by those you bring into your space – or who bring themselves into yours. Because, you can conquer anything. Continue reading REVIEW: EVEN CURSES END – CATHERINE GARBINSKY (ANIMAL HEART PRESS)
#TPQ5: RACHEL CRUEA
#TPQ5: RACHEL CRUEA
What will Rachel Cruea,
a poetry editor for GASHER, include in today’s #TPQ5? Find out inside! Continue reading #TPQ5: RACHEL CRUEA
#TPQ5: PETER THABIT JONES
What will Peter Thabit Jones, recipient of many awards, including the Eric Gregory Award for Poetry (The Society of Authors, London), include in today’s #TPQ5? Find our inside! Continue reading #TPQ5: PETER THABIT JONES
REVIEW: EVERYTHING MUST GO – KEVIN COVAL (HAYMARKET BOOKS)
There is a distinct musicality to the poems, syllables punctuated and softened by an underlying rhythm that echoes both hip hop and the long history of oral performance in poetry. Continue reading REVIEW: EVERYTHING MUST GO – KEVIN COVAL (HAYMARKET BOOKS)
#TPQ5: THOMAS McCOLL
What will Thomas McColl, whose first full collection of poetry, Being With Me Will Help You Learn, was published in 2016, include in today’s #TPQ5. Find out inside! Continue reading #TPQ5: THOMAS McCOLL
REVIEW: EVEN THE SAINTS AUDITION – RAYCH JACKSON (BUTTON POETRY)
We are the children of those who falter and call us by the wrong name. But we still believe. We still think there is hope. We still practice prayer because, by God, “I’m not dead yet.” Continue reading REVIEW: EVEN THE SAINTS AUDITION – RAYCH JACKSON (BUTTON POETRY)
POWER OF POETRY #67: GIVING VOICE – CHRISTINE BRANDEL
POWER OF POETRY #66: GIVING VOICE – CHRISTINE BRANDEL
“When I was growing up, the term for people who didn’t talk was dumb.” Continue reading POWER OF POETRY #67: GIVING VOICE – CHRISTINE BRANDEL
#TPQ5: KERRY JAMES EVANS
What will Kerry James Evans, the recipient of a 2015 NEA Fellowship, and Walter E. Dakin Fellowship from Sewanee Writers’ Conference, include in today’s #TPQ5? Find out inside! Continue reading #TPQ5: KERRY JAMES EVANS
POWER OF POETRY #66: CATHERINE GARBINSKY
I mean that “The Journey” by Mary Oliver changed the way that I thought about my own voice and value. Walt Whitman’s “Leaves of Grass” brought me back to the world… Continue reading POWER OF POETRY #66: CATHERINE GARBINSKY
#TPQ5: NORB AIKIN
What will Norb Aikin, author and a Mental Health Advocate, include in today’s #TPQ5? Find out inside! Continue reading #TPQ5: NORB AIKIN
REVIEW: LATE FATHER & OTHER POEMS – TAYLOR MALI (QUERCUS REVIEW PRESS)
This was written for a glass of whisky, late at night, in front of the fire with a photo album. This was written to share at the baby’s graduation and wedding. This is a reminder of mislabeled key collections and dreams realized. This is important. This is personal. Continue reading REVIEW: LATE FATHER & OTHER POEMS – TAYLOR MALI (QUERCUS REVIEW PRESS)
#TPQ5: ASHLEY WAGNER
#TPQ5: ASHLEY WAGNER
What will Ashley Wagner, Edith of Ligeia, include on today’s #TPQ5? Find out inside! Continue reading #TPQ5: ASHLEY WAGNER
#TPQ5: DANIEL COWPER
What will Daniel Cowper, author of a poetry collection, Grotesque Tenderness, include in today’s #TPQ5? Find out inside! Continue reading #TPQ5: DANIEL COWPER
#TPQ5: OLIVER de la PAZ
What will Oliver de la Paz, author of five books of poetry including his most recent, The Boy in the Labyrinth, have in today’s #TPQ5? Find out inside! Continue reading #TPQ5: OLIVER de la PAZ
#TPQ5: A.W. FRENCH
What will A.W. French, host of Page Fright: A Literary Podcast, include in today’s #TPQ5? Find out inside! Continue reading #TPQ5: A.W. FRENCH
#TPQ5: DARREN C. DEMAREE
What will Darren C. Demaree, author of eleven poetry collections, most recently “Emily As Sometimes the Forest Wants the Fire”, include in today’s #TQP5? Find out inside! Continue reading #TPQ5: DARREN C. DEMAREE
#TPQ5: JOHN LaPINE
What will John LaPine, whose first chapbook of essays, An Unstable Container, is forthcoming from Bull City Press in 2019, include in today’s #TPQ5? Continue reading #TPQ5: JOHN LaPINE
REVIEW: 61 CENTRAL – INK (FINISHING LINE PRESS)
It’s desolate. It’s too calm. It’s winter and nothing resembles anything, because everything is gone. Two roads do converge, but both have been swallowed by nature. Continue reading REVIEW: 61 CENTRAL – INK (FINISHING LINE PRESS)
REVIEW: DAD, REMEMBER YOU ARE DEAD – JACQUELINE SAPHRA (NINE ARCHES PRESS)
We see ghosts. They are buried inside our brain, hidden beneath hair and skin and skull. They push at the back of our eyes for every decision we make. They remind us of all our mistakes and fears, but rarely our accomplishments. Continue reading REVIEW: DAD, REMEMBER YOU ARE DEAD – JACQUELINE SAPHRA (NINE ARCHES PRESS)
#TPQ5: MARIA CASTRO DOMINGUEZ
What will Maria Castro Dominguez, author of A Face in The Crowd, 2016 Erbacce–press prize winning collection, include in today’s #TPQ5? Find out inside! Continue reading #TPQ5: MARIA CASTRO DOMINGUEZ
#TPQ5: EDWARD VIDAURRE
What will Edward Vidaurre, the 2018-2019 City of McAllen,TX Poet Laureate and publisher of FlowerSong Books, include in today’s #TPQ5? Find out inside! Continue reading #TPQ5: EDWARD VIDAURRE
#TPQ5: SHANNON BRAMER
What will Shannon Bramer, author of TRAPSONGS: three plays, is forthcoming from Book*hug in 2020, include in today’s #TPQ5? Find out inside! Continue reading #TPQ5: SHANNON BRAMER
#TPQ5: JAKE BAILEY
What will Jake Bailey, a schizotypal confessionalist and the co-editor of poetry for Lunch Ticket, include in today’s #TPQ5? FInd out inside! Continue reading #TPQ5: JAKE BAILEY
#TPQ5: MARTIN APPLEBY
What will Martin Appleby, a poet, punk, vegetarian, cider drinking scumbag, and editor of PAPER AND INK LITERARY ZINE, include in today’s #TPQ5? Find out inside! Continue reading #TPQ5: MARTIN APPLEBY
REVIEW: EVERY BIRD IS A MIRACLE – TARA ROEDER & ARMAN SAFA (NEW MICHIGAN PRESS)
…an ode to the complexity of relationships and how often we may be hiding in order to sustain someone else Continue reading REVIEW: EVERY BIRD IS A MIRACLE – TARA ROEDER & ARMAN SAFA (NEW MICHIGAN PRESS)
#TPQ5: LAURA DiNOVIS BERRY
What will Laura DiNovis Berry, book reviewer and poet, include in today’s #TPQ5? Find out inside! Continue reading #TPQ5: LAURA DiNOVIS BERRY
REVIEW: FORGET THE FUCK AWAY FROM ME – JESSIE LYNN McMAINS (BONE AND INK PRESS)
If you want a quick dive into our collective punk-rock past, these poems will transport you back to being 15 again; old enough to sneak into the bar from backstage but young enough to still covet the drummer Continue reading REVIEW: FORGET THE FUCK AWAY FROM ME – JESSIE LYNN McMAINS (BONE AND INK PRESS)
#TPQ5: TRAVIS CHI WING LAU
What will Travis Chi Wing Lau, whose chapbook, The Bone Setter, was recently published with Damaged Goods Press, include in today’s #TPQ5? Find out inside! Continue reading #TPQ5: TRAVIS CHI WING LAU
#TPQ5: ALAN PARRY
#TPQ5: ALAN PARAY
What will Alan Paray, Published poet and playwright from Merseyside, England, include in today’s #TPQ5? Find out inside! Continue reading #TPQ5: ALAN PARRY
REVIEW: SKELETON PARADE – MELA BLUST (APEP PUBLICATIONS)
Because of this she believes pain accrued is simply part of life and develops a calloused outlook on love and sex. Continue reading REVIEW: SKELETON PARADE – MELA BLUST (APEP PUBLICATIONS)
REVIEW: ADVANTAGES OF BEING EVERGREEN – OLIVER BAEZ BENDORF (CSU POETRY CENTER)
We are equals who do not know it. We are hidden behind skin and bones and names and colors and genders and identity, but we are not whole. Continue reading REVIEW: ADVANTAGES OF BEING EVERGREEN – OLIVER BAEZ BENDORF (CSU POETRY CENTER)
#TPQ5: ROSS ROBBINS
What will Ross Robbins, author of The Three EPs, include in today’s #TPQ5? Find out inside! Continue reading #TPQ5: ROSS ROBBINS
#TPQ5: ROBERT FREDE KENTER
What will Robert Frede Kenter, Co-editor/publisher at Ice Floe Press, include in today’s #TQP5? Find out inside! Continue reading #TPQ5: ROBERT FREDE KENTER
#TPQ5: CHARLOTTE HAMRICK
What will Charlotte Hamrick, Creative Nonfiction Editor for Barren Magazine, include in today’s #TPQ? Find out inside! Continue reading #TPQ5: CHARLOTTE HAMRICK
#TPQ5: A.M. JUSTER
What will A.M. Juster include in today’s #TPQ5? Find out inside! Continue reading #TPQ5: A.M. JUSTER
#TPQ5: MARK ANTONY OWEN
What will Mark Antony Owen include in today’s edition of #TPQ5? Find out inside! Continue reading #TPQ5: MARK ANTONY OWEN
POWER OF POETRY #63: DANIEL GUSTAFSSON
Poetry doesn’t give me the power, doesn’t licence me, to say whatever I want in whichever way I choose. It rather forces me to attend to the potentials of language and to generate meanings beyond my private prerogatives. Continue reading POWER OF POETRY #63: DANIEL GUSTAFSSON
#TPQ5: ADRIAN ERNESTO CEPEDA
#TPQ5: ADRIAN ERNESTO CEPEDA
What will Adrian Ernesto Cepeda, author of Between the Spine, include in today’s #TPQ5? Find out inside! Continue reading #TPQ5: ADRIAN ERNESTO CEPEDA
REVIEW: IF THE GIRL NEVER LEARNS – SUE WILLIAM SILVERMAN (BRICK MANTEL BOOKS)
While the poems can at times express hopelessness, rage and what feels like a long held grudge, there is a resilience in these words that very much feels like a reclamation of power – a reversal of every wrong done. Continue reading REVIEW: IF THE GIRL NEVER LEARNS – SUE WILLIAM SILVERMAN (BRICK MANTEL BOOKS)
#TPQ5: MATT DUGGAN
#TPQ5: MATT DUGGAN
What will Matt Dugan, author of
Woodworm (Hedgehog Poetry Press), include one today’s #TPQ5? Find out inside! Continue reading #TPQ5: MATT DUGGAN
POWER OF POETRY #62: ERNESTO CEPEDA
This is when I realized that I needed to stop running from my fate and fear of failure and face the destiny of stanza, rhymes and climaxes waiting to be crafted before me. Continue reading POWER OF POETRY #62: ERNESTO CEPEDA
#TPQ5: JOSEPH FASANO
What will Joseph Fasano, winner of the RATTLE Poetry Prize and the Cider Press Review Book Award, include on today’s #TPQ5? Find out inside! Continue reading #TPQ5: JOSEPH FASANO
#TPQ5: Carlos Andrés Gómez
What will Carlos Andrés Gómez, author of Hijito, include on today’s #TPQ5? Find out inside!
Continue reading #TPQ5: Carlos Andrés Gómez
#TPQ5: GLEN WILSON
What does Glen Wilson, winner of The Seamus Heaney Award for New Writing and the Jonathan Swift Creative Writing Award, include on today’s #TPQ5? Find out inside! Continue reading #TPQ5: GLEN WILSON
REVIEW: MOTHER MAY I? – JULIETTE van der MOLEN (ANIMAL HEART PRESS)
[This] is a haunting and eye opening collection which recounts heartbreaking personal experiences being both mother and mothered Continue reading REVIEW: MOTHER MAY I? – JULIETTE van der MOLEN (ANIMAL HEART PRESS)
#TPQ5: MEGHA SOOD
What will Megha Sood, National level poetry finalist in Poetry Matters Prize for 2019, include in today’s #TPQ5? Click to find out! Continue reading #TPQ5: MEGHA SOOD
REVIEW: BETWEEN THE SPINE: A COLLECTION OF EROTIC LOVE POEMS – ADRIAN ERNESTO CEPEDA (Picture Show Press)
Because Cepeda wants you to be the paper to your lover’s pen. Because poetry is so much more than words on paper. Because sometimes sex is more than sex. Sometimes sex is the poem you become for your partner when they need you the most. Continue reading REVIEW: BETWEEN THE SPINE: A COLLECTION OF EROTIC LOVE POEMS – ADRIAN ERNESTO CEPEDA (Picture Show Press)
#TPQ5: CLAIRE MILLIKIN
What did Claire Millikin, the author of 6 full-length books of poetry, include on her #TPQ5? Find out in today’s edition! Continue reading #TPQ5: CLAIRE MILLIKIN
POWER OF POETRY #61: AMANDA EARL
Once I divested myself of my image of a poet with a capital P, as an old dead white man from the early 20th century or earlier who had intoned poems in an English accent whilst stroking his sizeable beard, my whole world opened up. Continue reading POWER OF POETRY #61: AMANDA EARL
POWER OF POETRY #60: ALICIA REBECCA MYERS
It’s clear to me now that poetry isn’t just a way for me to locate meaning in experience but is the very organizing principle behind my thinking. Because I can’t visualize in my mind, I conjure through language. Continue reading POWER OF POETRY #60: ALICIA REBECCA MYERS
REVIEW: THE PROTECTION OF GHOSTS – NATALIE LINH BOLDERSTON (V. PRESS)
These poems take the reader through generations and geographies a lens that feels deeply personal; the reader becomes a fly on the walls as these families are presented and personified. Continue reading REVIEW: THE PROTECTION OF GHOSTS – NATALIE LINH BOLDERSTON (V. PRESS)
TPQ#5: MANDY SUZANNE-WONG
What does Mandy Suzanne-Wong include in her #TPQ5? Find out inside! Continue reading TPQ#5: MANDY SUZANNE-WONG
#TPQ5: SARA
Who will Sara place in her #TPQ5? Find out inside! Continue reading #TPQ5: SARA
REVIEW: THE BOY WHO COULDN’T SAY HIS NAME – JOHN LAWRENCE (V. PRESS)
It’s okay to be comfortable. To live life day-by-day, and keep it simple. It’s okay to feel like we move through life as a slow drawl – not slow, but easy. Continue reading REVIEW: THE BOY WHO COULDN’T SAY HIS NAME – JOHN LAWRENCE (V. PRESS)
POWER OF POETRY #59: SARAH CAREY
If there’s one thing that probably rings truest for me among all the things I could say about the power of poetry, it would be that poetry has the capacity to make us better people. Continue reading POWER OF POETRY #59: SARAH CAREY
POWER OF POETRY #58: JOHN LAWRENCE
Maybe, sometimes, it’s because a particular poem needs revisiting more than once to understand what it’s trying to say. Or maybe it’s because the power of a poem is beyond the actual words, and needs time to discover. Continue reading POWER OF POETRY #58: JOHN LAWRENCE
REVIEW: FORGIVENESS – CHELSEA BUNN (FINISHING LINE PRESS)
From those we love, to those we’ve loved in mirrors, we are left to sift through and decide between thoughts, facades, and realities. This is our path to survival, to strength, to moving on regardless of those who’ve hurt us. Continue reading REVIEW: FORGIVENESS – CHELSEA BUNN (FINISHING LINE PRESS)
#TPQ5: CHARLES JENSEN
Which books does Charles Jensen, author of Nanopedia, have on his #TPQ5? Find out in today’s edition! Continue reading #TPQ5: CHARLES JENSEN
POWER OF POETRY #55: FRANCOISE CHOUINARD
In poetry, you find the life stories of each of us and as a reader, you interpret each poem in your own way, despite the real meaning behind the poem or regardless of the reasons why the writer wrote it. Continue reading POWER OF POETRY #55: FRANCOISE CHOUINARD
REVIEW: THE ONLY WORLDS WE KNOW – MICHAEL LEE (BUTTON POETRY)
It’s an acknowledgement of those we’ve lost in the fire, and those we’ve gained because of it. That, it’s never the drug, but rather the longing to quell the quiet. Continue reading REVIEW: THE ONLY WORLDS WE KNOW – MICHAEL LEE (BUTTON POETRY)
REVIEW: RADIANT SOULS – LENEE H. (SELF-PUBLISHED)
This is the poet, reflecting inwardly, recalling moments when ‘the sad trickles in like morning rays’ with the empowering and uplifting revelation: ’you can rise to face it’. Continue reading REVIEW: RADIANT SOULS – LENEE H. (SELF-PUBLISHED)
#TPQ5: SAMUEL GUEST
Find out who is in Samuel Guest’s #TPQ5?
Add your own from the link at the bottom. Continue reading #TPQ5: SAMUEL GUEST
POWER OF POETRY #54: BILL DENHAM
“….the act of creating, of writing or of speaking a poem into existence, is an act of discovery, of discovery of meaning, an act of self-discovery—who I am at this given moment in time? Continue reading POWER OF POETRY #54: BILL DENHAM
#TPQ5: WEASEL
Who does Weasel, founder of Weasel Press put in his list of top 5 authors? Find out in this edition of The TPQ 5.
Who’s in your #TPQ5? Continue reading #TPQ5: WEASEL
#TPQ5: LYD HAVENS
What does Lyd Havens put in their list of top 5 books? Find out in this edition of The TPQ 5. Continue reading #TPQ5: LYD HAVENS
REVIEW: CARNIVOROUS – MOYRA DONALDSON (DOIRE PRESS)
She becomes the alpha and the omega, earth and firmament as we become willing travellers on her journey through the hills of Ireland and the drumlins of memory Continue reading REVIEW: CARNIVOROUS – MOYRA DONALDSON (DOIRE PRESS)
#TPQ5: ANGELA GABRIELLE FABUNAN
Who does Angela Gabrielle Fabunan put in her list of top 5 authors? Find out in this edition of The TPQ 5. Continue reading #TPQ5: ANGELA GABRIELLE FABUNAN
POWER OF POETRY #53: CHRISTINA SPRINGER
“We Blacks in space are Hoovers.
Who gonna be cryin’ in the 23rd century? / Not this hole’s grand grands. We define / the light until we all done letting stars be bright / ‘N suck up all the credit for nothing / they do ‘cept sit there burning.” Continue reading POWER OF POETRY #53: CHRISTINA SPRINGER
REVIEW: MOTEL OF OPPOSABLE THUMBS – STUART ROSS (ANVIL PRESS)
“…remember that “if you double a bubble / you will have two bubbles / but this information isn’t worth / a pile of rubble.” We don’t always want what we find, but we are often the reason we’ve found ourselves there.” Continue reading REVIEW: MOTEL OF OPPOSABLE THUMBS – STUART ROSS (ANVIL PRESS)
#TPQ5: RONNIE STEPHENS
What does Ronnie Stephens put in his list of top 5 books? Find out in this edition of #TPQ5. Continue reading #TPQ5: RONNIE STEPHENS
#TPQ5: rob mclennan
Who does rob mclennan, Founder of Above/Ground Press, put in his list of top 5 authors? Find out in this edition of The TPQ 5. Continue reading #TPQ5: rob mclennan
REVIEW: BITE ME!: MUSINGS ON MONSTER AND MAYHEM – JOE ROSENBLATT (THE PORCUPINE’S QUILL)
Monsters are truly everywhere. Usually, though, they look just like us. Continue reading REVIEW: BITE ME!: MUSINGS ON MONSTER AND MAYHEM – JOE ROSENBLATT (THE PORCUPINE’S QUILL)
REVIEW: ODD LIST ODD HOUSE – ELISABETH HORAN (TWIST IN TIME)
It’s the slant-rhyme hymnals with a push-away-from-God-and-man chorus you can’t keep out of your head. These are hymns for the hopeless who long to be significant. Continue reading REVIEW: ODD LIST ODD HOUSE – ELISABETH HORAN (TWIST IN TIME)
#TPQ5: RAN WALKER
Who does award winning author, Ran Walker, put in his list of top 5 authors? Find out in this edition of The TPQ 5. Continue reading #TPQ5: RAN WALKER
REVIEW: THE SAINT OF MILK AND FLAMES – KATE GARRETT (RHYTHM AND BONES PRESS)
Some ask us how many beats our hearts have left. Others just cut to the core of all our fears, to the ‘kelp-nest of wires’ as her fifth born slumbers ‘tiny and certain’ Continue reading REVIEW: THE SAINT OF MILK AND FLAMES – KATE GARRETT (RHYTHM AND BONES PRESS)
POWER OF POETRY: #52 ELISABETH HORAN
I can’t go to work and say to a colleague: I stay up late at night imagining animals being hit in the road over and over… Continue reading POWER OF POETRY: #52 ELISABETH HORAN
#TPQ5: ALEXANDRA MEEHAN
Who does Alexandra Meehan put in her list of top 5 books? Find out in this edition of The TPQ 5. Continue reading #TPQ5: ALEXANDRA MEEHAN
REVIEW: CHOKING BACK THE DEVIL – DONNA LYNCH (RAW DOG SCREAMING PRESS)
We can certainly watch The Shining as a movie about ghost leading a man down a path of madness, but isn’t it scarier to think the ghosts are figments of his imagination, and his madness’ provenance is in the anger he ignores and represses? Continue reading REVIEW: CHOKING BACK THE DEVIL – DONNA LYNCH (RAW DOG SCREAMING PRESS)
REVIEW: DECIDUOUS QWEEN – MATTY LAYNE GLASGOW (RED HEN PRESS)
The reason isn’t always so obvious, but wear masks and costumes at each stage of life. We are, in most moments, who we choose to be. And in others, we become, well, others. Continue reading REVIEW: DECIDUOUS QWEEN – MATTY LAYNE GLASGOW (RED HEN PRESS)
#TPQ5: SUBMIT YOUR LIST
Who is in your top 5 list of writers or books? Allow us a glance into who or what inspires you. Complete the form inside to submit your list. Continue reading #TPQ5: SUBMIT YOUR LIST
REVIEW: LADY SATURN – WANDA DEGLANE (RHYTHM & BONES)
Deglane successfully submerges us into the mind of a person troubled by depression, anxiety, trauma, and a Lexapro-fogged brain with an overarching story of hope. Continue reading REVIEW: LADY SATURN – WANDA DEGLANE (RHYTHM & BONES)
POWER OF POETRY #51: “FORM/MEANING” – VINCENT PERRONE
At this moment I’m typing in my apartment. A dog barks from a neighbor’s yard. A petal drops from the vase of wildflowers on my desk. And still I am in my parents basement playing with an eight-track recorder. Continue reading POWER OF POETRY #51: “FORM/MEANING” – VINCENT PERRONE
REVIEW: INSIDE THE GOLDEN DAYS OF MISSING YOU – NATE LOGAN (MAGIC HELICOPTER PRESS)
we get a straight forward here’s-what-I’m-thinking-and-maybe-I-should-have-just-done-it-earlier thread running from cover to cover. Things don’t always work, but sometimes you need to open the book and find out for yourself. Continue reading REVIEW: INSIDE THE GOLDEN DAYS OF MISSING YOU – NATE LOGAN (MAGIC HELICOPTER PRESS)
POWER OF POETRY #50: MICHAEL PRIHODA
In this way I am an outfielder, mobilized on the balls of his feet, crouched, glove hand and free hand never far apart, poised for the seed of poetry to head my way following the sharp crack of wood at the plate. Continue reading POWER OF POETRY #50: MICHAEL PRIHODA
REVIEW: WHAT I KNOW [HOW TO DO] – MICHAEL GARRIGAN (FINISHING LINE PRESS)
There is not a right or wrong way. There is only advice. There is only a suggestion of what you might need – if you were here, and I was not alone. Continue reading REVIEW: WHAT I KNOW [HOW TO DO] – MICHAEL GARRIGAN (FINISHING LINE PRESS)
REVIEW: THE FUTURE IS HERE AND EVERYTHING MUST BE DESTROYED – COLETTE ARRAND (SPLIT LIP PRESS)
Music provides a table of contents for life. It doesn’t always make sense, but it’s the order of things and it tries to present some pretty scenery. Continue reading REVIEW: THE FUTURE IS HERE AND EVERYTHING MUST BE DESTROYED – COLETTE ARRAND (SPLIT LIP PRESS)
POWER OF POETRY #49: MICHAEL GARRIGAN
Poetry has spread itself thick throughout my life much like this mint. I’ll write a line, put it in my pocket, roll it around a bit, and then hours or days or months later, it’ll have rooted itself and grown into something. Continue reading POWER OF POETRY #49: MICHAEL GARRIGAN
POWER OF POETRY #48: BECKY VARLEY-WINTER
The landscape intensified into a fever dream of hail and sun, deep woods, shadows on the sea and boomeranging, shrieking swifts in the sky. I was watching Six Feet Under…[and] listening to PJ Harvey. Continue reading POWER OF POETRY #48: BECKY VARLEY-WINTER
REVIEW: TEN POEMS ABOUT HORSES – SELECTED BY ALISON BRACKENURY (CANDLESTICK PRESS)
“…the attitude and actions of horses have not changed. They live, love, falter, get dragged around, manipulated, fed, ridden, and eventually buried. Sound familiar?” Continue reading REVIEW: TEN POEMS ABOUT HORSES – SELECTED BY ALISON BRACKENURY (CANDLESTICK PRESS)
REVIEW: MICRO – JULIETTE SEBOCK (NIGHTINGALE & SPARROW PRESS)
Sometimes we forget that when we say “I love you” to someone, it is life changing. It affirms and confirms what you feel and what will hopefully be reciprocated. But love can be two-faced and effacing. Continue reading REVIEW: MICRO – JULIETTE SEBOCK (NIGHTINGALE & SPARROW PRESS)
REVIEW: HUGE CLOUDY – BILL CARTY (OCTOPUS BOOKS)
“We are maps to the present and the past. An erasure poem of everything that has been a part of our life. It’s cloudy, dense, and filled with fog. And then everything repeats…” Continue reading REVIEW: HUGE CLOUDY – BILL CARTY (OCTOPUS BOOKS)
POWER OF POETRY #47: CHELSEA DINGMAN
Today, writing this in a parking lot while my son gets ready for a hockey game, I have the word “miracle” stuck in my throat. But, poetry is not the miracle. Life is. And poetry has allowed me to embrace that. Continue reading POWER OF POETRY #47: CHELSEA DINGMAN
REVIEW: BAD MOMMY STAY MOMMY – ELISABETH HORAN (FLY ON THE WALL PRESS)
“Postpartum depression is still surrounded by stigma and shame is often directed at mothers. Horan does not shy away from sharing this darker side of motherhood…” Continue reading REVIEW: BAD MOMMY STAY MOMMY – ELISABETH HORAN (FLY ON THE WALL PRESS)
REVIEW: FAIR DAY IN AN ANCIENT TOWN – GREG ALLENDORF (BRAIN MILL PRESS)
“…he has taken all the pieces, the histories of hands, waterfalls, sanity hammers, shepherds, and suitors, and built the puzzle only to watch it fall to the floor, and have to put the pieces back in the box.” Continue reading REVIEW: FAIR DAY IN AN ANCIENT TOWN – GREG ALLENDORF (BRAIN MILL PRESS)
REVIEW: NIGHT BECAME YEARS – JASON STEFANIK (COACH HOUSE BOOKS)
I kept thinking to myself about the idea that nature is—and will always be—in charge, and we’re destined to bend to its will Continue reading REVIEW: NIGHT BECAME YEARS – JASON STEFANIK (COACH HOUSE BOOKS)
POWER OF POETRY #46: rob mclennan
For me, writing evolved into a way to better comprehend, articulate and even reshape the world. Now the work that excites me is writing that is exploratory Continue reading POWER OF POETRY #46: rob mclennan
REVIEW: SURVIVE LIKE THE WATER – LYD HAVENS (RISING PHOENIX REVIEW)
Havens has a savage wit and open wound for you to see on every page. Their lyricism surpassed only by the abundant imagery, you can almost feel the poems being written for YOU. Continue reading REVIEW: SURVIVE LIKE THE WATER – LYD HAVENS (RISING PHOENIX REVIEW)
REVIEW: IN THE TREE WHERE THE DOUBLE SEX SLEEPS – ROBERT SHLEGEL (U OF IOWA PRESS)
We are stuck in age-old definitions of gender and personhood and parenting and life. Somewhere in between those definitions is the person we, ourselves, long to be, and who we should “just be.” Continue reading REVIEW: IN THE TREE WHERE THE DOUBLE SEX SLEEPS – ROBERT SHLEGEL (U OF IOWA PRESS)
REVIEW: EMMA – GABRIEL OLADIPO (GHOST CITY PRESS)
She’s taking understated moments from life and creating fantastic poems around them, bring a whole new meaning to day-to-day moments. Continue reading REVIEW: EMMA – GABRIEL OLADIPO (GHOST CITY PRESS)
POWER OF POETRY #45: BOLA OPALEKE
It is how both can have their salvations split in two in a single process. I think it was Jericho Brown that said: “Poetry has its own language”. Nothing can be truer in my opinion. Continue reading POWER OF POETRY #45: BOLA OPALEKE
REVIEW: THIS IS WHERE I GET OFF – KIRBY (PERMANENT SLEEP PRESS)
Kirby’s poem had to be read twice and three times and more because it grips you by the throat and doesn’t let go. Continue reading REVIEW: THIS IS WHERE I GET OFF – KIRBY (PERMANENT SLEEP PRESS)
REVIEW: NANOPEDIA – CHARLES JENSEN (TINDERBOX EDITIONS)
It’s an encyclopedia of the seedy, the attractive, the “I” of life within modern times and modern body. It’s sort of like the words many want to say, but then get caught up in the moment, and can’t remember what they were thinking anymore. Continue reading REVIEW: NANOPEDIA – CHARLES JENSEN (TINDERBOX EDITIONS)
REVIEW: YOU’VE GOT A PRETTY HELLMOUTH – MICHAEL SIKKEMA (TREMBLING PILLOW PRESS)
It’s the way the ants that crawl from skin become guides and senses. It’s the way that when you meet another splinter, the bugs are meant for each other – in sickness and in health. Continue reading REVIEW: YOU’VE GOT A PRETTY HELLMOUTH – MICHAEL SIKKEMA (TREMBLING PILLOW PRESS)
REVIEW: I GAVE BIRTH TO ALL THE GHOSTS HERE – LYD HAVENS (NOSTROVIA! PRESS)
Reading Lyd Haven’s work makes me want them to win. Makes my real world seem to fade away, replaced with someone I want to see succeed despite and because of their troubles. Continue reading REVIEW: I GAVE BIRTH TO ALL THE GHOSTS HERE – LYD HAVENS (NOSTROVIA! PRESS)
POWER OF POETRY #44: GREG GERDING, EiC OF UNIVERSITY OF HELL PRESS
The whole time, I thought I was alone. But there were people just as pained and confused as I was. I found my community. I found my church. I kept returning every Sunday, sharing work I had written during the week. Continue reading POWER OF POETRY #44: GREG GERDING, EiC OF UNIVERSITY OF HELL PRESS
REVIEW: NO(BODY) – JOANNA VALENTE (MADHOUSE PRESS)
It’s the mirror as a reflection of who you think they want – the makeup, the high heels – but really it’s the only way to be seen. No(Body) asks you to question the idea of being capable within the moment. It’s the attempt to be Beyonce, or not death. Continue reading REVIEW: NO(BODY) – JOANNA VALENTE (MADHOUSE PRESS)
REVIEW: HOW A POEM MOVES: A FIELD GUIDE FOR READERS OF POETRY – ADAM SOL (ECW PRESS)
Adam Sol’s How a Poem Moves: A Field Guide for Readers Afraid of Poetry, is a window into how poems move rather than what they state. It’s a personal approach to understanding how someone else’s words make you feel. Continue reading REVIEW: HOW A POEM MOVES: A FIELD GUIDE FOR READERS OF POETRY – ADAM SOL (ECW PRESS)
REVIEW: THE BONEYARD – JULIA MADSEN (TREMBLING PILLOW PRESS)
There is a misconception of place, time, and atmosphere of the Heartland. It’s not always calm. It’s not rolling hills and farmland and nice people who do nice things for other nice people, and continue their existence in a silo of that same nice feeling. Continue reading REVIEW: THE BONEYARD – JULIA MADSEN (TREMBLING PILLOW PRESS)
REVIEW: THE CARTOGRAPHY OF SLEEP – LAURA VILLAREAL (NOSTROVIA PRESS)
If life is lived, vicariously, through dreamscapes and if the moon hotel’s bellhop is “trolleying [the moon’s] baggage on a brass birdcage cart,” then we are destined to hold the weight of the universe on our backs. Continue reading REVIEW: THE CARTOGRAPHY OF SLEEP – LAURA VILLAREAL (NOSTROVIA PRESS)
REVIEW: WHERE THE ROAD RUNS OUT – GAIA HOLMES (COMMA PRESS)
If Death brings a flash of life before our eyes, and we see each detail of what and how we’ve lived, and everything that was once background became foreground, then Where the Road Runs Out, the new collection from Gaia Holmes is that flash. Continue reading REVIEW: WHERE THE ROAD RUNS OUT – GAIA HOLMES (COMMA PRESS)
POWER OF POETRY #42: ELFIE
Some poems will remain within the confines of the therapist’s office. Some poems will never be known to anyone other than myself. Some poems I share with the world. Continue reading POWER OF POETRY #42: ELFIE
REVIEW: WE, YOUNG OLD ONES – DOMINIK PARISIEN (FROG HOLLOW PRESS)
Dominik Parisien’s poems embody chronic pain, elevating the traumas, and illuminating the act of breathing being the most essential part of living. He uses body parts, the act of breathing, religion, and science, to illustrate the struggle and the pain that the poetic voice endures. Continue reading REVIEW: WE, YOUNG OLD ONES – DOMINIK PARISIEN (FROG HOLLOW PRESS)
REVIEW: MORNING WALK WITH DEAD POSSUM, BREAKFAST AND PARALLEL UNIVERSE – BETH GORDON (ANIMAL HEART PRESS)
This is a notice that life is genuinely what you make it, and that if you live it while looking at it, you might miss what is actually in front of you. Continue reading REVIEW: MORNING WALK WITH DEAD POSSUM, BREAKFAST AND PARALLEL UNIVERSE – BETH GORDON (ANIMAL HEART PRESS)
REVIEW: MOON CRUMBS – SHEILA DONG (BOTTLECAP PRESS)
Alongside beautiful imagery there is stark loneliness, the desire to curl up apart from what we might naturally think of home, a metaphor perhaps for the isolation death might bring, or the boundaries that come with having an earthly body. Continue reading REVIEW: MOON CRUMBS – SHEILA DONG (BOTTLECAP PRESS)
POWER OF POETRY #41: BETH GORDON
The power of poetry, then, is its ability to show us ordinary things in an extraordinary light. Continue reading POWER OF POETRY #41: BETH GORDON
REVIEW: WE MEANT TO BRING IT HOME ALIVE – ARMIN TOLENTINO (ALTERNATING CURRENT PRESS)
This is a collection of survival in spite of all that happens in life. It’s the learning of “the sound liquid makes as it works through the body’s waterways.” The unrelenting feeling that while life is draining from one body, another is taking it back. Continue reading REVIEW: WE MEANT TO BRING IT HOME ALIVE – ARMIN TOLENTINO (ALTERNATING CURRENT PRESS)
POWER OF POETRY #40: “THE MEMORY OF TRADITION” ANGELA GABRIELLE FABUNAN
I believe the intensity of a poem, the dense nature of a line, the possibilities of syntax, and all aspects that make up a poem work together to become a fitting medium for tragedy. Continue reading POWER OF POETRY #40: “THE MEMORY OF TRADITION” ANGELA GABRIELLE FABUNAN
REVIEW: PORT OF BEING – SHAZIA HAFIZ RAMJI (INVISIBLE PUBLISHING)
“…it’s the constant feeling that some person, some feeling, some moment is lurking in the shadows, waiting for the opportune time to make their move…” Continue reading REVIEW: PORT OF BEING – SHAZIA HAFIZ RAMJI (INVISIBLE PUBLISHING)
REVIEW: WHEN I AM A FAMOUS PERSON – JOSEPH HAEGER (OPTOGRAPHY PRESS)
Generally, I will take another sip of water (but it’s really vodka) and make deep eye contact with whomever I’m speaking to, whether it’s the niece Lily or the Prime Minister of Britain. — from “When I am President of the United States” I remember the day that Kurt Cobain died, sitting on my neighbor’s couch, crying to the Kurt Loder MTV News report. I … Continue reading REVIEW: WHEN I AM A FAMOUS PERSON – JOSEPH HAEGER (OPTOGRAPHY PRESS)
POWER OF POETRY #39: JOSEPH HAEGER
I don’t only want people to be entertained, but also for them to feel something. And the fastest way to do that is through poetry; you are framing a feeling and passing it on, even if it’s only for a brief moment. Continue reading POWER OF POETRY #39: JOSEPH HAEGER
REVIEW: THE SEA THAT BECKONED – ANGELA GABRIELLE FABUNAN (PLATYPUS PRESS)
It’s the push-and-pull of one language and culture erasing the other; it’s the beauty and decay of both. It’s the changes that feel like too much change. The Sea that Beckoned is the tightrope walk between being ourselves and the self we may yet become. Continue reading REVIEW: THE SEA THAT BECKONED – ANGELA GABRIELLE FABUNAN (PLATYPUS PRESS)
REVIEW: A CONSTELLATION OF HALF-LIVES – SEEMA REZA (WRITE BLOODY PUBLISHING)
In short, this book is a microcosm of identity politics, giving faces and names to those who must learn how to exist in various spaces simultaneously. Continue reading REVIEW: A CONSTELLATION OF HALF-LIVES – SEEMA REZA (WRITE BLOODY PUBLISHING)
REVIEW: CANDY CIGARETTE WOMANCHILD NOIR – KRISTIN GARTH (HEDGEHOG PRESS)
To them, she is not real. She is who they will fantasize about when home with their wives. She is the babysitter driven home by every father. She is the toy of their desire. She is within reach, but untouchable from above them. Continue reading REVIEW: CANDY CIGARETTE WOMANCHILD NOIR – KRISTIN GARTH (HEDGEHOG PRESS)
POWER OF POETRY #38: “HIDE & SEEK OF HOLES” – KRISTIN GARTH
Poetry is the real game of exposure. Really great poetry shows holes, the smallness, the seeking. We seek a connection to others that comes often from exposing moments on a page that you might be most embarrassed to put down on paper. Continue reading POWER OF POETRY #38: “HIDE & SEEK OF HOLES” – KRISTIN GARTH
POWER OF POETRY #37: RAN WALKER
If done well, a poem can be far more powerful than a photograph, because you are capturing not just the image, but the emotional context and resonance of that thing. Continue reading POWER OF POETRY #37: RAN WALKER
REVIEW: all this can be yours – ISOBEL O’HARE (UNIVERSITY OF HELL PRESS)
all this can be yours is a patchwork quilt of what should have been said by all the dicks in the room. Continue reading REVIEW: all this can be yours – ISOBEL O’HARE (UNIVERSITY OF HELL PRESS)
REVIEW: WAR/TORN – HASAN NAMIR (BOOK*HUG PRESS)
You have to be ready for this collection. You have to prepare to feel. You have to be able to breathe. You have to know that War/Torn is a journey, and a metaphor that digs well beyond the surface. Continue reading REVIEW: WAR/TORN – HASAN NAMIR (BOOK*HUG PRESS)
REVIEW: GIANTESS – EMILY VIZZO (YesYes Books)
Giantess is like an a cappella Americana album — it’d be nice to hear the picking of the strings, but they aren’t needed to dance with these words. Continue reading REVIEW: GIANTESS – EMILY VIZZO (YesYes Books)