In Melissa Atkinson Mercer’s Saint of the Partial Apology, I’ve rediscovered the terrifying pleasures of awe, of limbs that part like orchids in black rain, of maps made… Read more “Saint of the Partial Apology–Melissa Atkinson Mercer”
The Temple She Became–Rachel Custer
In her stunning first collection The Temple She Became, Rachel Custer writes, “A moment can be a cathedral.” The poems in this collection delineate life as a kind… Read more “The Temple She Became–Rachel Custer”
Drugstore Blue–Susana H. Case
“In Drugstore Blue, Susana H. Case’s speaker is a femme fatale in serious eyeshadow: ‘You need me / like a tongue needs a second / mouth.’ That’s the sound of her… Read more “Drugstore Blue–Susana H. Case”
Model Organism–Robert Pesich
How many sights and sounds our routine-framed lives keep us from experiencing. Not until something unusual strikes, something that disrupts these routines, are we apt to pay… Read more “Model Organism–Robert Pesich”
Spectators: Flash Fictions–Rob Davidson
This collection of flash fiction grapples with the Western identity vis-à-vis the idea of the spectacle, and was written in response to the visual art and &… Read more “Spectators: Flash Fictions–Rob Davidson”
Invisible–J.R. Solonche
This book of poems purposefully presents writing in which the poet himself is absent. Instead of writing about his life or experiences, Solonche focuses on the work… Read more “Invisible–J.R. Solonche”
A Woman Called Father–Father Teri Harroun
In her warm and vivid way, Father Harroun explores the intimate terrain of faithful service, of gardens and goats, of bandannas and breaking bread. Her seamless weavings… Read more “A Woman Called Father–Father Teri Harroun”
Worth the Candle–Gary Glauber
Worth the Candle by Gary Glauber is a meditation on relationships and interactions in a life where “sidewalks were his daily agenda.” These accessible, narrative, and personal… Read more “Worth the Candle–Gary Glauber”
The Politics of Division–Emily Jo Scalzo
“Scalzo’s straightforward style reminds me of how the Beats might have responded had they been catapulted into the wildly contradictory arena of modern politics—an arena in which… Read more “The Politics of Division–Emily Jo Scalzo”
Blankness, Melancholy, and Other Ways of Dying–Brenna Lemieux
The characters in this terrific new book by Brenna Lemieux are hybrids worthy of Edward Hopper, Salvador Dali, and Charles Simic. They inhabit their houses, their clothing, their… Read more “Blankness, Melancholy, and Other Ways of Dying–Brenna Lemieux”
