Reviews
March 6, 2025 - by Christos Kalli
A Review of Joseph Fasano’s The Last Song of the World (BOA Editions, 2024) Like a deep breath, like a flower that blooms against the relentless elements of an inhospitable season, Joseph Fasano’s The Last Song of the World begins with “Sudden Hymn in Winter,” a short but powerful poem, functioning almost as the collection’s own . . .
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November 14, 2024 - By Jon Hoel, with Phil Elverum
Jon Hoel: The natural world is pretty frequent in your work over the years; in these recent poems, though, there are two terms specifically I wanted to ask you about, “decolonization” and “land back.” Both are ideas many people are likely familiar with, but some might not be. I was curious what . . .
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November 7, 2024 - By Maya Kuchiyak
A Review of Ayşegül Savaş’s The Anthropologists (Bloomsbury, 2024) “The green jacket, the ceremonial stones, breakfast with Manu, the Dame on the terrace, and the shapes of poems,” goes Ayşegül Savaş’ magpie-like narrator Asya as she meticulously collects objects and moments with her partner Manu to build their nest, two ex-pats in an unnamed . . .
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November 5, 2024 - By Jon Hoel, with Phil Elverum
Phil Elverum, photo by Katy Hancock Poems are songs, songs are poems. This dictum may infuriate anyone who has ever penned an editorial on Leonard Cohen’s songs or anyone who was irate when the Nobel committee declared Bob Dylan was literature. Those familiar with the history of songwriting, however, might be inclined . . .
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August 13, 2024 - By Aamer Janbey
A Review of Fadi Azzam, Huddud’s House. Translated by Ghada Alatrash. Northampton: Interlink Publishing, 2024. What does it mean to truly belong? Is it the soil beneath our feet? Or is it the echoes of our memories, the whispers of our ancestors, and the silent pull of our heritage? In a world fractured . . .
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July 19, 2024 - By Amal Zaman
Photograph of Witness. Courtesy of the Author. “What’s the problem of women? Knowledge! What’s the problem of women? Their head, that’s why they want to cut their head.”—Nawal El Saadawi In the early morning of July 8, as Hurricane Beryl cast the coast of Texas in darkness and disarray, a statue was beheaded on . . .
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July 4, 2024 - By Marsha Bryant
From the mountains and prairies, to ocean’s white foam:Hail the beers of America. Let your tastes roam!‘Twixt Atlantic, PacificCome brewers prolificWith tributes for toasting this spacious-skied home. So gallantly streaming, beers pourInto glasses and cups for the Fourth.From the crisp, from the tart,to the hoppy—the heartOf the country pumps out brews galore! . . .
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May 28, 2024 - By Marsha Bryant
And pints that instantly glow,On the counter, in pyramids of crowns…—Émile Verhaeren, trans. Jacob Siefring Tripelicious is how I describeThese Belgian-style beers I imbibe.As I sip golden glow,I will rhyme and bestowApprobations with Tripel Ale vibes. 1St. Vrain is a river and beer.Lightly fruity, the latter will cheer—fully tickle the tipOf your tongue as . . .
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May 14, 2024 - by Jim Hicks
It must be awful to be a Republican these days. So many reasons to be terrified: immigrants flooding across our borders, gender subversion from within, swarthy people rising from below, and so few of “our nation’s core principles” left unassailed. Even Sean Hannity, culture warrior supreme, can’t seem to keep up. How . . .
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May 3, 2024 - by C.M. Crockford
A review of Bianca by Eugenia Leigh (Four Way Books, 2023) “Trauma” and “grief,” or rather such shallow incarnations of serious psychological phenomena that they merit air quotes, have become trendy concepts in recent 21st century discourse and media. Movies and television use the traumatic past as a major plot revelation (The Matrix Resurrections, Succession, Yellowjackets), or . . .
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