Emerita MR Poetry editors Ellen Doré Watson and Deb Gorlin selected Robert Whitehead’s “David” from Spring 2021 (Vol. 62, Issue 1), for our annual Anne Halley Prize for Poetry. From the judge’s note: “By retelling the story of the fabled hero, the breathless narrator of Whitehead’s inspirational, of-the-moment poem, exhorts us to . . .
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Toxic relationships abound in Cherish Farrah, but the rub is not knowing which relationship to watch out for. Bethany C. Morrow’s second novel for adults addresses classism and racism, as well as families and friendships. It’s a slow burn from page one and ends in discomfort for all. Like Mem, Morrow’s first novel, Cherish Farrah is . . .
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The 2022 winner of the Anne Halley Poetry Prize is Robert Whitehead, for his poem “David” (Volume 62, Issue 1). ROBERT WHITEHEAD received his MFA from Washington University in St. Louis, and has been a fellow at the Bucknell Seminar for Younger Poets, Ashbery Home School, and the Vermont Studio Center. His . . .
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After Sophie’s love affairs had all gone sour, her life became a drought. Once full of lust and beauty, Sophie was now faded and dried, like a stalk of corn left too long in the sun. She drifted through the days at the tiny Denver packing and mailing shop where she workd, . . .
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Today I am beyond outraged and I can’t breathe. Palestinians the world over are weeping and mourning the loss of Palestinian-American journalist Shireen Abu Akleh. Her brutal murder by Israeli Defense Forces, with a bullet to the face while clearly wearing a PRESS vest, shook me to the core. Dedicating her life . . .
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I didn’t know many people who had gone to university. Neither Dad, nor Mom, nor my grandparents went. Still I knew more or less how university types dressed and even how they spoke, partly because my cousin was a veterinary student (though I barely saw him, and until he finally graduated, I . . .
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A Review of Hank Drossel’s Item: Regarding the Basilisk. SYOM Press, 2022. ix+187 pp. Hank Drossel worked for decades as the travel agent and logistics manager for various arts institutions, especially music ensembles. From a perch at Eastern Airlines, he supported Cold War-era “hearts and minds” tours: avant-garde artists and groups performing American . . .
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They came to meet him at the tiny airport in the town where he had attended medical college. As he went from his new house in Texas to the airport to New York and then London and Delhi, he had the sensation that the world was growing bigger and bigger. But on . . .
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It wasn’t my choice to leave Odesa. My father decided, my mother agreed, and so it happened. In 1976. We were lucky to get out, lucky to avoid the fates of refuseniks and political prisoners in the Gulag, lucky that my father—who lost his job immediately upon applying for an exit visa—did . . .
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We knew our answers, but they weren’t what you were looking for: What do you want to be when you grow up? Not married.A man with stronger arms than mine.A person with the courage to bite down.An evil queen.A horse.—from “Please Don’t Ask Us,” Volume 63, Issue 1 (Spring 2022) Tell us . . .
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