FEATURE

To Carry C. D. Wright’s Work Forward, Shining
The loss of a great poet spurs this moving tribute to the necessary work that “puts the self in the now and on the page.”
Essay by Jill Magi

INTERVIEWS

Turning Teaching into Writing: An Interview with Wendy Barker
Poet and professor Wendy Barker discusses her new collection of poems, which focuses on her experiences as a teacher.
Interviewed by Alan Feldman

Surging toward Abjection: An Interview with Alan Sondheim
Two colleagues team up to ask a renowned new media artist, musician, and writer about his work in the virtual world. Interviewed by Maria Damon and Murat Nemet-Nejat

The Pleasure Principle: An Interview with Alfie Bown
Alfie Bown discusses his new book Enjoying It, which addresses the profound question of pleasure and the trend of video game apps with wit and wisdom.
Interviewed by Catherine Wong

FICTION REVIEWS:

Liner Notes
James Brubaker
These thirteen stories explore a fascination with music and pop culture. Reviewed by Alex K. Hughes

Camp Olvido: A Novella
Lawrence Coates
Set in early 1930s central California work camps, this novella follows the tragic lives of migrant workers, their families, and their bullying bosses. Reviewed by Richard Henry

Octavia’s Brood: Science Fiction Stories from Social Justice Movements
Edited by Walidah Imarisha and adrienne maree brown
Two reviewers discuss this anthology of stories inspired by SF master Octavia Butler, taking on matters of race and gender. Reviewed by Jane Franklin and Folake Shoga

The 6:41 to Paris
Jean-Phillippe Blondel
This so-called “psychological thriller” grinds like a bullet train on 19th-century tracks, but despite the historical dynamism that propels the novel, it remains inescapably static and small in its design. Reviewed by Justin Goodman

Moon Up, Past Full
Eric Shonkwiler
In his debut collection Moon Up, Past Full, Shonkwiler takes up the harsh beauty of the Midwest and the gentle misery of its rural working class. Reviewed by David Nilsen

NONFICTION REVIEWS:

The Coyote’s Bicycle
Kimball Taylor
In The Coyote’s Bicycle, the U.S.-Mexico border transforms into both a living creature with a pulsing magnetism and an imaginary architecture of the mind. Reviewed by Emily Loberg

Exit Right: The People Who Left the Left and Reshaped the American Century
Daniel Oppenheimer
With a wealth of research and emotional obedience, Oppenheimer brilliantly traces the pre-conversion stories of six of 20th-century America’s most impactful political creatures: Whittaker Chambers, James Burnham, Ronald Reagan, Norman Podhoretz, David Horowitz, and Christopher Hitchens. Reviewed by Mark Dunbar

Ted Hughes: The Unauthorised Life
Jonathan Bate
Bate’s new biography challenges the traditional narrative that paints Hughes as one of the most hated men in literary history. Reviewed by Katie Marquette

War Against All Puerto Ricans: Revolution and Terror in America’s Colony
Nelson A. Denis
In this chronicle of horror, Denis recounts the history of America’s oppression of the Puerto Rican people. Reviewed by Spencer Dew

Infamy: The Shocking Story of the Japanese Internment in World War II
Richard Reeves
In his book on one of the dark moments of American history, Reeves traces the racism, discrimination, and hate-mongering that led to the infamous internment camps. Reviewed by Douglas Messerli

Evidence of What Is Said:
The Correspondence between Ann Charters and Charles Olson about History and Herman Melville
Ann Charters and Charles Olson
Over forty years after publishing her slim yet meaty work Olson/Melville, Charters revisits that period of time with Evidence of What is Said through letters and pictures. Reviewed by by Patrick James Dunagan

POETRY REVIEWS:

Latest Volcano
Tana Jean Welch
Welch reveals the gift and power of story with poems lyrically defined by both narrative structure and the convergence of abstract and concrete. Reviewed by Greg Bem

Quiet Book
Pattie McCarthy
Quiet Book considers individual moments of motherhood, moments that have shaped the parameters of history, language, and Western art. Reviewed by Jenny Drai

Splendor
Emily Bludworth de Barrios
These poems delve into defining a life through the prism of envy, ambition, love, and privilege. Reviewed by Ashleigh Lambert

Futures: Poems of the Greek Crisis
Edited and translated by Theodoros Chiotis
This anthology teems with the anger and bitterness that resulted from Greece’s economic turmoil. Reviewed by John Bradley

Feast: Poetry & Recipes for a Full Seating at Dinner
Edited by Diane Goettel and Anneli Matheson
Feast brims with delicious recipes and poetry to match, giving us a glimpse into the various regions of the world of the human spirit. Reviewed by Rahel Jaskow

Rabbit Ears: TV Poems
Edited by Joel Allegretti
The first of its kind, this anthology of TV poems presents a diversity of poetic voices addressing the medium of television from every angle. Reviewed by M. Lock Swingen

CHAPBOOK REVIEWS:

Vox Populi
Virginia Konchan
From the moment the reader embarks upon this poetic voyage of the alphabet, it becomes clear that this poem is a celebration of the various. Reviewed by Larry Sawyer

A Taxonomy of the Space Between Us
Caleb Curtiss
In this stirring collection of poems, Curtiss explores the death of his sister through tension between presence/memory and absence/forgetting. Reviewed by Robert Manaster

VIDEO FEATURE

The Fireman: a video interview with Joe Hill
Rain Taxi editor Eric Lorberer met with Joe Hill to discuss his new novel, literary influences, and comics.

Dark Sparkler: a video interview with Amber Tamblyn
Rain Taxi editor Eric Lorberer sat down with poet Amber Tamblyn on a book tour for her collection Dark Sparkler to discuss how the dark side of fame can be expressed through poetry and art.