INTERVIEWS

Dada After Dada: An Interview with Martin Nakell
Interviewed by David Moscovich
If Roland Barthes had aspired to verse, he would have written a book called IS by Martin Nakell.

Direct from the Heart: a video interview with Red Pine
Before a Minneapolis reading from his new book Finding Them Gone: Visiting China's Poets of the Past, Bill Porter (AKA Red Pine) sat down with Rain Taxi editor Eric Lorberer and author James Lenfestey to discuss his beginnings as a translator and how the best poetry comes directly from the heart.

FEATURES

Asemic Translations: Dwelling in Illegibility
by Elisabeth Workman
In this visual essay originally presented at Rain Taxi's "Asemic Translations" event on March 25, 2017, poet Elizabeth Workman explores writing that is visible but not always legible, fictional but not false.

From the Backlist

The Old Boys
William Trevor
With the passing of William Trevor in the fall of 2016, we revisit the 50-year-old novel intended as a meditation on memory and aging. Reviewed by Jesse Freedman

On Borrowed Wings
Chandra Prasad
What if the first woman to attend Yale University did so in the mid-1930s instead of decades later? Reviewed by Dennis Barone

MIXED GENRE REVIEWS

This Poem Is a House
Ken Sparling
Elements of magical realism inhabit these quirky and whimsical poems by the Canadian poet. Reviewed by Marissa McHugh

Ghostspeaking
Peter Boyle
In this bold and ambitious book, Boyle creates eleven fictive poets (from Latin America, France, and Quebec) and their work, which he has “translated” for the reader. Reviewed by John Bradley

POETRY REVIEWS

Linthead Stomp
Tim Earley
With a title that evokes the old south, Linthead Stomp writhes and seethes like a briar of barbed wire. Reviewed by Kent Weigle

Rival Gardens: New and Selected Poems
Connie Wanek
Wanek’s deft use of language, combined with an attitude of wonder, breaks down the artificial borders between self and other, natural and human. Reviewed by Edward A. Dougherty

Driving without a License
Janine Joseph
Propelled by the topic of immigration and filled with heartbreaking relevance, the book still manages to treat the subject with a unique sense of humor that feels wholly appropriate. Reviewed by Steve Fellner

IRL
Tommy Pico
What do you do when the Muse doesn’t text back? asks one of the most compulsively readable poetry debuts of the past year. Reviewed by Benjamin Voigt

The Catch
Fiona Sampson
Simpson displays the minutiae of suburbia with frenetic energy, so even the calmest acts, from standing on a ferry and watching the shore to listening to animals scurry about as the sun sets, become chaotic. Reviewed by Kevin Holton

Save Twilight: Selected Poems
Julio Cortázar
This plump pocket-sized collection is an excellent introduction to Julio Cortázar’s compelling and varied poetic work. Reviewed by John M. Bennett

handholding: 5 kinds
Tracie Morris
Poet Tracie Morris explores artistic collaboration with an assortment of artists through the spectrum of her own creative inquiry. Reviewed by Greg Bem

The Tornado is the World
Catherine Pierce
In poem after poem, Pierce raises the stakes on what might otherwise be the emotionally mundane. Reviewed by Allison Campbell

FICTION REVIEWS

The Moravian Night
Peter Handke
Reading a new novel by Peter Handke is like taking a month-long walk in the woods: You know it's going to be hard and some stretches will be dull, but you also know there will be surprises along the way. Reviewed by John Toren

The Best American Science Fiction and Fantasy 2016
edited by Karen Joy Fowler
Readers of speculative fiction will recognize authors such as Kelly Link, Sofia Samatar, and Ted Chiang—but this anthology is diverse and includes some uncommon names as well. Reviewed by Ryder W. Miller

Cabo de Gata
Eugen Ruge
Translated by Anthea Bell
In Ruge’s second novel, themes of traveling aimlessly, giving oneself over to change, and being lost in translation rise up together like dust in a ray of sunlight. Reviewed by Erin Lewenauer

Patricide
D. Foy
Foy’s second novel is a dark, brave, complicated tale, speaking to the rages that linger in men through generations. Reviewed by Benjamin Woodard

Before the Wind
Jim Lynch
Both family and the waters of Puget Sound figure prominently in Before the Wind, as grown and nearly-grown children grapple with their parents to set their own independent courses. Reviewed by Daniel Picker

The Winged Histories
Sofia Samatar
Samatar’s second novel is an imagist epic fantasy, a feminist and anti-colonialist reworking of one of those spongy-thick novels with maps at the front. Reviewed by Jane Franklin

The Last Wolf & Herman
László Krasznahorkai
The acclaimed Hungarian author’s new novellas are a perfect introduction to Krasznahorkai’s unique and growing oeuvre. Reviewed by Alex Brubaker

NONFICTION REVIEWS

The Frugal Poets’ Guide to Life:
How to Live a Poetic Life, Even if You Aren’t a Poet
Cynthia Gallaher
Whether you are a starving poet or for some reason just want to live like one, The Frugal Poets’ Guide to Life will help you to see the beauty in the simpler things of life. Reviewed by Laura Winton

A Pure Solar World: Sun Ra and the Birth of Afrofuturism
Paul Youngquist
The story of Herman Blount, who would later change his name to Sun Ra, starts on Earth. Reviewed by Will Wlizlo

this is the fugitive
Misha Pam Dick
Misha Pam Dick’s book overtly engages the experience of identity as fluid, as intimately linked to and even driven by the texts and authors one reads. Reviewed by Jay Besemer

The Home Place: Essays on Robert Kroetsch’s Poetry
Dennis Cooley
Cooley explores the long poems of western Canadian poet Robert Kroetsch, whose work chronicles not only his native prairie, but also the distinct shifts that propelled poetries in the Americas in the late twentieth century. Reviewed by Garin Cycholl

300 Arguments
Sarah Manguso
Manguso’s latest foray into nonfiction is part memoir, part advice, part laughter, and all unflinching honesty. Reviewed by Zoey Cole