INTERVIEWS
“A Certain Amount of Insanity”:
Tessa Hadley in conversation with Curtis Sittenfeld
Minnesota author Curtis Sittenfeld sat down with British author Tessa Hadley at a Rain Taxi event this past January. The two had a lively and informative conversation on many topics inspired by Hadley's newest novel, Late in the Day.
Interviewed by Curtis Sittenfeld
We Are All Witnesses For Each Other:
An Interview with Sean Thomas Dougherty
The soulfulness of Dougherty’s poems and his chosen subjects—people who frequent pool halls and karaoke bars, neighborhood kids, immigrants, miners, anyone struggling in some way to have a voice in America—mark his work as outside the mainstream.
Interviewed by William Stobb
Everyone is Guilty: An Interview with Rick Harsch
Master of Midwestern noir Rick Harsch describes his newest book, a novelistic oral history about a real crime: the kidnapping of a teenager in 1953 La Crosse, Wisconsin.
Interviewed by Anne Kniggendorf
Unloveable Characters: An Interview with Evan Fallenberg
Novelist, translator, and university lecturer Evan Fallenberg discusses his newest novel, his craft, and his work as a translator of Hebrew.
Interviewed by Ben Shields
MULTI GENRE REVIEWS
The Milk Bowl of Feathers: Essential Surrealist Writings
Edited by Mary Ann Caws
This slim volume gives us a glimpse of the international movement that revolutionized every art form. Reviewed by John Bradley
POETRY REVIEWS
The Popol Vuh
translated by Michael Bazzett
The Popol Vuh, literally the “book of the woven mat,” is equal parts creation tale, hero’s journey, and genealogy of the K’iche’, the indigenous people of Guatemala. Reviewed by Maximilian Heinegg
The Dream of Reason
Jenny George
In this debut volume, George is unafraid to take on contemporary monsters that terrorize and disrupt our world. Reviewed by Warren Woessner
Cathedrals & Parking Lots: Collected Poems
Clemens Starck
Starck draws from a lifetime of manual labor, and display a seemingly effortless craftmanship. Reviewed by John Bradley
Light Reading
Stephan Delbos
Delbos, a Prague-based poet, lures the reader in with these “light” poems, building toward a more challenging climax. Reviewed by Kenneth J. Pruitt
Fruit Geode
Alicia Jo Rabins
The experiences of childbirth and early motherhood are simultaneously physical and metaphorical in Rabins’s new collection, a finalist for the National Jewish Book Award in 2018. Reviewed by Anat Hinkis
small siren
Alexandra Mattraw
In small siren, poems sound the alarm that language—that great bridge between thoughts and things—has begun to sway dangerously yet beautifully. Reviewed by Andrew Joron
In Jerusalem and Other Poems
Tamim Al-Barghouti
Al-Barghouti is a poet of the displaced; the ache of a homeland lost or walled-off rings out through his poems, beautifully translated here from the Arabic. Reviewed by Dustin Michael
COMICS REVIEWS
Mort Cinder
Héctor Germán Oesterheld and Alberto Breccia
Mort Cinder is the first volume in The Alberto Breccia Library, a projected series that will present the legendary Argentine comics artist’s work to English-speaking audiences. Reviewed by John Pistelli
FICTION REVIEWS
Empty Words
Mario Levrero
The first novel by this Uruguayan author to be translated into English, Empty Words follows the narrator’s attempts to improve his handwriting through daily exercises, an undertaking he hopes will improve his scattered life. Reviewed by Adrian Glass-Moore
Wild Milk
Sabrina Orah Mark
Surreal strangeness scuttles, mutters, and lactates across the pages of poet Mark’s newest collection Wild Milk. Reviewed by Rachel Hill
Two Reviews of Aviaries
Zuzana Brabcová
We provide two takes on Brabcová’s final novel: Seth Rogoff explores historical and political undertones, as the story is set in the aftermath of Czech President Václav Havel’s death, while Jeff Alford explores themes of interstitiality amid madcap surrealism, a psychological and generational tug of war between women trapped in a failing system.
The Gradual Disappearance of Jane Ashland
Nicolai Houm
Norwegian novelist Nicolai Houm's first book to be translated into English is a character study of a woman struggling for her very existence. Reviewed by Rick Henry
The Alley of Fireflies and Other Stories
Raymond Roussel
In these newly translated stories and fragments, Roussel’s treatment of tragic events such as shipwrecks and death by poisoned word create intellectual delight and endless wonder. Reviewed by W. C. Bamberger
The Annotated Big Sleep
Raymond Chandler
Page by page, the editors (a crime novelist, a scholar, and a poet) help the reader understand and contextualize Raymond Chandler’s 1939 first novel and noir classic. Reviewed by Ryder W. Miller
Mere Chances
Veronika Simoniti
Slovenian author Simoniti’s stories offer a new way into uncertain and unbound geographies. Reviewed by Garin Cycholl
The Washington Decree
Jussi Adler-Olsen
Originally published in 2006 in Denmark, Adler-Olsen’s newly translated political thriller is a prescient commentary on current American politics. Reviewed by Poul Houe
NONFICTION REVIEWS
Islamophobia, Race, and Global Politics
Nazia Kazi
The central focus of Nazia Kazi’s new book is white supremacy and the state-sanctioned violence that both emerges from and supports it in America. Reviewed by Spencer Dew
Lessons from a Dark Time
Adam Hochschild
Hochschild shares the stories of gutsy and bold individuals from across the world who have taken a stand against authoritative governments, spoken out against social injustices and inequalities, and dared to demand change. Reviewed by M. Lock Swingen
A Declaration of the Rights of Human Beings
Raoul Vaneigem
In the second edition of this seventeen-year-old book, philosopher Raoul Vaneigem expands his scope to cover virtual rights and misuse of technology. Reviewed by George Longenecker
Bookends: Collected Intros and Outros
Michael Chabon
Bookends collects a series of brief essays, introductions, afterwords, and liner notes about things Michael Chabon holds dear. Reviewed by Erin Lewenauer