One Dreams of Place: An Interview with Esther Lin

Poet Esther Lin discusses how she drew from tales, texts, and oral family history in writing her new collection Cold Thief Place, which explores the fear and instability of growing up as an undocumented child in the U.S.

Interviewed by Tiffany Troy

Major Arcana

In its mixture of literary ambition and old-fashioned showmanship, John Pistelli’s latest novel is a throwback to the efflorescence of popular literary fiction in the mid-late 20th century. Reviewed by Andy Hartzell

Red Dog Farm

Rather than shying away from comparisons to Halldór Laxness’s 1934 novel Independent People, Nathaniel Ian Miller leans into them in his new tale set on a far-flung Icelandic farm. Reviewed by Sara Maurer

A Brief Campaign of Sting and Sweet

Situated in the natural lushness of the American South, Laura Isabela Amsel’s new collection explores the lovely, the terrifying, and the sad experiences of family life.

Reviewed by Danielle Hanson

Letters to Gisèle

This important book offers readers of Paul Celan a glimpse into the personal life of a poet forever haunted by his past.

Reviewed by Patrick James Dunagan

The Sky Was Once a Dark Blanket

Kinsale Drake’s debut poetry collection is a love letter to the southwest, Diné culture, and the inherent lyricism that storytelling bears.

Reviewed by Danielle Shandiin Emerson

Wave of Blood

Formally and stylistically innovative, Ariana Reines’s new book moves between prose and poetry with a captivating hybridity.
Reviewed by Robert Eric Shoemaker

Strangers in the Land

Michael Luo reveals how successive generations of Chinese immigrants sought belonging in America despite programs of systematic exclusion.
Reviewed by Sarah Moorhouse

Crumb

Dan Nadel’s new biography of Robert Crumb offers a deeper and more nuanced view than even the artist’s most devoted fans could have guessed. Reviewed by Paul Buhle