INTERVIEWS
Writing Sontag's Life and Work: an interview with Benjamin Moser
Interviewed by Allan Vorda
Moser discusses his revealing, in-depth portrait of one of the twentieth century’s most powerful intellectuals.
The Poet Who Hated Poetry But Wrote It Anyway:
An Interview with Jose Padua
Interviewed by bart plantenga
Jose Padua’s new book explodes like a cluster bomb of hilarious, acerbic, menacing, satirical, clear-eyed, and self-effacing poetry that uncomfortably lays bare his experiences growing up as a Filipino in a white world and an outsider-bohemian in an overly ambitious culture.
“A very full, large, and luminous space”: the poetry of Amanda Berenguer
An Interview with Kristin Dykstra and Kent Johnson
Editor/translators Dykstra and Johnson discuss their motivations and challenges in their collaboration to bring a ground-breaking anthology of work by Uruguayan poet Amanda Berenguer into the hands of an American audience.
Interviewed by Peter Boyle
The Fertile, The Fecund, The Leaky, The Bizarre, THE END: A Discussion of Forms, Labor, the Feminine, and Public Space
A conversation between MC Hyland and Rebecca Lehmann
Two poets discuss the inception and creation of their recent poetry collections.
FEATURES:
What Shirt Color is Left? Fado, Salazar, Pessoa, and Saramago:
A Report from Lisbon’s DIS/QUIET Literary Program
Antonio Salazar was the 20th century’s most enduring dictator, and Schneider explores two literary giants who took on his regime in differing ways.
essay by Mike Schneider
COMICS REVIEWS
Nobody’s Fool: The Life and Times of Schlitzie the Pinhead
Bill Griffith
Cartoonist Bill Griffith tells the fascinating story of the sideshow attraction who inspired the creation of his most enduring character, Zippy the Pinhead. Reviewed by Christopher Luna
MIXED GENRE REVIEWS
Shit I’ve Cried About, Volumes One Through Five
Smeyer
Centering on queer love and offering an outline of the struggle for visibility in a nihilistic culture, this pocket-size volume gives us remembrances and recognitions of the author’s sadness. Reviewed by Michael Workman
FICTION REVIEWS
The Enchanted Ring: A Romance of Chivalry
Philothée O’Neddy
Originally published serially in 1841 under considerable censorship, The Enchanted Ring was a literary trojan horse, infiltrating conservative conventions of genre with progressive ideas. Reviewed by Olchar E. Lindsann
POETRY REVIEWS
Things That Go
Laura Eve Engel
Engel’s debut collection, Things That Go, is on its surface framed around the biblical tale of Lot’s Wife. Reviewed by Greg Bem
Doomstead Days
Brian Teare
In his new collection, Brian Teare offers an honest account of what we’re doing to our planet, while somehow never resorting to despair. Reviewed by John Bradley
Rituals
Kiriti Sengupta
In Sengupta's highly-anticipated tenth volume, the poet invites readers into his private space, crossing the fine line between poetry and memoir. Reviewed by Jagari Mukherjee
The Book of Baruch by the Gnostic Justin
Geoffrey Hill
An engaging curiosity, The Book of Baruch by the Gnostic Justin was meant to be Geoffrey Hill’s final book of poems, and at the time of his death in 2016 it was left unfinished as he intended. Reviewed by Patrick James Dunagan
The Winter Garden Photograph
Reina María Rodríguez
Cuban poet Rodríguez uses photographs from the UNESCO magazine Courier to spark a meditation on desire. Reviewed by John Bradley
NONFICTION REVIEWS:
Utopian Trace: An Oral Presentation
Peter Lamborn Wilson
Originally broadcast as a "radio sermonette", Utopian Trace explores the inception and creation of New York City's Central Park.
Reviewed by Richard Kostelanetz