Reviews

Jason Allen—A Meditation on Fire Southeast Missouri State University Press, 2016 Page Length: 71 Retail: $14 Poems of Survival: A Review of Jason Allen’s A Meditation on Fire Jason Allen’s debut full-length collection of poems, A Meditation on Fire, reminds me of what remains in a boxing ring after the final round. The poems spin [...]

Maria Mazziotti Gillan— What Blooms in Winter NYQ Books, 2016 Page Length: 116 Retail: $15 The last several months have been trying as an American citizen. Donald Trump’s candidacy has used xenophobic rhetoric to demonize minority groups and immigrants. In these times, Maria Mazziotti Gillan’s body of work, which often focuses on her Italian-American family [...]

During 2016, the Spotlight Series focuses on two poets per month whose work and consciousness move us, challenge us, inspire us. This month’s second poet is Yolanda J. Franklin. Fox Frazier-Foley: Talk to me about the core of your creative drive and the expression it finds through poetry. There are lots of ways to be [...]

During 2016, the Spotlight Series (usually) focuses on two poets per month whose work and consciousness move us, challenge us, inspire us. This month’s surprise!-special-feature third poet is Jen Fitzgerald. Fox Frazier-Foley: Talk to me about the core of your creative drive and the expression it finds through poetry. There are lots of ways to [...]

During 2016, the Spotlight Series focuses on two poets per month whose work and consciousness move us, challenge us, inspire us. This month’s second poet is Hanif Willis-Abdurraqib. Fox Frazier-Foley: Talk to me about the core of your creative drive and the expression it finds through poetry. There are lots of ways to be creative [...]

Dinner Table Refuge by Benjamin Schmitt Punks Write Poems, 2015 Paperback, 118 pages, $14 ISBN: 978-0986170737 Clocking in at over 100 pages, Benjamin Schmitt’s Dinner Table Refuge tackles a number of issue— death, politics, homelessness, love, punk rock nostalgia, and even zombies and robot takeovers. The collection is not only wide in scope, but wide [...]

OUR LADY OF THE FLOWERS, ECHOIC BY CHRIS TYSH LES FIGUES PRESS, 2013 CUNT NORTON BY DODIE BELLAMY LES FIGUES PRESS, 2013 1. Pins Ups: Covering the Classics “I realized early on that the academy and the literary world alike — and I don’t think there really is a distinction between the two — are [...]