November Read of the Month: “The White Bird,” by William Bernhardt

Reviewed by Amy Susan Wilson Entering William Bernhardt’s debut poetry collection, The White Bird, is entering into the heart of human community. Always rich, often humorous, and at times poignant, these poems, which are diverse in style, guide us through the maze of parenting, longing, loss, working, traveling, and, among other things, falling in and […]

Sara Hughes

Sara Hughes recently graduated from Georgia State University, where she completed a Ph.D. in English with a concentration in Poetry. Her poems and reviews have been published in Rattle, Reed, Rosebud, The Oklahoma Review, West Trade Review, Ouroboros Review, Red Clay Review, Umbrella Factory Magazine, Old Red Kimono, Loose Change, Thin Air, and Arts and […]

“Redemption,” by Lee Passarella

Reviewed by Shaun Turner Lee Passarella’s collection of poems, Redemption, focuses on quiet revelations—frost-bent daffodil in mid-March, mother dog nursing hungry pups, box kite adrift over the ocean. Passarella chooses these images, both bare and beautiful, to show us moments of revelation. His poems take us on a journey of perception, deepened by surprising metaphors, […]

“Half a Man,” by Bill Glose

Reviewed by William Aarnes For me at least, as someone who knows few people involved in the armed forces, one striking bit of news in Bill Glose’s Half a Man comes in the poem “Invisible.” The poem relates how, after a soldier dies in conflict, the spouse loses housing privileges.  We are all familiar with […]

Allen Mendenhall Interviews Julia Nunnally Duncan

AM:  Thank you for taking the time to do this interview, and congratulations on your forthcoming book, Barefoot in the Snow.  This is, I believe, your third collection of poetry.  How does this one differ from your earlier books of poetry? JND:  Barefoot in the Snow reflects a more mature vision and perspective of events […]

The Black Ocean by Brian Barker

Brian Barker’s second collection of poetry, The Black Ocean, opens with the 13-page “Dragging Canoe Vanishes from the Bear Pit into the Endless Clucking of the Gods.” Spliced into numerous sections in which Barker’s memory of visiting Cherokee, N.C., is merged with meditations on America’s abuse of Native Americans, “Dragging Canoe” forecasts much of what’s […]