In a new collection by accomplished poet Rick Campbell, Fish Streets before Dawn: Poems (Press53 2024), evocative settings underscore themes of aging, the fragility of life, and inevitability of change and death. The first section is titled “Alligator Point” after the Florida gulf front community where Campbell lives. “The Wild Lament of Saint Teresa” describes […]
“To the Manor Born” by Matthew Speiser
June 4, 2024 by Leave a Comment
Like the TV series, The Man From High Castle, Matthew Speiser’s To the Manor Born (Black Rose Publishing 2023) is an alternate history. Instead of asking what the world would have looked like if Germany had won WWII, Speiser’s book asks what if the American Civil War had ended differently. The result is an imaginative, […]
“Dirt Songs” by Kari Gunter-Seymour
May 15, 2024 by 1 Comment
In Dirt Songs (Eastover Press 2024), Kari Gunter-Seymour proves she is at the top of her game by evoking both the wild energy and lustful passion of youth and the regrets such indulgences oft engender later in life. Other poems in the collection beautifully capture the natural world of Appalachia through precise language and fresh […]
“Night Watch” by Jayne Anne Phillips wins Pulitzer Prize for Fiction
May 14, 2024 by Leave a Comment
The Trans-Allegheny Lunatic Asylum in Weston, West Virginia, stands at the center of Jayne Anne Phillips’ latest novel, Night Watch (Knopf 2023). It won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction, is long-listed for the National Book Award in Fiction, and is a New Yorker Best Book of the Year. The Civil War’s aftermath of wounded men and […]
May Read of the Month: “Treatment Plan” by Darryl Bollinger
May 1, 2024 by 1 Comment
Gripping—because the story is expertly crafted to grab you by the neck and not let go. Horrifying—because the very people who should be helping drug-addicted patients are instead motivated to make sure they stay addicted. Important—because even though Treatment Plan, by Darryl Bollinger, is fictional, similar events are happening to real families. Yes, Treatment Plan […]
Read of the Month: “Perpendicular Women: Adventures in the Multiverse” by Chris Coward
April 3, 2024 by Leave a Comment
Perpendicular Women: Adventures in the Multiverse (Atmosphere Press 2023) by Chris Coward has a stunning cover design befitting the exceptionally intriguing story inside. Speculative fiction, the novel is divided into three parts, each featuring a different character: “Connection 1: Kara, Dreamer”; “Connection 2: Pandora, Leader”; and “Connection 3: Dawn, Champion.” Each section takes places in […]