The authors of Understanding Moonseed and Apparitions chat about their books, inspirations, their settings and the importance of place, process, spirituality, ghosts, magic realism, the impact of covid, and much more.
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A review of Lucky by Jane Smiley
Smiley’s underlying theme, however, is the precariousness of this immortality. While presenting Jodie’s maturation as a woman and artist, she quietly notes some major historic events of the passing era.
A review of Therapon by Dan Beachy-Quick and Bruce Bond
Throughout this masterful book of collaborative poetry, the theme of Otherness is explored, whether through naming the nameless or gathering and disseminating the knowledge that the naming gives us.
A review of The Homesick Mortician by Peter Mladinic
There is an urgency to this breaking down of line structure, often bridged by run-on thoughts strung together by comma fasteners. It is a compelling style, one that makes the collection very readable at a quick clip. In some cases, as with the first poem, structure reasserts itself at the end with a strong strike upon the bell of reality: “They brought him home.”
An Interview with Angélica Lopes
The author of The Curse of the Flores Women talks about her new book and its inspiration, its Brazilian setting of rural Pernambuco, lacemaking, historical fiction, feminism, the differences between writing scripts for movies and TVs and writing novels, research, writing YA and lots more.
A review of Writing True Stories (2nd Ed) by Patti Miller
Throughout Writing True Stories Miller uses the perfect tone – clear and simple but never patronising or dumbed-down. The book always makes the assumption that everyone is the best expert on their own story and we are all beginners when facing the blank page.
An Interview with Jolene Gutierrez
Now fifty—looks 30—Gutiérrez feels like she’s just hitting her stride as an author. I had the chance to sit down in her inviting library, surrounded by books and stained glass, to talk about writing, kids, libraries, and the power and joy of books.
A review of The Girl From Moscow by Julia Levitina
Levitina draws on her own experiences growing up in Moscow in the 1980s and the book is rich with verisimilitude, following the trajectory of Ella as her dreams of playing the role of Natasha Rostova from Tolstoy’s War and Peace dissolve into fear and a desperation to leave Moscow to escape the KGB and protect her unborn child.
A review of The Djin Hunters by Nadia Niaz
Nature makes her presence felt in many pages, particularly birds. There is a beautiful poem titled “A Time of Birds” in which we read about the hoopoe with its black-tipped orange crest bobbing against misted grass.