As with all of Anne Casey’s work, the poems in the light we cannot see contain a deep underlying humanism that comes through every poem. Perhaps this is the light we cannot see – a rich illumination more felt than seen, providing hope through the many threads of grief that connect the poems in this collection. Many of the poems are inspired by Casey’s Irish heritage, shot through with Gaelic motifs that link the poems, from a brilliant coupling of “The Second Coming” by WB Yeats and the Coronavirus to a plait or DNA-shaped prayer to Celtic goddess Brigid.
An interview with Marcus Tallberg
10 Questions with Tallbergs Forlag founder, publisher and entrepreneur Marcus Tallberg.
A review of Blue Madagascar by Andrew Kaplan
Blue Madagascar is a joyride with enough twists to keep you guessing till the very last chapter. Kaplan’s mystery is crafted with a sizeable amount of complexity, proving his talent, and enough authorial guidance to make the text easily accessible to any reader. It is a novel that never slows, yet never sacrifices detail. From front to back, this novel succeeded in stealing my focus. I simply had to
know where Kaplan would take me.
A review of Mostly True Tales From Birchmont Village by Peter J. Stavros
Mostly True Tales from Birchmont Village is a gentle comedy reminiscent of Stephen Leacock’s Sunshine Sketches of a Little Town and Garrison Keillor’s novels. The humour derives from idiosyncratic characters who appear in the seven, chronological stories that make up the book.
A review of Homing Pigeons and Sundry Stuff by Dr Naina Dey
Dey looks “before and after and pines for what is not”, yet she is firmly rooted in the present times and dares question all iniquities and oddities. In the poem, “Subaltern” in the same section, the backlash of clichéd queries directed to either the spinster, a divorced woman, or a single parent seems timely and justified. She is not a ‘subaltern’ of the new millennium, hence the pat reply in the form of a string of queries, to the utter bafflement of Goddess Kali, before whom the questioner and the questioned stood.
A review of Wayward Girls by Claire Matturro and Penny Koepsel
Matturro and Koespel artfully develop all the key elements of a horrifying thriller in Wayward Girls. The eerie atmosphere lingers like an unforgettable nightmare, an especially haunting one, considering the dedication indicates the story, while fictional, is based on real schools in Texas and Florida, with some of the most appalling events taken directly from official transcripts.
A review of Selected Poems 2002-2021 by J R Solonche
The poetry in this book is varied in style, form, and theme. The reader will find prose poems, free verse, haikus, lists, ghazals, sonnets, and many anaphora poems. The poet’s poems on his relationship with life go from the most profound to the most trivial. Many poems are philosophical, while others are about nature, human feelings, and small events of daily life like driving on a highway, observing his daughter while she swims, or saying goodnight.
A review of While Listening to the Enigma Variations by Diane Frank
As the title of Diane Frank’s stunning collection of new and selected poems suggests, with its reference to Edward Elgar’s exquisite orchestral suite, music is an important theme throughout her work. Dance, spirituality, dreams, and love are as well. They all add up to profound wisdom and convey a sense of joyfulness.
A review of Know Your Country by Kerri Shying
Shying never puts on airs, using words with absolute precision. The work has many themes and encompasses several, often competing realities. The most prevalent one pivots around the notion of identity. One’s country is not just the place you live or come from, but also its history, and what it has come to represent. It is not just nationhood, but the earth beneath your feet, the flora, and fauna, the space of the heart.
A Conversation with Carly Inghram about her newest poetry collection, The Animal Indoors
Carly Inghram is a poet from Atlanta. Her first collection, Sometimes the Blue Trees, was released from Vegetarian Alcoholic Press in 2019. Her newest poetry collection, The Animal Indoors, is the winner of the 2020 CAAPP Book Prize. She currently lives in Manhattan and teaches kindergarten in the Bronx.