Hayden’s Ferry Review – Spring/Summer 2004

Hayden’s Ferry Review is, as always, an enjoyable mingle of poems, prose, art, interviews and essays. This issue has interviews with esteemed experimental poet C.D. Wright, acclaimed visual artist James Turrell, whose pieces explore the actions of light (several representations of his work are included with the interview, which I appreciated), as well as poet David St. John, whose poems also explore the nature of light.

Hayden’s Ferry Review is, as always, an enjoyable mingle of poems, prose, art, interviews and essays. This issue has interviews with esteemed experimental poet C.D. Wright, acclaimed visual artist James Turrell, whose pieces explore the actions of light (several representations of his work are included with the interview, which I appreciated), as well as poet David St. John, whose poems also explore the nature of light. Poems and stories here are entertaining and lucid. I particularly liked Cody Walker’s poem “My Grandmother in 1933 Thought Everything Was Crooked,” which begins: “And sad, too. / So she pawned her diamonds, / quit her three jobs at the club, / set out like some Sam / Spade detective fro / an America that didn’t feature five heartless / bastards in nondescript suits beating an old man…” Liliana Ursu’s work, translated by Sean Cotter, was dreamy and lyric, wonderfully strange. Weirdly engaging as well, was Drew Perry’s piece, “Breast and Zebra,” about a man who is mystified when his wife of many years considers breast enhancement surgery. Hayden’s Ferry continues to be a journal of strong work that invites the reader to study every page. [Hayden’s Ferry Review, Box 871502, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ 85287-1502. E-mail: HFR@asu.edu. Single issue $6. www.HaydensFerryReview.org] – JHG