Literary Magazine Reviews

Gargoyle

Number 56

2010

Annual

Review by Anne Wolfe

Gargoyle came into being in 1976. It was started to put light on “unknown poets and writers, and the overlooked.” It bravely began as a monthly, with not much more than a handful of poems, short stories and nonfiction and “graphics”; but it began with quality. For example, its first issue boasted a poem from the then-unknown budding young poet named Jim Daniels. It slowly grew larger over time until it became the huge beast of a literary magazine it is today. It has continued to have quality poets and writers . . .
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Green Mountains Review

Volume 23 Number 1

Spring/Summer 2010

Biannual

Review by Sima Rabinowitz

This issue opens with terrific translations of the work of Syrian poet Adonis (Ali Ahmad Said Esber) from Khaled Mattawa, from the book Al-Mutabaqat wal-al-Awa’il (Similarities and Beginnings), published in 1980. These poems are, according to an introductory essay by Mattawa, a departure from the poet’s earlier interest in longer forms, and they demonstrate his skill with the short lyric. They are tightly, and expertly, constructed, with lush imagery, despite their taut shape . . .
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Kitty Snacks

Number 3

2010

Review by Terri Denton

In this issue of Kitty Snacks, the introduction belongs to Deb Olin Unferth. Her “Limited Observations” is not so much a story in its traditional form, but an amusing list of things the ubiquitous ‘she’ has observed. This style lends itself well to the itemized life that ‘she’ lives. For example, two delightful items in this list are “Committees” and “Deletion.” For the first, Unferth writes, "There should have been a committee to tell her what to do" . . .
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The Pacific Review

Issue 28

Spring 2010

Annual

Review by Terri Denton

You, the reader, may notice that this review seems to be split in half. How odd, you may think. Actually, I’ve combined the two because they are combined within the same two covers. You can tell, though, when the magazine switches from The Pacific Review to Ghost Town, as the pages abruptly turn upside down at the intersection. Now, to the first… This issue of the Pacific Review contains fiction, poetry, and nonfiction. There is no editorial note to explain the shift . . .
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Ghost Town

Issue 1

2010

Annual

Review by Terri Denton

And now, to the second half of this periodical, Ghost Town.

Again, there are no editorial musings, just a hipper than anything dive into the fray. One of the first is a great poem by Jared Stanley, called “Legitimate Dangers”: "A _____ stirs the thicket. / I am cherry alive, the little girl sang. // Fleas alight from this line. / Now it’s all our celebration, right? // I’ve got to interrupt you for a second; / this is my index finger talking." Himilce Novas’s “Painting Life Over” is a sad story, filled with memories of a youth spent amongst parents who fought constantly . . .
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Prairie Schooner

Volume 84 Number 2

Summer 2010

Quarterly

Review by Sima Rabinowitz

I am interested in almost any writing about work (as in the exchange of time spent in goal-oriented activity for wages) and also in the work of crafting long poems, so I was drawn immediately to “After Work,” a poem in 20 brief sections by Martha Collins: "I Rest for all who labor, work for, build / our houses, pave our streets, nurse / the fallen on our streets, those // who cannot anymore, not one / day off but all shut out unhoused / upon our streets unnursed unheard // in this our country’s right to work" . . .
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Southern Humanities Review

Volume 44 Number 2

Spring 2010

Quarterly

Review by Sima Rabinowitz

My recent reading just happens to have included a great deal of poetry by women whose work in the first half of the last century is now largely forgotten or ignored, so I was surprised, pleased, and curious to discover Mina Loy’s name in a poem by Priscilla Atkins in this issue’s TOC. I had to start there, though I was tempted to begin with a poem by Michael Andrews, “Lykambes Has Promised Neobulé,” because it has the most unusual title in the issue; or Terry W. Thompson’s . . .
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The Spoon River Poetry Review

Volume 35 Number 1

Winter/Spring 2010

Biannual

Review by Sima Rabinowitz

This 35^th anniversary issue is editor Brian Guernsey’s last after four years. He will be succeeded by Kristin Hotelling Zona, associate professor of English at Illinois State, where the journal is published. This issue’s Illinois Poet (an interview and a dozen poems) introduces the work of Cathy Bobb; the Poets on Teaching column presents Wesley McNair’s exercises for introducing students to free verse; translations include work from Brazil, Spain; and poems by 20 poets . . .
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Thin Air Magazine

Number 16

2010

Biannual

Review by Terri Denton

This issue of Thin Air opens with a hilarious poem about fire, which, by rights, shouldn’t be funny at all. But Matthew J Spireng’s poem “In Case of Fire” will have you smiling by its end. Spireng writes, "Outside the room on the hallway / a metal-sided glass-front case / on the wall bears sticker with instructions // In case of fire break glass. Nothing more / to suggest to the literal-minded, those who / follow instructions to the letter, that they / should consider removing the extinguisher . . .
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Yale Review

Volume 98 Number 3

July 2010

Quarterly

Review by Sima Rabinowitz

A very Yale-Review-like issue of the Yale Review, which is to say that this is a journal for the serious-minded reader who appreciates scholarly essays of thoughtful analysis alongside her poetry, fiction, and personal essays. And if you’re looking for writers with an established track record and name recognition, Yale Review is always a good choice (Louis Auchincloss on Henry James; Arthur Kirsch on Auden; poems by Charles Wright, Carl Phillips, Daryl Hine, David Wagoner . . .
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