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If you’re a literary traditionalist or an anal grammar/perfect-proof reader, leave. You’ll hate this publication. For the remaining (more forgiving) folks, let’s talk. The first section is a bit rough. I swear someone lost pages to the Manil Suri (“Death of Vishnu”) interview. But the “Letters to the Editor” start the engine purring. Look at these beginning sentences: “I love the rain / As a schoolgirl, I read the story of Hero and Leander for the first time in Arabic / I believe that human beings everywhere share similar joys and sorrows.” Continue reading “Thought Magazine – 2003”

A section of this issue of Field is dedicated to pieces in tribute to and discussion of James Wright, the poet who, among many literary achievements, brought to life the tragic and desolate landscapes of Martins Ferry, Ohio. Continue reading “Field – Fall 2003”

This hefty collection of essays, fiction, poetry, art and reviews defies easy categorization, such as “traditional,” “Southern regional” or “academic.” The issue starts out with a riveting essay by Gerald Stern and continues with wonderful pieces like Nance Van Winckel’s luminous short story, “Funeral of the Virgin,” and Michael Chitwood’s poem “The Cello.” Continue reading “The Georgia Review – Fall 2003”

The sizeable, glossy Green Mountains Review is filled, as always, with fresh and interesting work; this time many of the pieces have a metaphysical bent, but with a twist, such as poems that meditate on the true holiness of the phrase “Holy Shit,” that imagine Mary Magdalene’s conversations about Jesus at the tomb, and that consider explanations of mortality to a little boy at a crematorium. Half tongue-in-cheek, Charles Harper Webb’s poem “In Unromantic Times” bemoans our contemporary cynicism, and the death of romance, with an edge of real grief at the end: Continue reading “Green Mountains Review – Fall 2003”

The Green Tricycle is billed as the “Fun to Read” lit magazine, and it lives up to its mantra superbly. Each issue incorporates poetry, “flash-fiction” and “mini-drama” under three different themes that are tossed out prior to the issue’s publication so as to give writers ample time to craft a work based upon the requisite themes. Continue reading “The Green Tricycle – November 2003”

Measuring in at 6”x6”, this is a great little journal to tuck in a bag, purse, glovebox, computer bag, under a pillow or wherever you can think to stash it for truly quick reading. Keeping entries at under 500 words, this publication offers a zen approach to reading literature – just as we can remind ourselves to breathe during hectic days, this publication is an accessible reminder to read. Continue reading “Quick Fiction – Fall 2003”

This zine-styled publication should be on the required reading list for college-level creative writing and poetry classes: a jewel of a compact scholarly literary supplement that can provide the basis for numerous discussions and approaches to poetry. Continue reading “Free Lunch – Autumn 2003”

Always satisfying, this issue is intensely exciting with a “Special Section” on “sublimation,” defined in chemical terms. The editors have selected work that considers the “questions of expansion, collision, and revelation” — categories of inquiry and exploration as rich and provocative for the arts as they are for the sciences. And the work here is indeed rich and provocative. Continue reading “Hayden’s Ferry Review – Spring/Summer 2003”

Fun. Funky. Wild. Weird. Probably is best to read this at midnight. If it’s not necessarily the most reliable guide to life, it’s certainly an entertaining experience. Continue reading “Midnight Mind Magazine – 2003”

“There’s only so much of anything you want to know,” concludes Calvin Trillin in “Comments from a Modest Man,” a thoughtful and entertaining interview conducted by Jonathan D’Amore. That sums up the whole of this very worthwhile issue of The Carolina Quarterly — it’s modest, but self assured, unassuming, but powerful. The fiction is particularly strong. Continue reading “The Carolina Quarterly – Summer 2003”

Celebrations, gatherings, affairs, factions, feasts, salons, unions, orgies, sects, partners, leagues, cabals, defendants, accomplices, holidays, conspirators, partakers — the definition of “parties” for this tenth volume of the journal. TWO LINES is an engrossing theme-based journal of poems in translation, published by the Center for Art in Translation in San Francisco. It’s beautifully and cleverly done and, to its credit, includes only work published for the first time in English in North America. The historical framework is as expansive as the geographical scope, with poems from ancient times to the current moment. Poets include a few writers who may be well known to readers in the U.S. and many who certainly remain unknown here were it not for TWO LINES. All of the poems appear in their original language (Bulgarian, Chinese, Danish, French from France and Senegal,  Finnish, Icelandic, Italian, Norwegian, Provençal, Spanish from several Latin American countries, Uzbek, and more) and in translation, preceded by a bio of the poet and a short commentary from the translator about the process of creating the translation. Brief contributors’ notes at the back of the journal provide the translators’ bios. Continue reading “Two Lines – 2003”

Now in its second decade, JOT “…publishes reflections people make on their personal histories and everyday experiences. It is founded on the propositions that every person is a philosopher, expressing one’s thoughts fosters creativity and change, and taking control of life requires people to think about the world and communicate their thoughts to others.” The doors here symbolize place, Chicago (past and present) to be exact, and some of the streets, towns, and geographies people who live there now have left for Chicago. Continue reading “Journal of Ordinary Thought – Summer 2003”

The Kenyon Review offers a special edition, with the theme of culture and place. The annual index appears in the back, offering an overview of an entire year fiction and poetry. Poems focus on place, from Jennifer Grotz’s artistic “Arrival in Rome” to the incredibly detailed “A Flat in Jaipur” by Vinay Dharwadker. The latter poem offers brilliantly vivid images, from the rainbow film of oil on water to banana peels “black and limp as strips of leather” (122). “Japanese Magnolia” by Virgil Suarez paints a delicate picture of the lovely flower, with simplistic double lined stanzas rich with meaning. The poems create scenes from distant countries, heightening the reader’s awareness of the world. Continue reading “The Kenyon Review – Summer/Fall 2003”

Comprised solely of text, Gulf Stream Magazine boasts a highly diverse showing of work. Essays, interviews, poetry and prose fall into myriad styles and forms, making the magazine an eclectic foray into literary possibilities. Continue reading “Gulf Stream – 2003”

The surrealist-naturalist oils of Margaret Wall-Romana set the tone for this journal, the theme of which is “Gardens in the Urban Jungle.” Grouped into sections according to which editor selected them, the works represent a broad interpretation of the seemingly-simple motif—from straightforward botanical sketches to Yiddish verse printed in both English and Hebrew. Continue reading “Five Fingers Review – 2002”

This eclectic and entertaining collection of full-color art work, poetry, short fiction and memoir provides space for highly ironic voices to mingle with the highly sincere. The eccentrically goofy tale of cons gone wrong, “That Kind of Nonsense” by Patrick Tobin, was a highlight, as were the poetry translations, including Robert Pinsky’s translation of Anna Akhmatova’s poem “The Summer Garden” and Taylor Stoehr’s translation of Li Po’s “Fighting South of the Wall.” Another short story, “Heathens,” by Alden Jones, describes the complicated relationships between a teacher, one of her young female students, and a church group teen on a mission trip in Costa Rica. The fascinating (and weirdly beautiful) photographs of decaying books by Rosamond Purcell lend irony to the reading experience. Continue reading “AGNI – Number 58”

This journal out of Texas presents poetry, art work, photography, and reviews in a slim, perfectly bound package with good production values. The appealing poetry within captures a cross-section of American writing that balances heart and art; these works are beautiful in and of themselves but also strive to mean something. For instance, the poem “On Forgetting” by Megan Snyder-Camp plays on well-known proverbs to display a deeper truth about motherhood, as in the following: Continue reading “Borderlands – Spring/Summer 2003”

The thirtieth anniversary edition of BWR starts out strong with “Mother of Pearl Clouds,” a poem by Larissa Szporluk that ends with a line articulating what is possibly the impetus of all art: “let’s not let them / think that we’re just passing.” And it just gets better from there, offering fiction, nonfiction, interviews and a chapbook, all of which are smart and enjoyable. Continue reading “Black Warrior Review – Fall/Winter 2003”

This thin, glossy little number could fairly be classified as Eye Candy. With full-color art to accompany each piece of literature, it is nothing short of visually stunning. From the dramatically minimalist black and white photography of Neila Kun to the evocative oils of Sergei Silverbeer, the artwork represented here is expansive enough to serve as anyone’s cup of tea. Where literature is concerned, there is a fair mix of quality poetry and prose, tending somewhat toward the scholarly (this is not a market for wildly free-form, experimental verse).  Continue reading “William & Mary Review – 2003”

An absolutely sensational cover on this terrific Canadian journal — “Avalok,” a painting by Chris Woods creates a “clash of perspectives” with an astoundingly life-like image of a server / goddess at McDonald’s with her sacred offerings of chicken nuggets / croquettes and cookies / biscuits (bilingual fast food in Canada, of course!). What’s inside is just as exciting. More than three dozen poems, most the work of poets with strong, quirky, original voices, four equally original stories, a personal essay, and several thoughtful reviews of books from noteworthy indie presses. It’s not hard to see why many of the writers published in Event rake in the big Canadian literary awards. Every piece here is truly an event. Poetry by Canadian writers Andy Stubbs and Sue Wheeler and by Californian John Randolph Carter is particularly striking, though all of the poetry in this issue is worth savoring; a story by Edward Maitano of New York could restore a cynic’s faith in the fate of short fiction. The volume opens with the marvelous translation by Jeffrey Angles of the work of widely published Japanese poet Keiz? Aizawa, a fitting invitation to the work that follows in this very memorable issue. Here is an excerpt: Continue reading “Event – 2003”

Editors Alexandra van de Kamp (U.S.) and Alberto Domínguez  (Spain), two of five co-editors between Madrid and New York, tell us this bilingual journal “attempts to demarcate an open, lyrical territory in which surprising relationships and uncanny connections may occur among different worlds and points of views.” The work here does, indeed, reach beyond the mere distance between Manhattan and Madrid, offering an eclectic mix that is surprising and pleasing to find between one set of covers, from José  Saramago’s speech to the World Social Forum in Brazil in 2002 “From Justice to Democracy by Way of Our Bells,” to Sarah Kennedy’s quiet, painterly poem “Morning, with Tea.” Continue reading “Terra Incognita – 2002/2003”

Those of you who open up your copy of Indiana Review expecting a regional, Midwestern flavor are going to be in for a surprise. Many of the pieces in this sophisticated collection of poetry, fiction, non-fiction and reviews have a sharp, dark (dare I say cosmopolitan?) edge and a wicked sense of humor. For instance, the short story “In Bogalusa” by Paul Maliszewski conjures a reclusive Dorothy Parker who entombs herself in a Days Inn in rural Louisiana. Poems like “Jesus at the Help Desk” by Dana Roeser and the 2003 Indiana Review Poetry Prize award-winner, Maria McLeod’s “Regarding the Character you named Maria, teacher’s notes” use irreverent references in an intelligent way. There were also quite a few short-short pieces that walk the line between prose and poetry, among them the piece by Ariana-Sophia Kartsonis with the great title, “Manifesto of the Over Mitt:” Continue reading “Indiana Review – Winter 2003”

Don’t let the unapologetic academic tone of the Hudson Review scare you off. The long essays, which take up the bulk of the journal and at first may seem daunting, are fascinating, particularly the essay on Darwinism in the Humanities by Harold Fromm and another on Madame Pompadour by Tess Lewis. Continue reading “The Hudson Review – Summer 2003”

As you would expect, the “Editor’s Prize Issue” of the Missouri Review features the editor’s prize winners of both the fiction and essay contests and the Larry Levis poetry prize winner in addition to a selection of other fiction, poetry, essays, and reviews. Continue reading “The Missouri Review – 2003”

With its introspective and lyrical qualities, the writing in Bellingham Review invokes the brief northern daylight and drizzly afternoons of the little bayside town, just south of the British Columbian border, which is its namesake. But don’t misunderstand: this unassumingly slender journal (which must be one of the country’s most beautifully designed) is neither slack nor unadventurous; its pages contain all the great weight and mass of true literature. While the 22 poems tend to induce a mellow and reflective state of mind, they are never staid, never complacent, and are nearly always—whether on a grand or quotidian scale—breathtaking. Continue reading “The Bellingham Review – Summer/Fall 2003”

Though this is the summer issue of Washington Square, its fiction and poetry is pervaded by cool autumnal temperatures. The six artful stories here, while engaging the reader in the indefinable dramas of urban singles or the troubled lives of the patrons in an Amsterdam pub, tend to maintain an impassivity that is eerily uniform. For the most part, these characters seem to have mastered an air of indifference toward their world. Continue reading “Washington Square – 2003”

Hanging Loose, a lovely and inventive poetry and fiction journal out of Brooklyn, may very well be the source to consult for contemporary poems of the most living kind. Continue reading “Hanging Loose – 2003”

This slim journal out of Berea College, Kentucky, lives up to its name, with an intriguing showcase of fiction, non-fiction, poetry, reviews, and photographs by regional writers and artists. Continue reading “Appalachian Heritage – Spring 2003”

Ten stories, a novella, an interview, three poems, and a series of “Afterthoughts” by the journal’s contributors comprise what Orchid’s editors describe, with accuracy, as “rare fiction by talented writers.” Featured writer Maura Stanton (a story and all of the poems) and interview subject Valerie Miner are probably the best known writers in the issue, but several others do certainly deserve our attention, most notably Cindy Dale, whose story “Do Not Do the Arithmetic” represents a brilliant effort. Continue reading “Orchid – 2003”

The range of experience represented in this annual publication is of particular interest — poets and fiction writers as sophisticated or widely published as Denise Duhamel, Peter Johnson, William Greenway, Antler, and Mark Brazaitis (among others) alongside newcomers Thomas Graves and Audrey Doire. With more than two dozen poems and a half dozen stories, there is much to contemplate and appreciate here. Continue reading “Bryant Literary Review – 2003”

Exquisite engravings from Metamorphosis of the Insects of Surinam by German naturalist and artist Maria Silbylla Merian (1647-1717) are reproduced on the cover and also inside this issue. Merian’s observations are said to have “revolutionized both botany and zoology,” and it is evident from the specimens presented here why this is so. Continue reading “Feminist Studies – 2003”

New publisher and editor Peter Anderson has saved the day! Long-time publishers Jack and Marcia Barstow retired last year, offering the magazine at no cost to anyone who would carry on the tradition of “personal reflective writing.” Anderson has moved the operation to Crestone, Colorado where, if this first issue in the journal’s twenty-eighth year is any indication, Pilgrimage will continue to delight and inspire us. According to Anderson, Pilgrimage serves an “eclectic fellowship of readers, writers, poets, naturalists, activists, contemplatives, seekers, adventurers, and other kindred spirits…” On encountering the moving and thoughtful writing here, one certainly wants to be belong to this “widespread community.” About half the pieces in this issue are reprinted from other publications, but many are from independent presses or sources with which readers may not be familiar. Continue reading “Pilgrimage – 2003”

Okay, full disclosure: I will love any magazine that includes any work by Paul Maliszewski, fiction writer. I cannot help it. In the world of small literary magazines, most of us have authors for whom we’ll shell out anything to get the latest—a Dean Young or Bob Hicok or Olena Kalytiak Davis Poem, a Paul Maliszewski or Thomas de Zengotita or Aimee Bender story. So I’m biased toward this particular Gettysburg Review from the start because of Mr. Maliszewski and his story, which, like nearly all his other published work, is fun, funny, strange and beautiful. Continue reading “The Gettysburg Review – Summer 2003”

For all the hoopla and sage editorial paragraphs regarding work grounded in location and place on the submission pages of many, many journals, few magazines can come close to the South Dakota Review’s incredibly grounded, sure, located/locatable collection in this, their 40th anniversary issue. As E.I. Pruitt writes to begin his poem “Corn”: “You can’t live in this part of the world for long / without developing a personal relationship with corn.” Continue reading “South Dakota Review – Spring/Summer 2003”

This issue of Canary, a new poetry journal with high production values featuring a completely black cover with only “Canary” and “2” visible, displays the talents of poets diverse as Thomas Lux and Olena Kalytiak Davis. Poems, which range from highly experimental to traditional forms, occasionally include visual media such as illustrations, plain lines, or even, an autograph of a pop culture icon, as in “Poem with Erik Estrada Autograph.” As a representative sample, here are some evocative lines (lines breaks and stanza breaks condensed for the interests of space in this column) from Michael Dumanis’ “West Des Moines”: Continue reading “The Canary – 2003”

If minimalism had a role model in format, it would be Pawhatan Review, which only adds to the surprise and delight readers will discover in the depth and complexity of content. The magnet for me in this saddle-stitched format was the centerpiece: a b/w photograph by Mark Artkinson entitled “Vermont girls, summer at the beach,” which perfectly and preciously captures two distinct inner workings of young feminine psyche. Continue reading “The Powhatan Review – Summer 2003”

Easily one of the handsomest literary journals, River City delivers a provocative array of short fiction, poetry, and full color art. With a glossy cover picturing the back of a nude male bound from head to foot in heavy chains, this “Ill Will” issue immediately sets the reader up for an edgy ride. The short stories here are mostly concerned with the self-immolating, the transient, and the otherwise marginal characters peopling the terrain just outside of conventional bourgeois life. The two finest stories, “Suspension” by Morgan McDermott, and “Nebulous” by Molly Fitzsimmons, while wonderfully divergent in style, have in common a big-hearted concern for the masochistic tendencies of their fractured protagonists. Continue reading “River City – Winter 2003”

Lovers of the short story will cherish Night Train. Save a fascinating biographical essay on the late Richard Yates, this issue is entirely fiction. Kerry Jones’ “Rescue Effort” is a stunning opener. Using the second-person perspective, she eerily evokes her character’s haunted emotional state: “You watched him go, still loving him as his back drifted farther and farther away . . . and while something inside of you said you’d never be fine again, somehow that was all right.” And the stories only intensify after this masterful start, creating a veritable showcase of work rich in grace and humanity—and poetics too. Continue reading “Night Train – 2003”

Poetry International is an annual journal out of San Diego that manages to present a collection of poetry, essays, art and reviews that feels thoroughly edited yet diverse and exuberant. The essays are original and lively, especially Jeredith Merrin’s “And Damned If It’s Not a Hart Crane-Azure Sky!–Some Notes on American Modernism and Influence,” a discussion of how Modernist writers have influenced her writing, and Mark Weiss’ essay, “The Worlds of Cuban Poetry.” Mark Weiss is also the translator of the featured Cuban poems, including my favorites, “The Girl in the Forest” and “Mother Goose,” two surreal but intimate takes on popular children’s stories, by Eliseo Diego. A few lines from “Mother Goose”: “…Then / amid the golden flames / that cavernous mouth. / A hurricane whispers: / ‘Once upon a time…’ / And everything begins.” Continue reading “Poetry International – 2002”

The magazine 96 Inc. is better than expected. It’s a simple production with the focus squarely where it should be—on the writing. Inside, there are three decent realistic stories and a lot of poetry. Some of it is by young writers, some is by established poets, and all of it is high quality. The mission of the magazine alone makes it worthy of attention. The editorial board of 96 Inc. runs youth programs and is devoted to “the new voice.” Even though these goals are admirable, the writing stands on its own. This is not a pity read. Quality work includes Lyn Lifshin’s poems, and a very nice piece, “What I Didn’t Know” by Judy Katz-Levine. “Her name was one not to be spoken,” the poem begins, and it layers personal recollection with ambiguity. It was the one poem in the magazine that made me write “wow” in the margins. Don’t be put off by the simplicity of the design; this is a good journal. [www.96inc.com] Continue reading “96 Inc – 2004”

The debut issue of this attractive, glossy saddle-stitched review features poems by the likes of A.E. Stallings, Molly Peacock and Annie Finch. The National Poetry Review “favors formal verse” as demonstrated in these lyric lines by Ellen Kirvin Dudis from her poem “Betta Splendens”: “Love never offers. I see another, / not the other. Nights, I rise for air / -O lost lagoon, O submerged fire- / and on three inches of water / float these kisses. Your heart’s no larger than the jar.” Continue reading “The National Poetry Review – Fall/Winter 2003”

The august tradition of Southern writing that is The Southern Review comes by its reputation honestly. Continue reading “The Southern Review – Summer 2003”

The Seattle Review, which has been one of my favorite journals since before I moved to Seattle, has recently become the new bastion of the Pacific Northwest literary scene, and it certainly manifests a renewed glamour in its latest issue. The featured retrospective of Sharon Olds by Linden Ontjes, and essay by Olds herself, generously full of her poetry and personal photos, would, by themselves, make this issue a must-have. Continue reading “The Seattle Review – 2003”

This generously-spirited review produced at the County College of Morris in New Jersey focuses solely on New Jersey writers and artists, but contains a surprising diversity of work. Continue reading “Journal of New Jersey Poets – 2003”

Most of the poems in this issue of the Haight Ashbury Literary Journal, with its cover picture of a dove with a peace sign and a giant “PEACE” announcing its theme, have to do, surprisingly enough, with peace. Continue reading “Haight Ashbury Literary Journal – Summer 2003”

Bathtub Gin is an irreverent little saddle-stitched journal that will appeal to those who love the literary world but could care less about the more academic aspects. This issue includes an interview with writer Mark Terrill, along with four of his poems, a series of photographs by Caryn Thurman, a couple of short prose pieces and an array of short poems, as well as some small illustrations by Harland Ristau.  Continue reading “Bathtub Gin – Spring/Summer 2003”

A little journal. Sometimes when we say “little” we mean inconsequential, insubstantial, or sometimes we may mean unnoticed or even unpretentious. But when it comes to eye-rhyme, I mean, literally, little. This diminutive volume measures about 4 ½ x 4 ½, which gives it an “experimental” aspect from the get go. I appreciate the opportunity to think about the meaning of “experimental literature,” which in the case of eye-rhyme includes: unusual, original, and/or hybrid forms, language that deliberately strives to break the conventions of normative logic, attention to non “mainstream” or “commercial” literary endeavors, a preponderance of images and language from “popular culture,” an eroticism that borders on the pornographic, and a tone, in much of the poetry, as well as the prose, that defies definition, but that somehow manages to be both bold and casual. Continue reading “eye-rhyme – 2003”

There is something delightful about opening a literary journal, especially one with this title, to find the score for a string quartet. Beautifully printed, lovely to look at, it is possible to appreciate the “Quartet For Strings #1” by Nicholas Morrison whether one reads music or not. The music is followed by a dozen or so poems, photographs, including stunning portraits by Wynne Harrison Hutchings, fiction, and several essays in criticism, a form that is somewhere between a journal-length review and an in-depth critical essay. Continue reading “Euphony – Summer 2003”

The blood red cover announces this volume’s theme “Blood/Le Sang,” as well as this Canadian journal’s bilingual presentation. The Canadians are leaders in feminist writing that crosses “the boundary between creative and theoretical texts,” and this issue’s introductory essay by editors Martine Delvaux and Catherine Mavrikakis is an excellent example. This exciting work links personal story and reflection, ideas about the meaning of “blood relations” and the language and uses of blood from writers and philosophers and religious texts, and explores the meaning(s) of “blood” in advertising and social interactions (“Blood. It’s in you to give” – from the Blood Services of Canada). Alternating between French and English, Delvaux and Mavrikakis’ piece sets the stage for the essays, poems, other prose texts, and artwork that follow. Continue reading “Tessera – Winter 2003”

In his Editor’s Notes, Gerry LeFemina, who here edits his last edition of Controlled Burn, admits his preference for poetry. Continue reading “Controlled Burn – Winter 2003”