In her third collection of poems, Jillian Weise delivers a reckoning to the ableism of the Western Canon. These poems investigate and challenge the ways that nondisabled writers have appropriated disabled bodies, from calling out William Carlos Williams to biohacking Raymond Carver’s “Cathedral” to chronicling the ongoing headlines of violence against disabled women. Part invective, part love poem, Cyborg Detective holds a magnifying glass to the marginalization and fetishization of disabled people while claiming space and pride for the people who already use technology and cybernetic implants every day.

In The Theoretics of Love, Joe Taylor turns his fierce wit and storytelling talents to love, death, and murder. Fresh out of school, anthropologist Dr. Clarissa Circle finds herself thrust into a forensics investigation after exposing what was thought to be a Native American burial ground as a mass grave of not-so-recently murdered bodies. Circle spends half of her time dusting bones and the other half knocking boots with homicide detective Willy Cox and an aging hippie who goes by the name of Methuselah. The plot thickens as disturbing events unfold and people of questionable character surface and collide in this murder mystery/love story.

At the last count there were over 190 different breeds of dog in the world. Here we have 65 pedigree stories and only a handful have anything to do with dogs. These flash fictions represent best in class of the short literary form; miniature stories that will jump into your lap and let you stroke them, fierce stories that snarl and bare their teeth, stories that will leave a mess on your carpet. For those who don’t like dogs, there are love-struck cockroaches, six-foot spiders, blue-tongued skinks, horny night bugs. Meg Pokrass’s stories are about the necessary animals sitting next to all of us.

“In Kelly DuMar’s girl in tree bark, the past, especially the life of the family of origin, acts as a kind of sap that provides nutrients for the photosynthesis that charges the poems. But the poems send their salubrious nourishment down to the past, which becomes transformed with the poem-making. The effect of the past on the present, and vice-versa, is not static; it is a reciprocally kinetic symbiosis, played out in fluent, daring narratives, in language keen with insight and liquid with sumptuous musicality. In almost every poem, a coupling of devastation and healing works a remarkable magic.” — Tom Daley

While there have been countless books written about Detroit, none have captured its incredible musical history like this one. This collection of poems and lyrics covers numerous genres including jazz, blues, doo-wop, Motown, classic rock, punk, hip-hop, and techno. Detroit artists have forged the paths in many of these genres, producing waves of creative energy that continue to reverberate across the country and around the world. This book captures the emotions that the music inspired in its creators and in its listeners. The range of contributors speaks to the global impact of Detroit’s music scene.