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New Book :: Where Heaven Sinks

Where Heaven Sinks: Poems by María Esquinca book cover image

Where Heaven Sinks: Poems by María Esquinca
University of Nevada Press, September 2025

In Where Heaven Sinks, María Esquinca delivers a searing collection of poems that traverse borders — both physical and emotional. Set against El Paso and Ciudad Juárez, these experimental works weave fragmented verses, striking imagery, and bold typography to confront the brutal realities of immigration and identity. Esquinca exposes injustice while celebrating resilience and hope. Her work is shaped by the intersection of cultures, histories, and experiences of the US-Mexico borderlands. Each poem is a tribute to those who have endured and a call to challenge oppressive systems. Where Heaven Sinks is a love letter, a memorial for the lost, and a testament to the transformative power of language.

New Book :: The Thing About My Uncle

The Thing About My Uncle by Peter J. Stavros book cover image

The Thing About My Uncle by Peter J. Stavros
Young Adult Thriller, July 2025

Although ten years have passed, Rhett Littlefield has always blamed himself for his father abandoning him and his family. When the troubled fourteen-year-old gets kicked out of school for his latest run-in with the vice principal, his frazzled single mother sends him to the hollers of Eastern Kentucky to stay with his Uncle Theo, a man of few words who leads an isolated existence with his loyal dog, Chekhov.

Resigned to make the best of his situation while still longing for the day when Mama will allow him to return home, Rhett settles into his new life. Rhett barely remembers his uncle, but he’s determined to get to know him. As he does, Rhett discovers that he and Uncle Theo share a connection to the past, one that has altered both of their lives, a past that will soon come calling.

The Thing About My Uncle is an engaging and heartwarming coming-of-age story that explores the cost of family secrets, the strength of family bonds, and the importance of reconciling the two in order to move forward.

For more about Peter J. Stavros, visit his website, www.peterjstavros.com.

Magazine Stand :: Thorn & Bloom 02: Breaking the Cycle

Thorn & Bloom 02 magazine cover image

Following the acclaimed launch of its debut issue, Thorn & Bloom — the literary magazine redefining self-care as resistance — presents its bold second edition, Breaking the Cycle. This quarterly publication continues its mission to fuse personal healing with collective liberation, now turning its lens toward dismantling oppressive narratives that bind us.

Thorn & Bloom 02: Breaking the Cycle features bold voices that interrogate societal conditioning and explore how unlearning can forge pathways to personal and political freedom. Where the first issue laid the foundation for self-care as radical honesty, this edition pushes further, offering language as a tool for fracture, freedom, and rebirth, all through essays, poetry, fiction, and expert insight.

“True liberation begins when we disrupt the stories imposed upon us,” says the editorial team. “This issue is an invitation to unlearn, to rise, and to rewrite.”

Inviting readers are over two dozen contributors, including Kara Dorris, Agbeye Oburumu, Grace Flaherty, CJ The Tall Poet, Rita Moe, Melanie White-Heron, Kristy Ettel, Mars Gorman, Mary M. Brown, Margaret Gibbs, Taslym Umar, Tinamarie Cox, and Rachel Turney, among others.

Rooted in inclusivity and empowerment, Thorn & Bloom is a haven for stories that break open and build a new, where vulnerability meets defiance, and self-care becomes revolution. Here, storytelling is not just art but alchemy, turning pain into power and words into weapons of liberation.

Sponsor :: New Book :: What She Saw in the Lotería Cards

Book cover of "What She Saw in the Lotería Cards" by M. Garcia Teutsch, featuring a mermaid with a mirror and comb, a flying bird, and desert cacti at sunset.

What She Saw in the Lotería Cards, Poetry by M. Garcia Teutsch

Bottlecap Press, July 2025

What She Saw in the Lotería Cards by M. Garcia Teutsch is a poetry collection that can be understood as a cartography of identity—mapping emotional, cultural, familial, and bodily terrains. The use of Lotería cards is more than decorative—it offers a mythopoetic framework that grounds intimate, raw stories in universal symbols. For more on the author go here: www.poetrepublik.com.

Sponsored :: New Book :: Borderlines: An Astral Experience in Poems

Borderlines: An Astral Experience in Poems by Alan Botsford book cover image

Borderlines: An Astral Experience in Poems by Alan Botsford
Cyberwit.com, April 2025

“A wonderful gang of talkative alter egos meets the ego in a cosmic expatriate bar and the ego tells their story, which is the intriguing inner and outer story of the poet Alan Botsford himself.” — Sarah Arvio, author of Cry Back My Sea: 48 Poems in 6 Waves

“In these poems of self and world, an American abroad, living in Japan, with a copy of Walt Whitman under his arm, sets out on the open road of the imagination, absorbing and transcending cultural constructions of that very self and world, ventriloquizing voices that speak back frequently at and to the author, as they embody multitudes, exemplifying the interconnectedness and contingency of identity, language, place, and emotion. Borderlines offers a new vision, looking both ways, inward and outward, ahead and behind, crossing borders, in an embrace centered ultimately in love.” — Michael Sowder, author of Sacred Letters: Sanskrit, Yoga, and Awakening the Divine

Alan Botsford is an American poet, author, and professor born in Connecticut and living in Japan for many years, where he teaches in university. His poetry collections include Possessions: Poems in American Poetry and Dreamer: Poems in Culture, and the hybrid Walt Whitman of Cosmic Folklore.

Sponsored :: New Book :: Feller

Feller: Poems by Denton Loving book cover image

Feller: Poems by Denton Loving
Mercer University Press, August 2025

Using the natural world as both mirror and lens, the poems in Denton Loving’s third collection of poetry explore themes of connection, longing, and the pursuit of a fully lived life. They celebrate “the light that enters the woods and cleanses the wound.” They seek the sacred order in everything, from the phases of the moon down to the delicate colors of a moth’s wings. And yet, they are not cloistered away from the human struggle — whether with nature, with each other, or with the self. Feller envisions our environment and landscape, not as backdrop or ornament but as revelatory forces illuminating the hidden chambers of the self. At once deeply rooted in his Appalachian soil and universally resonant, Feller confirms Loving’s position among those rare poets who transmute a sense of place into profound human truth.

“Loving makes lyric sense of complex issues in poem after poem in Feller, with his special blend of eco-poetics and earthly reason.” — Elaine Sexton, Site Specific

“At once timely and timeless, Feller is a superbly striking and essential book.” — Matt W. Miller, Tender the River

“Reading Feller is a transformative, joyful, loneliness-alleviating experience.” — Annie Woodford, Where You Come From Is Gone

Sponsored :: New Book :: Fragments of Cerulean

Fragments of Cerulean by Neal H. Paris book cover image

Fragments of Cerulean, Short Stoires by Neal H. Paris
Revelation House Works, May 2025

Fragments of Cerulean is a surreal and emotionally resonant collection of short stories that blurs the boundaries between horror, memory, and myth. Structured in five evocative phases, this book invites readers into a world where the familiar becomes uncanny and the subconscious takes center stage. Each story is a journey through eerie landscapes — abandoned highways, sentient motel rooms, and cryptic machines that trade in secrets — crafted with immersive, cinematic prose.

This collection explores the fragile nature of identity and the haunting echoes of loss, transformation, and fear. With a tone that shifts between dreamlike introspection and psychological unease, the stories challenge perceptions of reality and self. Readers will encounter narratives that tug at the heart while unsettling the mind, offering a reading experience that is both emotionally raw and intellectually provocative.

Ideal for fans of atmospheric, genre-defying fiction, Fragments of Cerulean delivers a powerful blend of dark beauty and symbolic depth. It doesn’t offer easy resolutions — instead, it invites introspection and lingers long after the final page. Perfect for those drawn to the liminal, the strange, and the deeply human, this collection is a haunting exploration of what lies beneath the surface of our stories — and ourselves.

Sponsored :: New Book :: The Cobbler’s Crusaders

The Cobbler's Crusaders by Rick Steigelman book cover image

The Cobbler’s Crusaders by Rick Steigelman
Author Published, May 2025

Jacquelyn Pajot, a nine-year-old American visiting her sanctimonious grandmother in Paris, falls in with a pair of young French girls whose carefree grasp of ‘right and wrong’ has the wide-eyed American narrowly averting prison, purgatory and, most perilously, her grandmother’s righteous indignation.

“A charmingly whimsical, whip-smart slice of Parisian life wrapped in equal parts heart and humor…Rick Steigelman’s prose is wry, warm, and beautifully descriptive, capturing the magic of Montmartre through the curious, wide eyes of young Jacquelyn Pajot.” — Alex Norton, Likely Story

“Dialogue sparkles with life, especially as Jacquelyn navigates the humorous pitfalls of being an American tween in a French-speaking world.” — Swapna Peri, Book Reviews Cafe

“Beneath all the comedic mishaps, there’s a beautiful sense of intergenerational connection. The dynamic between Jacquelyn and her grandmother, Catherine, is particularly touching as it anchors the story in emotional truth while allowing the young cast to explore their own emerging identities and moral boundaries. I’d easily recommend it to readers who enjoy novels like A Man Called Ove or The Elegance of the Hedgehog, stories that offer laughter, but also invite you to pause and feel something deeper.” — Heena Pardeshi, The Reading Bud

Sponsored :: Magazine Stand :: Walloon Writers Review – Ninth Edition

Walloon Writers Review Ninth Edition magazine cover image

Walloon Writers Review Ninth Edition is a collection of short stories, poetry, and nature photography inspired by northern Michigan and the Upper Peninsula’s natural beauty. More than sixty contributors pack this year’s edition with reflections, adventures, memories, and discoveries. Suitable for general audiences, readers in Michigan can pick up a copy while they’re exploring “up north” (see the list of booksellers and shops the magazine’s website under the “Where to Find Walloon Writers Review” tab) or armchair explore and order a copy online from most independent bookstores in Michigan, BarnesandNoble.com, Bookshop.com, or Amazon.com.

Sponsored :: New Book :: If I Had Said Beauty

If I Had Said Beauty by Tami Haaland book cover image

If I had Said Beauty, Poetry by Tami Haaland
Lost Horse Press, March 2025

If I Had Said Beauty, Tami Haaland’s fourth collection of poetry, is dedicated to known and unknown ancestors. It explores the possible narratives and distant origins of what lies behind a sense of self — including recent and ancient DNA, recessive and dominant traits, mitochondrial underpinnings, and an intricate microbiome. Luminous and spare, the poems seek to unravel and speculate, document and lament what happens in a life and what might have been. While probing for definition in the mysteries of deep time, the poems are nevertheless grounded in encounters with wild and domestic life, intimate moments of loss and family connection, all of which intertwine to expand the meaning of “autobiography.” According to poet Connie Voisine, “In these poems, all the spirits are welcome members of [Haaland’s] community, an atom, a spruce, a fly, and the ghosts of her ancestors who are suddenly near, and alive. These poems show me how to remain open to the influx of beings, and how we might allow their various beauties to aid in our survival.”

Sponsored :: New Book :: The Murmur of Everything Moving

cover of The Murmur of Everything Moving by Maureen Stanton

The Murmur of Everything Moving: A Memoir, Nonfiction by Maureen Stanton

University of Georgia Press, March 2025

When Maureen Stanton’s boyfriend, Steve, at 29, was diagnosed with cancer, they embarked on an all-out effort to save his life. Meanwhile, Steve’s childhood friend, Joey, a drug addict, sold Steve’s pain medication to pay for Steve’s experimental treatments. This beautiful and aching memoir is an odyssey through the difficult but exquisite terrain of love—romantic, brotherly, spiritual—in the face of mortality.

Winner of the Donald Jordan prize for Literary Excellence, the Sewanee Review nonfiction prize, and featured in New York Times “Modern Love” column, The Murmur of Everything Moving is a riveting memoir of love, loss, and longing. Novelist, Stephen Kiernan, who judged the DLJ contest, called it “beguiling, vivid, rich with loving devotion… a wonder of a book.” Andre Dubus III called it “a love song and tribute, a hymn of praise for each sacred moment given us … heartbreakingly beautiful.”

Publisher’s Weekly Booklife “Editor’s Pick” — “a stunning, true romance … a cinematic, powerful memoir of caregiving.”

Kirkus Reviews — “A poignant, evocative story of love, death, and survival. Stanton is a skilled writer whose prose sparkles with literary panache.”

Maureen Stanton is the author of three award-winning nonfiction books. Recognition for her writing includes the Iowa Review Award, The American Literary Review Award, The Sewanee Review award, Pushcart Prizes, and fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts and the MacDowell Colony.

Sponsored :: Develop a Consistent Writing Practice with Proliffic

Proliffic logo image May 2025

Are you having trouble establishing that writing routine you know will help you thrive as a writer? Proliffic can help with that. Designed for writers of all levels, Proliffic helps you get into that consistent writing practice with daily writing prompts and a minimalist interface that keeps you coming back. Not because you have to, but because you want to.

Every day is an invitation to write something, with a fresh prompt to spark your creativity. Engage with the prompt or use it loosely to find a starting point. Write as much or as little as you want. Today you might find the ideas come easily, tomorrow it might be a bit of a grind.

Ultimately, the consistency will pay off in honing your craft, while building a treasure trove of story ideas.

You’ll get to read how others responded to the same prompt; turning writing into a shared, inspiring experience. Proliffic’s built-in calendar makes it easy to track your progress and revisit past pieces. It’s your personal habit tracker, archive, and creative space all in one.

No judgement. Just a simple, sustainable way to write often, write more and write better.

Start your writing routine at Proliffic.com.

Sponsored :: New Book :: Crunchwrap Truth

Crunchwrap Truth by Kevin J.B. O'Connor book cover image

Crunchwrap Truth, Poetry by Kevin J.B. O’Connor
Bottlecap Press, May 2025

Crunchwrap Truth by Kevin J.B. O’Connor is a chapbook of absurdist political-food poems, inspired by the regal concoction from which it borrows its title. In existential poetry that probes the meaning of American citizenship in a post-capitalist and post-truth society, O’Connor constructs and conveys a peculiar moment in Western history. Inspired by the New York School and confessional/post-confessional approaches to narrating post-modernity, the author romps through a series of linked verse that is a delightful, page-turning experience to read. The book is available now from Bottlecap Press.

Sponsored :: New Book :: Wrongful

Wrongful by Lee Upton book cover image

Wrongful, Fiction by Lee Upton

Sagging Meniscus Press, May 2025

When the famous novelist Mira Wallacz goes missing at the festival devoted to celebrating her work, the attendees assume the worst—and some hope for the worst. Ten years after the festival, Geneva Finch, an ideal reader, sets out to discover the truth about what happened to Mira Wallacz. A twisty literary mystery dealing with duplicity, envy, betrayal, and love between an entertainment agent and a self-deprecating former priest, Wrongful explores the many ways we can get everything wrong, time and again, even after we’re certain we discovered the truth.

Sponsored :: Thorn & Bloom: A Bold New Literary Magazine Cultivating Self-Care as Resistance

Thorn & Bloom Issue 1 cover

Thorn & Bloom: A Bold New Literary Magazine Cultivating Self-Care as Resistance
Published by redrosethorns Ltd. Liability Co., March 2025

Thorn & Bloom is a quarterly literary magazine that reimagines self-care as an act of resistance, reclamation, and radical honesty. Through a curated collection of essays, poetry, fiction, and expert insight, the magazine explores personal healing as a catalyst for collective liberation.

Launched last month, the debut issue features a diverse range of emerging and established voices who offer grounded self-care practices, challenge internalized narratives, and illuminate the social conditioning that distances us from our authentic selves. Thorn & Bloom brings a fresh voice to the literary landscape—one that dares to treat self-care not as luxury or aesthetic, but as essential, intentional, and deeply political. The magazine is rooted in a commitment to inclusivity, empowerment, and truth-telling, offering a platform for stories that are both tender and transformative; inviting readers to embrace storytelling as a healing practice and self-care as a radical path to liberation.

Sponsored :: New Book :: Poetry Dust

cover of Poetry Dust by Alyssa Sykes

Poetry Dust: In the Middle of My Before and After, Poetry by Alyssa Skyes

Self-Published, January 2025

Poetry Dust is more than a poetry collection—it’s an immersive experience which blends over 60 never-before-published poems with over 60 bold, vibrant art pieces, each carefully designed to complement the text. This book was created in the hopes of igniting inspiration, for art lovers, seekers, and those drawn to the unseen emotions that connect us all. It journeys through themes of life, change, time, truth, loss, resilience, and the extraordinary beauty found in the often difficult contrasts of life.

My early years were spent traveling with nomadic parents across Central and South America and beyond. This constant movement shaped my creative spirit and deepened my awareness of impermanence—the fleeting nature our lives, of time, and experience. I am forever drawn to the exchange and connection between the physical and the unseen, the tangible and the metaphysical.

This book marks my first published collection, and I invite readers to pause, reflect, and allow inspiration to grow. Whether you are a lifelong poetry reader or new to the genre, my hope is that it will stir the soul, and remind us that art is a living thing, passing from contact to contact, ever growing and reshaping itself in new creations.

Sponsored :: New Book :: Language Like Water

cover of Language Like Water by Nancy Gerber

Language Like Water: Poems, Poetry by Nancy Gerber

Finishing Line Press, December 2024

Language Like Water explores the conflicts, challenges, and connections in a daughter’s relationship with her mother over the span of a lifetime. The poems resonate with longing and struggle as the daughter seeks to understand and restore her complicated mother, an enigmatic figure who struggles with depression. Ultimately the daughter recognizes her own strengths as she acknowledges and inscribes moments and memories of sharing and connection.

Bisbing Books has this to say: “Language Like Water is a moving, deeply personal glimpse into the mother-daughter relationship. The complexity of this bond is explored through sharp, evocative imagery that digs deep into the emotional terrain of love, guilt, memory, and loss. There’s a sense that words carry weight far beyond their surface meaning. Read these poems.”

Sponsored :: New Book :: The Silver Squad

cover of The Silver Squad by Marty Essen

The Silver Squad: Rebels with Wrinkles, Fiction by Marty Essen

Encante Press LLC, January 2025

The Bold, the Brave, and the Wrinkled: Retirement Just Got Rowdy!

Barry and Beth, high school sweethearts separated by time and circumstance, find themselves reunited at the Blue Loon Village senior living center in Minneapolis. Unwilling to settle into lives of boredom, the two become Silver Squad vigilantes and embark on an epic road trip across America. No one they meet will ever be the same!

“A smart, funny tale of a Good Samaritan crime spree.”—Kirkus Reviews (Recommended)

“[A] sparkling road-trip comedy of retiree crimefighters taking the U.S. by storm.”—BookLife by Publisher’s Weekly (Editor’s Pick)

“An original and fun read (think senior citizen versions of Thelma & Louise) from start to finish, The Silver Squad: Rebels With Wrinkles by author Marty Essen is a deftly crafted and extraordinary story that will have a very special appeal to readers with an interest in inherently fascinating novels that imaginatively blend later-in-life romances with elements of an action/adventure.”—Midwest Book Review

“A delightful mix of observational humor, introspection, and respectful affection for the older generation, The Silver Squad: Rebels With Wrinkles is a scenic road trip through the country with a gratifying destination.”—Indies Today (5 Stars)

Sponsored :: Megacity Review: A Bold Literary Journal Spotlighting Underrepresented Voices in Urban Arts and Culture

cover of Megacity Review Inaugural Issue

Megacity Review

Number 1, 2024

Discover Megacity Review, a literary and arts journal that fuses the dynamic energy of Warhol’s pop culture legacy with the visionary brilliance of John Humble’s cityscapes. Featuring powerful contributions like Lynn Lieu’s moving narrative on identity in “Eyebrows,” the journal captures the pulse of urban life and its underrepresented voices. Through a unique blend of visual art and storytelling, Megacity Review pushes boundaries and reshapes how we see modern cities. Dive into a publication that celebrates creativity, diversity, and bold expression. Order your copy today and be part of this cultural conversation: www.megacityreview.org.

Sponsored :: New Book :: the atmosphere is not a perfume it is odorless

over of Matthew Cooperman's the atmosphere is not perfume it is odorless

the atmosphere is not a perfume it is odorless, Poetry by Matthew Cooperman

Free Verse Editions / Parlor Press, June 2024

Bloodied, embattled, but still singing, Matthew Cooperman’s the atmosphere is not a perfume it is odorless addresses us: “America, aren’t you tired of being a gun ode?” In one register, a chromapoetics that examines the “red, white and blue” as an embodied, if problematic nationalism, in another, an extended ode project that conjures our troubling emblems of Empire, the poems in atmosphere—in their various configurations of apostrophe, atomization, song, dialectic, citation & eucharism—attempt to neutralize the personal, cultural and environmental dis-ease of 21st century America. Whitman, who provides the title, hovers near, reminding us of the dreams and responsibilities of freedom: “…absence, inspiration / it’s everyone’s problem.”

A durational project written over twenty years, Cooperman’s collection feels uncannily pointed at NOW. And the ode’s the hour’s vehicle. And what of the ode? An ancient three-part Greek lyric form, or could be. It could be sung, or danced, depending on the occasion, joy or lamentation. The ode is also a plea for what’s missing, a supplication through the mouth to what might deliver us from harm. Cooperman’s eighth book sings anodyne into a darkening wind.

Sponsored :: New Book :: The Voice of the Wooden Dragon

The Voice of the Wood Dragon by Christie Waldman cover

The Voice of the Wooden Dragon, Fiction by Christie Waldman

NFB Publishing, September 2024

After a brief hiccup, in which an irate dragon must be placated, this MG/YA fantasy begins—as now told by Christie and her new co-author, Marcus A. Dragon.

In the land of Deweydaire, which is ruled by (anthropomorphic) dragons, things are not fair. Humans work while dragons play. Princess Meredith, a dragon, leads others in fighting against the injustice, supporting the human cause. How could she have foreseen that she, like her human friend, young Peter Porter, would fall afoul of her bully cousin, Prince Rupert? Or that he would go to such lengths to silence her voice? Will intrepid Peter and the underrated court-jester Felix be able to help Meredith break the power of an illegal spell? In this Year of the Wood Dragon, The Voice of the Wooden Dragon is an entertaining-yet-inspiring story of transformation and new beginnings.

This is Christie and Lane Waldman’s debut novel as an author-illustrator team. Christie’s stories for children may be read at Ember: A Journal of Luminous Things, Skipping Stones, and East of the Web. Lane is also a writer whose sci-fi/fantasy stories have appeared in Uncanny, Daily Science Fiction, and Capricious, among other places.

Sponsored :: New Book :: New Moon: Day One

cover of New Moon: Day One by Thanassis Valtinos

New Moon: Day One, Fiction by Thanassis Valtinos

Translated from the Greek by Jane Assimakopoulos and Stavros Deligiorgis

Laertes, September 2024

Set in a provincial capital, in the penultimate throes of the Greek Civil War, New Moon: Day One is semi-autobiographical, a tale of two protagonists on the brink of manhood. They speak in bluntly human tones, but in precincts that echo of death the impulse to life is declared.

The elements of a screenplay are recast by Valtinos as a novel. Interposed with bursts of dialogue, and reading like stage directions, intimate scenes alternate with a wide-screen view. Fade-outs, as blank pages, punctuate the whole. Though the gaze is that of a camera—of pristine detachment—the energy is propulsive. The thread of a breathless suspense is drawn through a complex collage. It seems to precisely catch the rhythm of human becoming.

“Thanassis Valtinos is a masterful storyteller who has vividly captured in his novels and short stories some of the most turbulent and tragic periods in Greece‘s recent history. In “New Moon” he tells a coming-of-age tale of two boys who struggle to deal with their emerging sexual impulses as they try to survive the brutalities of a vicious civil war. A searing story by Greece’s premier living novelist at the top of his game.”
—Nicholas Gage

Sponsored :: New Book :: Wrongland

cover of Wrongland by Gazmend Kapllani, translated by Peter Bien

Wrongland, Fiction by Gazmend Kapllani

Translated from the Greek by Peter Bien

Laertes Press/Egret Fiction, September 2024

Wrongland balances on an edge of migration and return. It crosses from an Albania recently rid of Hoxha to a Greece riven by tensions that ultimately drive the protagonist on to America. But homecoming is the pivot — one stuck in an unavoidable vying between alternate worlds.  

The reader, a simple stranger, is introduced to Ters, a city configured by remnants from the past, a locale scored by evil — at times, gripped by good.

Gazmend Kapllani is the author of two collections of poetry in Albanian and four published novels (written in Greek and Albanian). His literary work centers on borders, totalitarianism, migration, identity, and how Balkan history has shaped private and public narratives and memories.

Sponsored :: New Book :: Exits

cover of Exits by Stephen Pollock

Exits: Selected Poems, Poetry by Stephen C. Pollock

Windtree Press, June 2023

Stephen C. Pollock’s poetry collection Exits explores the beauty and frailty of life, the cycles of nature, and the potential for renewal. It also responds to contemporary anxieties surrounding death and the universal search for meaning. 

Musical and multilayered, Exits features a potpourri of styles, ranging from traditional forms to free verse to hybrid works. Many of the images are drawn from nature. In addition, each poem is paired with a piece of artwork intended to resonate with the writing and enhance the reader’s experience.

Exits has been honored with the Gold Medal for poetry in the 2023 Readers’ Favorite International Book Awards and the Silver Medal for poetry in the 2024 Feathered Quill Book Awards. Echoing these accolades, Midwest Book Review declares: “Exits is a book that has profoundly impacted the literary world.”

“Pollock’s poetry is brilliant”
—Kristiana Reed, editor-in-chief, Free Verse Revolution

“Exits exemplifies the musicality of language”
—Foreword-Clarion Reviews

“Full of wit, insight and provocative imagery, Exits is a masterful collection”
—IndieReader, 5.0 stars

Visit exitspoetry.net to learn more about the book.

Sponsored :: New Book :: Cadenza

cover of Cadenza by Justin Courter

Cadenza: A Novel, Fiction by Justin Courter

Owl Canyon Press, July 2024

At the age of seven, Jennifer Coleman is severely burned in a house fire that kills her sister. Despite the barriers of her scarred face and her tragic childhood, she reaches the pinnacle of achievement as a classical concert pianist, but at a deep psychological cost.

During Jennifer’s meteoric rise as a virtuoso pianist, her disfigurement takes on mythic proportions. She is internationally loved and admired, but unable to love herself. At a pivotal point in her career, she meets an extraordinarily creative, suicidal musician named Felix, who challenges Jennifer’s beliefs and falls deeply in love with her. Will Jennifer be able to learn from Felix’s example before she self-destructs?

Cadenza is symphonic. It succeeds not only as an absorbing, psychologically nuanced novel, but also as a tragic fable of ambition and virtuosity. Its extraordinary heroine offers profound truths about purpose, memory, trauma, and the transcendent powers of art and love.

— Lauren Acampora, author of The Hundred Waters

“An engrossing epic of artistic triumphs and personal disasters, unflinching in its depiction of scars both physical and emotional, Cadenza reads like a piano concerto playing in a house on fire.”

— Brett Marie, author of The Upsetter Blog

Sponsored :: New Book :: The Genetic Universe

cover of The Genetic Universe by Garcia-Gonzalez

The Genetic Universe: Revised Edition, Nonfiction by Garcia-Gonzalez

Nelson E. Garcia, May 2024

Garcia-Gonzalez’s work forays into numerous aspects of our existence to probe into the constraints of the human experience. What is reality? What incites the disparity between one individual’s observation of reality and another’s? As the author dives deeper into his immense understanding of what is, he provides a series of intriguing, thought-provoking insights that cut right to the core of one’s belief system, yet he does so with grace and knowledge that impels readers to at least consider what is being proposed.

—The US Review of Books, May 13, 2024

Sponsored :: New Book :: Knowing

cover of Knowing by Mark Cox

Knowing: Poems, Poetry by Mark Cox

Press 53, April 2024

Mark Cox pulls no punches in these poems about family, relationships, loss, regret, growing older and our human condition, generally. Sometimes wry, sometimes tender, always thought provoking, Knowing is the seventh volume of poetry from a lauded veteran poet who has been publishing prominently for almost 40 years.

Previous Praise for Mark Cox:

On Readiness

Thrilling prose poems from a cherished writer . . . . Cox gives lie to the common notion that prose poetry is too formless to count as real verse . . . . [He] is as careful with diction, rhythm, and even rhyme as one might be if they were writing strict alexandrines-and yet, his poems are as fluid and readable as Jack Kerouac’s novels.

Kirkus Reviews

On Sorrow Bread

Tony Hoagland has said Mark Cox is “a veteran of the deep water; there’s no one like him,” and Thomas Lux identified him as “one of the finest poets of his generation.” No one speaks more effectively of the vital and enduring syntaxes of common, even communal, life.

Richard Simpson

Sponsored :: New Book :: Marriage 2001: A Bruised Odyssey

cover of Marriage 2002: A Bruised Odyssey by J. W. Young

Marriage 2001: A Bruised Odyssey, Poetry by J. W. Young

unPublications, February 2024

Marriage 2001: A Bruised Odyssey by J. W Young is a book of poetry & writings which deals with the confines of marriage when defined and marred by subjugation, domestic abuse, and censorship in modern times. It is Young’s first published literary work. Though many of the writings were destroyed, this book contains survivors. The poetic expressions served as a means to cope and endure. Marriage 2001: A Bruised Odyssey is a journey of hope, pain, grief and the difficult pathway to reclaiming a sense of self.

Sponsored :: New Book :: Three Sixes and a Forked Tongue or Cold Medicine and a Liar

cover of Three Sixes and a Forked Tongue or Cold Medicine and a Liar

Three Sixes and a Forked Tongue or Cold Medicine and a Liar, Fiction by James Tyler Toothman

millions of colors, December 2023

The year is 1971. Lost deep in the woods of West Virginia, a desperate young girl discovers a book of witchcraft and pledges herself to Satan. But the Devil’s checking into town, and he’s got something special in store for this new little witch.

When Black Lavender Luci, the Devil himself, rocks up to Clockmaker, West Virginia in a Rolls Royce Silver Wraith, wearing alligator boots, a chinchilla coat, Porkpie hat and a gold-plated grin, he’s got his sights on only one thing: fifteen-year-old Miss Priscilla Carpenter, the baddest witch in town. Tired of being on the receiving end of Old Red—her father’s favorite paddle—Priscilla doesn’t hesitate when she stumbles upon a book of witchcraft and stains the pages with her blood.

At first, signing her soul away to Satan was just an opportunity to have some fun, help the people she loves, and get a little revenge on the townspeople that turned their backs on her and her mother, Lavinia. Flanked by her childhood best friend Joseph and her loyal disciple Big Tommy, Priscilla makes her way through the increasingly demanding spells of her beloved grimoire. But when the Devil calls in his favor and seduces Priscilla deeper into the world of dark magic, drugs, and desire, she unwittingly unleashes a torrent of death on Clockmaker, causing dams to break, women to go missing, and rabbit piss to fall from the sky. And pretty soon, she finds herself the baby mama of Hell himself.

Sponsored :: New Book :: Another Name for Darkness

cover of Sans. PRESS sixth anthology Another Name for Darkness

Another Name for Darkness: Sans. PRESS Anthology #6

Sans. PRESS, December 2023

A lifetime buried in the mud, a shadow haunting your past, a creature built from offered scraps – there is something lurking in the dark! In this new collection, 15 writers explore the many shapes that darkness can take, from the monstrous to the stark realities of loss and heartbreak. In tales that embrace both the mundane and the supernatural, nothing is impossible, and realities can be shattered and rebuilt for those willing to dare.

Sponsored :: New Book :: MONARCH: Stories

cover of MONARCH: Stories by Emily Jon Tobias

MONARCH: Stories by Emily Jon Tobias

Black Lawrence Press, May 2024

MONARCH: Stories subverts the reader’s common perceptions about how love can heal, how loss and suffering can transform, and how every character deserves a second chance. America’s city scars, sewers, alleyways, and bars are landscape to their wars, as characters heal and transform under wind turbines and on open roads, in golden cornfields and with the wails of Chicago blues. Heroes in this collection are the marginalized, the sufferers, the down-trodden, the misfits, the wanderers, and the wounded, shaped by grief but not defined by their scars.

The collection is driven by its characters, unsung heroes who are shades of the sufferers and healers in all. An inclusive invitation, MONARCH is aimed at an intimate portrayal of scarred characters on American streets beating the drum of current culture against the fierce rhythm of critical social justice issues. An exploration of the human condition through a lens of the damaged, MONARCH’s characters bear traumas with their bodies, and often, they transgress while learning how to love through small acts of kindness. They break in, break down, and ultimately, break open.

Foreword by Chris Abani, author of The Secret History of Las Vegas.

Sponsored :: New Book :: Gusher

cover of gusher: poems by Christopher Stephen Soden

Gusher, Poetry by Christopher Stephen Soden

Rebel Satori Press / Queer Mojo, October 2022

Christopher Soden’s poems are never a PR campaign for the author, never self-aggrandizing below a thin veil of manufactured vulnerability. These are not poems created to insight sighs from the audience. They are much more real than that, much more truly vulnerable than that, much more sticky and fun and difficult than that. Often life is solitary, often life is a mother-fucker, but if you are holding this book in your hands then you are not alone, even more than that: you are being held in the arms of an author who may not know you but, in each and every poem, wonders and cares about you.
—Matthew Dickman author of Wonderland

Sponsored :: New Book :: Dead Men Cast No Shadows

cover of Sergio Ramirez' Dead Men Cast No Shadows translated by Daryl R. Hague

Dead Men Cast No Shadows: The Managua Trilogy 3, Novel by Sergio Ramirez translated from Spanish by Daryl R. Hague

McPherson & Company, October 2023

Forcibly exiled to Honduras at the conclusion of No One Weeps for Me Now, Inspector Dolores Morales returns in Sergio Ramirez’s final, stand-alone volume of The Managua Trilogy, accompanied by a cast of brave priests, corrupt secret service agents, washed up former foot soldiers, and out-for-themselves vestiges of mid-century ideals, all colliding in this exuberant portrait of the depredations of oligarchs and dictators, the human cost of promises deferred, and the implacable hopes and resolve of Nicaraguans.

“Dead Men Cast No Shadows is an enormously entertaining novel about responses to perfidy in high places by one of the most prominent writers in the Spanish-speaking world. It is a courageous act of political defiance; Ramírez has paid a painful price for simply putting pen to paper to tell the truth. . . . He examines a shameful period in Nicaraguan history through the lens of a police/detective yarn and he succeeds magnificently.”— Brooks Geikan, The Arts Fuse

Now living in exile in Spain, Sergio Ramirez is the only Central American author ever to be awarded the Cervantes Prize, the highest honor in Spanish language letters.

Sponsored :: New Book :: Dirty Suburbia

cover of Dirty Suburbia, a book by Sara Hosey

Dirty Suburbia, Fiction by Sara Hosey

Vine Leaves Press, January 2024

The stories in Sara Hosey’s stunning collection, Dirty Suburbia, trace the lives of girls and women struggling to live with dignity in a world that often hates them.

Dirty suburbias are working-class neighborhoods in which girls who are left to fend for themselves sometimes become predators, as well as affluent communities in which women discover that money is no protection against sexism, both their own and others’.

Sponsored :: New Book :: Strange Attractors

cover of Strange Attractors: The Ephrem Stories by Janice Deal

Strange Attractors: The Ephrem Stories, Fiction by Janice Deal

New Door Books, September 2023

In Janice Deal’s linked story collection, everyday people navigate the uncertainties of life in the American heartland, seeking order in chaos with a very human mix of resilience and folly.

At first glance, the fictional Ephrem, Illinois, seems a friendly, familiar town—it draws you right in, even if you don’t need supplies at the mall or a snack at Brat Station. But as you come closer, you discover people who are complex and unpredictable. Life itself is capricious, and loneliness can turn a person strange. Yet there’s much affection here, small and large examples of human kindness.

For years, Janice Deal has been publishing award-winning stories about Ephrem. (Reviewers have compared them to Anton Chekhov, Sherwood Anderson, and Flannery O’Connor.) Now assembled for the first time, these extraordinary tales offer a masterful snapshot of life in today’s small-town America.

Janice Deal is the author of a novel, The Sound of Rabbits, and a previous story collection, The Decline of Pigeons. Stories from Strange Attractors have won The Moth Short Story Prize and the Cagibi Macaron Prize. Janice has also received an Illinois Arts Council Artists Fellowship Award for prose.

Sponsored :: New Book :: 2024… Your Year of More

cover of 2024... Your Year of More by Noah William Smith

2024… Your Year of More by Noah William Smith

Self-published, October 2023

2024… Your Year of More is your go-to book to set goals and mindfully invest your efforts. It appeals to adults of all ages, nationalities, and backgrounds who wish to improve their lives. Its pages are packed with something special for everyone.

The pages contain practical ideas from A to Z, thought-provoking questions, and self-reflective exercises that inspire you to live your best life.

The book is an ideal companion during your moments of solitude. You can read it in the early morning before the rest of the world wakes up or during the evenings after a long day. You may also find it enjoyable while writing in your journal or taking a lunch break.

Enthusiastic indie author Noah William Smith knows the blessings and challenges of intelligence, creativity, high sensitivity and being a minority, underdog and outsider. While his books are based on his experiences, they offer valuable insights without being prescriptive or offering advice.

The book’s authenticity and invaluable insights make it a compelling read that will remain relevant for many years!

Are you considering investing in yourself or searching for the perfect gift for someone special? Enjoy this life-changing book that you cannot afford to miss!

Sponsored :: New Book :: They Write Your Name on a Grain of Rice

cover of They Write Your Name on a Grain of Rice by Lori Jakiela

They Write Your Name on a Grain of Rice: On Cancer, Love, and Living Even So, Memoir by Lori Jakiela

Atticus Books, October 2023

They Write Your Name on a Grain of Rice—the latest book from award-winning Pittsburgh author Lori Jakiela—is much more than a cancer memoir. It’s a pause between polarities. Cancer is almost an afterthought. Inspired by Amy Krouse Rosenthal’s Encyclopedia of an Ordinary Life, it celebrates the tiny moments that make up a time capsule of a life.

A weirdly funny book about mortality, Rice is also about family, genetics, nature vs. nurture, the Rust Belt, EPA clean-up zones, emotional support peacocks, box turtles, Emily Dickinson, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Andy Warhol(a), and so much more. A fresh voice aligned with the work of classic stream-of-consciousness writers like Richard Brautigan and Virginia Woolf, Jakiela explores the way a mind works—complete with leaps and spirals—while reflecting on a life thoroughly lived against a dire breast cancer diagnosis.

Half new and selected essays, half spiraling memoir, Rice is experimental in both voice and form, and offers a fresh approach to age-old questions about life, love, mortality, and the fine art of living, even so.

Sponsored :: New Book :: If It Comes to That

cover of If It Comes to That, Poems by Marc Frazier

If It Comes to That, Poems by Marc Frazier

Kelsay Books, September 2023

If It Comes to That is a collection that thoughtfully considers the human condition. The poet shares deep reflections on the creative spirit, on the archetypes that encapsulate our behaviors, and on our relationship with the natural world. One can’t help but see the connections that emerge while reading these poems—there are big questions of how we’re connected to the people who inspire us and the ways in which we’re tied to the past. However, these poems are also filled with the people who we touch simply and softly, hand to hand, finding a way through uncertain times.
—Aaron Lelito, Founder, Editor-in-Chief, Wild Roof Journal

Sponsored :: New Book :: An Abundance of Caution

cover of An Abundance of Caution, a book by George Witte

An Abundance of Caution, Poetry by George Witte

Unbound Edition Press, May 2023

Distinguished by expert attention to image and phrase, line and sentence, rhythm and tone, George Witte’s An Abundance of Caution proves much more than a showcase of virtuoso technique. Witte’s formal skill lends voice and body to the crucial work of finding grace in a time marked by environmental crisis, global pandemic, and personal loss. His poems gain their depth and dimension from attentiveness to the lives of others, the details of the natural world, and the often-bewildering ways we live now. In lines both formal and free, these poems answer uncertainty with clarity, imagination, and compassion.

“The poet’s incredible attention to image, rhythm, and insistence upon the exact right word creates an incantatory sense of era-encapsulating collection of stylish, deftly composed poems.”–Kirkus Reviews

“These elegantly constructed poems about “each livid day” are definitely worth listening to.”–Ron Charles, The Washington Post Book Club Newsletter

“Visionary is what I would call the quality that enables these poems to know realities that exceed comprehension …”–H. L. Hix

“Witte’s poems find their way in, taking up residence in the mind and heart.”–David Yezzi

Sponsored :: New Book :: Graveyard Dogs

cover of Jason Brightwell's poetry collection Graveyard Dogs

Graveyard Dogs, Poetry by Jason Brightwell

Kelsay Books, August 2023

Graveyard Dogs is a graceful descent into the dimension of loss and grief. We witness life reduced to dirt and gravestones. We see love pushed into the shadows with nowhere to go. Jason Brightwell is a masterful shepherd whose poems guide us through the many facets of death. There is beauty and elegance in mourning and on every page in this book. He shows us that life prevails through tar, rust, and blood. We remain—the ones that are left behind—still of stars and still of purpose.

Sponsored :: New Book :: Michikusa House

cover of Emily Grandy's award-winning novel Michikusa House

Michikusa House, Novel by Emily Grandy

Homebound Publications, September 2023

Winner of the Landmark Prize for Fiction

Winona Heeley spent the last year of recovery from eating disorders in rural Japan, at Michikusa House, alongside one other full-time resident: Jun Nakashima. Like Winona, Jun was a recovering addict and college dropout. While they bonded over rituals of growing their own food and preparing meals, they changed each other’s lives by reconstructing long-held beliefs about shame, identity, and renewal.

But after Winona returns to her Midwest hometown, Jun vanishes.

Two years pass and Winona, seeking revival through gardening, accepts a job as a groundskeeper at a local cemetery…and begins searching for Jun Nakashima once more.

Sponsored :: New Book :: No One Is on the Line

No One Is on the Line: The Poetry of Mohsen Mohamed book cover image

No One Is on the Line: The Poetry of Mohsen Mohamed

Translated from the Arabic by Sherine Elbanhawy

Laertes, September 2023

These poems arose from the depths of incarceration, from the voice and intellect of Mohsen Mohamed (sentenced to five years of imprisonment after a campus protest in 2014) and went on to win Egypt’s two most significant literary prizes. They speak of dislocation and the wrenching of the heart, of a found (and forged) community, of the bare lineaments of humanity disclosed in the throes of suffering. They are works of provocative witness and searching tenderness.

“Mohsen Mohamed is an honest poet with a new dictionary, a keen eye for details and surprising twists, and a great talent.” —Amin Haddad, poet, winner of the International Cavafy Prize for poetry

Sponsored :: New Book :: Refugee

cover of Refugee by Pamela Uschuk

Refugee 
Poetry by Pamela Uschuck
Red Hen Press, Spring 2022

Refugee deals with political refugees, refugees from racism, from domestic violence, from environmental destruction and cancer—and their stories of cruelty and courage, hardship, and hope to overcome the most daunting of circumstances.  This collection confronts and explores xenophobia, sexism, gun violence, domestic violence, corporate greed, environmental destruction and political tyranny. An ovarian cancer survivor, Pamela also writes about her own courageous confrontation with death.

“With tenderness, expansive compassion, and profound gifts of radiant description, Pamela Uschuk considers so many ways people may be estranged and lost in this precious, difficult world. With brave ferocity, her poems in Refugee navigate new vision and reconnection, so desperately longed for right now and always.”

— Naomi Shihab Nye, author of The Tiny Journalist

Sponsored :: Magazine Stand :: Syncopation Literary Journal – Vol. 1 No. 1

Syncopation Literary Journal amalgamates the realms of literature and music. Volume 1, Issue 1 is now available to read on the website for FREE! The first issue contains book excerpts, poetry, creative nonfiction, short stories and flash fiction penned by writers and musicians from around the world. Titles of pieces in issue include: “The First Time I Heard Leonard Cohen”, “Memphis, Tennessee”, and “I’ve Got the Blues.”

Visit the Syncopation Literary Journal website for more information.