Winter 2021

INTERVIEWS

Praying by Looking: An Interview with Jordan Kisner
In Jordan Kisner’s new essay collection, Thin Places, analysis of big issues is set alongside generous personal reflection and insightful commentary on the symbols, habits, and gestures that make everyday life meaningful. Interviewed by Benjamin P. Davis

Hanging Loose and Staying Young: An Interview with Dick Lourie, Mark Pawlak, and Caroline Hagood
Editors Dick Lourie, Mark Pawlak, and Caroline Hagood discuss why young writers are as important to Hanging Loose's roster as professionals, even after six decades of publishing. Interviewed by Marina Chen

small gestures of control: an interview with bart plantenga
On the occasion of bart plantenga’s new book List Full, longtime friend and fellow poet Sparrow talks with him about narcissism, Frank O’Hara, and lists as unselfconscious, working-class poems of humility and utility. Interviewed by Sparrow

FEATURES

The List As A Map To Someplace New
bart plantenga
Poet bart plantenga makes the case for giving your lists a second look before you discard them.

MIXED GENRE REVIEWS

Life in a Field: Poems
Katie Peterson
Katie Peterson’s Life in a Field is an unsettling collection that eludes narrative and logic, insisting on hybridity. Reviewed by Rachel Slotnick

GRAPHIC NOVEL REVIEWS

Catalogue Baby: A Memoir of Infertility
Myriam Steinberg
Catalogue Baby: A Memoir of Infertility uses the graphic format to tenderly and effectively tell the story of Myriam Steinberg’s quest to become a mother. Review by Lisa Rizzo

FICTION REVIEWS

Whereabouts
Jhumpa Lahiri
Originally written in Italian and now translated by the author, Jhumpa Lahiri's third novel contemplates a contemplative year. Reviewed by Erin Lewenauer

Motley Stones
Adalbert Stifter
Isabel Fargo Coles’s new translation of Motley Stones, a landmark of nineteenth-century Austrian literature, deftly captures the rhythm and flow of Adalbert Stifter’s unique point of view. Reviewed by Barbara Roether

The Predatory Animal Ball
Jennifer Fliss
Jennifer Fliss’s debut story collection, The Predatory Animal Ball, deals with complex emotions and is as eerie as an abandoned location at midnight. Reviewed by Nick Hilbourn

Carnival Lights
Chris Stark
Chris Stark’s new novel Carnival Lights is an impressive work about family, survival, and the “spiral” of all stories. Reviewed by Shannon Gibney

The Last Twist of the Knife
João Almino
In João Almino’s The Last Twist of the Knife, the narrator may not be able to make sense of his own experiences, but given the clues he strews throughout his confused memories, we learn a very great deal. Reviewed by Douglas Messerli

NONFICTION REVIEWS

We Are Bridges: A Memoir
Cassandra Lane
Cassandra Lane’s debut memoir, We Are Bridges, is a powerful and intimate exploration of personal identity and family history. Reviewed by Dustin Michael

The Invisible Painting: My Memoir of Leonora Carrington
Gabriel Weisz Carrington
The Invisible Painting: My Memoir of Leonora Carrington gives an intimate, at times albeit fleeting, glimpse into the real world of Gabriel Weisz Carrington’s mother and her work. Reviewed by Patrick James Dunagan

All We Can Save: Truth, Courage, and Solutions for the Climate Crisis
Ayana Elizabeth Johnson and Katharine K. Wilkinson, eds.
All We Can Save: Truth, Courage, and Solutions for the Climate Crisis helps readers understand who is working to disrupt our fossil-fueled world through a wide range of essays, poetry, and artwork. Reviewed by S. Leite

On Freedom: Four Songs of Care and Constraint
Maggie Nelson
Maggie Nelson’s latest book, On Freedom: Four Songs of Care and Constraint, takes readers into the messy middle between liberation and obligation. Reviewed by Christina Schmid

Harlots, Whores & Hackabouts: A History of Sex for Sale
Kate Lister
In Kate Lister’s new book Harlots, Whores & Hackabouts: A History of Sex for Sale, the author relays a disturbing history, but also a fascinating one—a history beyond what many might assume. Reviewed by Greg Baldino

Reminded by the Instruments: David Tudor's Music
You Nakai
Understanding the differences and similarities between instruments is the foundation of You Nakai’s impressive overview and store of tantalizing discoveries in Reminded by the Instruments: David Tudor's Music. Review by Patrick James Dunagan

POETRY REVIEWS

Long Rain
Lenard D. Moore
Long Rain merges Japanese poetic sensibilities with those of the West as Lenard D. Moore infuses the tanka form with personal memory, modern motifs, and Black Southern geography and history. Reviewed by Lisa B (Lisa Bernstein)

Tenderness
Derrick Austin
In Derrick Austin’s second prize-winning collection of poetry, the author transforms vulnerability into tenderness yet never ignores the history that surrounds him. Reviewed by John Bradley

Eclogues in a Mustard Seed Garden
Glenn Mott
Glenn Mott embodies a global mental space in his new book Eclogues in a Mustard Seed Garden, a wise and funny model for seeing and speaking and writing. Reviewed by Simon Schuchat

Focal Point
Jenny Qi
In Jenny Qi’s new poetry collection, the helplessness of grief is the crux where meaning comes into clear view. Review by Jessica Johnson

The Essential Muriel Rukeyser: Poems
Muriel Rukeyser
Former U.S. Poet Laureate Natasha Trethewey takes on the daunting task of selecting 75 poems from Muriel Rukeyser’s prodigious body of work to create The Essential Muriel Rukeyser. Review by Warren Woessner