Gandy Dancer reviews The Common, noting that “underneath the contemporary feel of the journal is a charming thread of worldly tradition.”
HOLIDAY READS
Exploring migration from the perspective of plants; mystical historical fiction that will transport you from New England to Haiti; and one woman’s chance to do life over again. We revisited our community’s favorite reads from throughout the year and compiled a list of memoirs, essay collections, novels, and creative nonfiction works to inspire a diverse holiday reading list, or kick off your reading plans for the new year.
OLENA JENNINGS
I feel connected to Mong’s act of viewing from within the comfort of family life. We traverse museums, landscapes, and galaxies. Lines like the “wound of our love” that is “red of rare steak, gray like smudged lace” compose the lace of the poems, a beautiful lattice of words that draws me into the book and asks me to weave in my own experiences.
CARSON WOLFE
Exposition Ladies composes a love letter to the poorly scribbled female characters of Hollywood who exist solely to move the plot along. Each poem takes on the persona of one of these unformed vessels, often beginning with ‘I am the exposition lady’. Reminiscent of Carol Ann Duffy's The World's Wife, Exposition Ladies is a perfect example of how a book can contain a singular idea and expand outward.
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