Faye Chevalier's Chapbook 'FUTUR.TXT' Is the Cybernetic Poetry You've Been Waiting For

August 20, 2018

Joanna C. Valente is a human who lives in Brooklyn, New York. They are the author of Sirs & Madams (Aldrich Press, 2014),The Gods Are Dead (Deadly Chaps Press, 2015), Marys of the Sea (Operating System, 2017), Sexting Ghosts (Unknown Press, 2018), Xenos (Agape Editions, 2016), and the editor of A Shadow Map: Writing by Survivors of Sexual Assault (CCM, 2017). They received their MFA in writing at Sarah Lawrence College. Joanna is the founder of Yes Poetry and the managing editor for Luna Luna Magazine. Some of their writing has appeared in Brooklyn Magazine, Prelude, BUST, Spork Press, and elsewhere. Joanna also leads workshops at Brooklyn Poets. joannavalente.com / Twitter: @joannasaid / IG: joannacvalente

Ashley Miranda's Forthcoming Chapbook Is a Must-Read

August 17, 2018

Review of James Diaz's "This Someone I Call Stranger" by Devon Balwit

April 24, 2018

While voicing anguish, Diaz’ narrators are never pitiable, nor does he allow the suffering self to wallow.

Excerpts from "Dress Code Aquarium" by Benjamin Niespodziany

January 25, 2018

The doctor wasn't supposed to
but she prescribed herself
to try new things.
"Something new once a week,

repeat, repeat."

Review of 'A Red Witch, Every Which Way' by Juliet Cook & j/j hastain

July 24, 2017

What happens when two energies collide as if they were falling stars against an inky sky? What happens when two cauldrons boil over and into each other? What happens when two spirits are provoked to write as though conjoined and based on intuition? A Red Witch, Every Which Way is that result of such syntheses. The binding of unwinding and winding again, it’s the stitching of words, pages, and spirits. It is a spell the universe hummed into two sets of ears, banged into a writing desk, bled into a pen.

Review of Siân S. Rathore’s 'Wild Heather'

July 10, 2017

In Wild Heather, we go inside the head of Rathore as lover, as friend, as non-binary human, kin, and yet none of the above, however everything plus more. We are brought into the fold, we watch the cuckold, and we thank the universe for heavy moments for without them, the muse would not be able to animate Rathore, to allow the spindling of poetic births and mutations of witchy proportions. A classic conjuring of Sexton or Tzara’s stream of consciousness writing. All the greats have done it, Rathore no different, following suit and instinct alike.

Review of Christine Stoddard's 'Chica/Mujer'

May 31, 2017

Chica/Mujer is a collection of vignettes about women and for women who are biracial but hide their identities or who wear them on their sleeve. It is also for women who grieve the loss of an unborn child or who resist motherhood after giving birth. It is for women who were raped, and for those whose wounds are raw. It is for women who have sex for empowerment. It is for women who are going through menarche but don't quite know how to welcome it or for those who deem it a beautiful, strengthening, cleansing ritual. It is for women who studied so hard to end up working in an entirely different job than they first envisioned or who forewent a full-scholarship due to an unforeseeable traumatic event.

Interview with Sweta Srivastava Vikram

October 4, 2016

In 2013, Indian poet Sweta Srivastava Vikram published a collection of poems titled No Ocean Here. Published by Modern History Press, No Ocean Here documents the stories of oppressed women living in different parts of Asia, Africa and the Middle East. Following an itinerary made up of narrative poems, the reader travels to countries including Singapore, Bangladesh, and Cameroon, coming face-to-face with patriarchal tyranny. Vikram takes her readers on an emotional and geographical journey. She writes,

I walk humbly through cultures,
documenting stories

for women without a voice.
-"No Ocean Here"