A Houston poet’s tool box doesn’t normally include fluency in Arabic and an internal medicine practice—indeed, Dr. Joudah’s scholastic accomplishments and life experience raise our expectations. And, in turn, we find his work on... Read More

Poetry is marvelous transportation. Africa beckons—you want some of me?—and the poet takes pains, takes pens to the stuff of his life, so that we can experience the Zimbabwe in the man. An Oberlin College creative writing assistant... Read More

Ooooh, baby, the gloves are off. In "Radioapocrypha", BK Fischer has done imagined Jesus Christ as a buff chemistry teacher in Maryland in 1989. Does she not fear bolts of lightning? The author of two other superb collections, Mutiny... Read More

When cornered, we’ll admit to preferring poetry with rhythm—musicality in the ear surely deepens a poem’s effect. Yes, Jennifer Givhan, we’re awed by your use of pause and pacing, as you lead us to better understanding a... Read More

Poets and words, a relationship built on endless frustration and betrayal. That’s not what I intended to say. Sorry, bard, that’s what you get with me. Certain poets embrace the ambiguity, as if potential misunderstandings raise a... Read More

From Montaigne to Auden to Sir Mix-A-Lot, Martinez pulls from a broad swath of influences to tell his story of moving into adulthood and measuring what makes a man. For him, the answer is as varied as his influences, which include... Read More

"The Way You Run in Dreams" is an attentive, ecopoetic gathering of texts that honors felt and lived experiences with a clear, defined voice. Time and its ravages, absence, and the silent interludes before and after human... Read More

"Blissful Blues" is a youthful, playful collection that works through a failed romance toward self-discovery. In her heartfelt collection "Blissful Blues", poet Rhea Madan explores youthful love, longing, and loss. The opening poem... Read More