American Toxicity: Wade in the Water by Tracy K. Smith
How does one wade in the water, when the water is toxic? The current United States Poet Laureate, Tracy K. Smith, approaches this...
Diagram of a Tongue: Silent Anatomies by Monica Ong
Silent Anatomies by Monica Ong is unlike any book of poetry I have ever encountered. It’s no wonder Joy Harjo selected it as the winner...
A Woman’s Acreage: Blackacre by Monica Youn
Poetry often benefits from a poet’s previous career or occupation. Some of my favorite collections were written by doctors and nurses...
Feast of Tongues: Cannibal by Safiya Sinclair
Cannibal opens with the words, “Have I forgotten it— / wild conch-shell dialect, / black apostrophe curled / tight on my tongue?” and the...
Claiming the Female Body: Lessons on Expulsion by Erika L. Sánchez
Erika L. Sánchez’s courageous debut collection Lessons on Expulsion begins with a rite of passage, a poem titled “Quincerañera,” which is...
The Glass Knife: A Review of Cynthia Cruz’s How the End Begins
Like Cynthia Cruz, I too am in love with all things broken. Obsessed with endings before beginnings have even begun. When my mother came...
On the Threshold of Music: Ocean Vuong's Night Sky With Exit Wounds
Music prevails throughout Ocean Vuong’s 2016 debut poetry collection Night Sky With Exit Wounds published by Copper Canyon Press. The...
