Nicole Santalucia’s The Book of Dirt, Reviewed by Brian Fanelli
Nicole Santalucia The Book of Dirt NYQ Books Reviewer: Brian Fanelli While Pennsylvania has traditionally voted for Democratic presidents, including Bill Clinton twice and Barack Obama twice, the state flipped in 2016, and Trump won it by a slim margin. Though PA contains Philly and Pittsburgh, as well as several mid-tier, working-class cities like Scranton […]
Shawn Pavey’s Survival Tips for the Pending Apocalypse, Reviewed by Brian Fanelli
Shawn Pavey Survival Tips for the Pending Apocalypse: New and Selected Poems Spartan Press Reviewer: Brian Fanelli Since the economic crash of 2009, there have been countless stories about the struggles that Americans face to pay their bills and the numerous jobs they must work to survive. There have been manifestos about student debt, the […]
Melissa Christine Goodrum’s something sweet & filled with blood, Reviewed by Brian Fanelli
Melissa Christine Goodrum something sweet & filled with blood great weather for MEDIA Reviewer: Brian Fanelli Poetry has always had a rich relationship and conversation with other art forms, and some of the most anthologized poems are ekphrastic poems, be it Keats’s “Ode to Grecian Urn” or Anne Sexton’s “The Starry Night.” The impact of […]
Allison Joseph’s Confessions of a Barefaced Woman, Reviewed by Brian Fanelli
Allison Joseph Confessions of a Barefaced Woman Red Hen Press Reviewer: Brian Fanelli Reading Allison Joseph’s latest collection, Confessions of a Barefaced Woman, feels like a much-needed reprieve and act of resistance against the onslaught of negative news. The narratives spun within the pages are a celebration of literature, black history, and the quieter moments […]
Roberto Carlos Garcia’s black/Maybe, Reviewed by Brian Fanelli
Roberto Carlos Garcia black/Maybe Willow Books Reviewer: Brian Fanelli In an interview with Plátano Poetry Café from April 2018, Robert Carlos Garcia describes himself as Afro-Caribbean and Afro-Latinx, adding, “Who I am is at the center of everything I write…my identity is my major metaphor.” This statement is especially true when describing Garcia’s latest work, […]
