Lynne Thompson’s Blue on a Blue Palette, Reviewed by Erica Goss

Lynne Thompson Blue on a Blue Palette BOA Editions Reviewer: Erica Goss In Blue on a Blue Palette, Lynne Thompson embarks on a journey through physical and personal geographies, exploring relationships, moods, and history, with a focus on the strength and resiliency of women. The color blue links these poems through direct and implied references. […]

Diane Seuss’s Modern Poetry, Reviewed by Erica Goss

Diane Seuss Modern Poetry Graywolf Press, 2024 Reviewer: Erica Goss A testimonial to Diane Seuss’s enduring commitment to the art of poetry, her latest collection is harrowing, hilarious, disconcerting, and fearless. This memoir-in-verse reverberates with pitch-perfect observations gleaned from her years as an academic outsider, the combination of pain and pride forged during her working-class […]

Andrea Hollander’s And Now, Nowhere But Here, Reviewed by Erica Goss

Andrea Hollander And Now, Nowhere But Here Terrapin Books Reviewer: Erica Goss In her new book, And Now, Nowhere But Here, Andrea Hollander looks back at the complexities and contradictions of a long life. The poems in this wise and often luminous collection explore the aftermath of betrayal and its effects on a marriage, as […]

Cynthia Manick’s No Sweet Without Brine, Reviewed by Erica Goss

No Sweet Without Brine Cynthia Manick HarperCollins Reviewer: Erica Goss “I want us living, not just alive,” Cynthia Manick writes in “Dear Future Body (Keep Your Skin Thickk),” a poem from her latest collection, No Sweet Without Brine. Body image, family, and the constant pressure to conform to others’ expectations inform the book, as the […]

Tara Betts’s Refuse to Disappear, Reviewed by Erica Goss

Refuse to Disappear Tara Betts Word Works, 2022 Reviewer: Erica Goss In this propulsive, urgent collection, Tara Betts weighs perceptions of strength and weakness, microaggressions and politics, against the day-to-day experiences of life for  Black women in America. As she creates a meticulous catalog, from Star Trek’s Lieutenant Uhuru to Olympic gymnast Simone Biles, Betts […]