Irène Mathieu’s Grand Marronage
, Reviewed by Vivian Wagner

Irène Mathieu Grand Marronage Switchback Books Reviewer: Vivian Wagner Irène Mathieu’s Grand Marronage is a collection of poems about escape, freedom, community, and intergenerational trauma. The term “grand marronage” refers to people who escaped the slavery of plantations and established their own communities outside of slave society. The book’s poems explore literal and figurative grand […]

Ilyse Kusnetz’s Angel Bones, Reviewed by Vivian Wagner

Ilyse Kusnetz Angel Bones Alice James Books Reviewer: Vivian Wagner Ilyse Kusnetz’s Angel Bones is a posthumous collection about mortality, and about finding life and connection even in the midst of – and beyond – death. Kusnetz, who died from cancer in 2016, writes about love and loss in a way that’s both lovely and […]

Margo Taft Stever’s Cracked Piano, Reviewed by Vivian Wagner

Margo Taft Stever Cracked Piano CavanKerry Press Reviewer: Vivian Wagner Margo Taft Stever’s Cracked Piano examines mental illness and trauma, particularly in the context of cultural cruelty and disconnection. At its heart is the story of Stever’s great-grandfather and the half-brother of president William Howard Taft, Peter Taft, who was kept for part of his […]