The year is 1998 and you are front row at the Alma Awards. Patti LaBelle dressed in a flattering hi-low black dress, 6-inch heels, says into the mic, “I will always remember tonight as the evening I was privileged to…
In O Leary’s inventive self-portrait, the pathways of memory splinter themselves into a series of analogies as both a coping mechanism and as a means for its readers to see the poem’s events from various vantage points. A daughter’s fraught…
A poem after the invented form of poet Amanda Johnston, the speaker tale spans of five generations told as a collective, disjointed account of history across the Mississippi landscape. Without a clear vision of their future but an unrelenting spirit…
Of the 2022 New Voices Contest first place winner, the judge José Olivarez states, “Donte Collins’s poem SMALL & PERSONAL has a magnetic voice. There’s no hesitation here: the poem moves from questions of violence to 10th grade civics to love…
Of the 2022 New Voices Contest second place winner, the judge José Olivarez states, “Ae Hee Lee’s poem Anything You Can Find in the World You Can Find in the Body is a beautiful poem. Look at the way a…
Of the 2022 New Voices Contest third place winner, the judge José Olivarez states, “Megan Kim’s poem MY NAME MEANS PEARL is anthemic. Play this one in the club after someone stupid and lustful whispers in your ear that your…
Our relationship to our heroes are often complicated by the faults of their humanity. Both with a sharp, unflinching critical eye and admiration for his contribution to body modification, the poet navigates us through the exhilarating history of Fakir Musafar…
Recounting a night in November which pays homage to the late Etel Adnan and the blooming sisterhood of six young women, Jolly’s poem traverses the landscape of history, intimacy, distance, and longing. Inspired in part by Adnan’s collection, Of Cities…
“Leng Neoi” translates in English to “pretty girl” yet the poem’s strength is resisting a simple presentation of beauty. Governed by a succession of monostiches, the speaker navigates its readers through fragments of childhood memories in which they attempt again…
The word “Issuance” is defined as the “action of formally making something known”. As readers navigate the difficult terrain that seamlessly blends a logical turn of phrase with the voracious desires of the heart, readers are rewarded with passageway into…
