Pitched with the concept “if A24 made horror in the days of shot-on-video,” indie press Filthy Loot’s horror collection Soft Ceremonies absolutely hits its marks. For the uninitiated, A24 is an indie film production company whose horror movies are known for arthouse elements and getting under people’s skin. “Shot-on-video” is exactly what it sounds like: […]
Sarah Elgatian
Posted inBook Reviews
Book Review: ‘Plain Clothes Hamburglar’ by Sean Moeller
Sean Moeller’s debut poetry collection Plain Clothes Hamburglar (Rejection Letters Press) is a tightly compressed collection of vignettes that are laden with beat, location and nostalgia to create an anthemic volume of poems that, despite their playful dressing, ask to be taken seriously. Divided into sections by ingredients in a hamburger (bun, pickles and onions, […]
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Book Review: ‘Optional Saint’ by Kelsi Vanada
Kelsi Vanada’s Optional Saint (Bench Editions) is a delicate collage of poetic styles that maintain a signature sparseness of language — the poems ask the reader to connect the dots. What’s interesting and exciting about Vanada’s poetry is that she trusts the reader and invites the reader to become part of the narrative. With brevity, […]
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Book Review: ‘Green for Luck’ by Margaret Yapp
Margaret Yapp’s Green For Luck (Eastover Press) is a refreshing shock to the senses. Every page asks the reader to unlearn their expectations. I hear all the time that readers want to be surprised — I even tell my own students that — but it’s been a long time since I experienced it. In Green […]
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Book Review: ‘Far From Broken’ by Kelsey Bigelow
According to the back of the book, Kelsey Bigelow’s Far From Broken (2024) collection is “an expansion of her spoken word album Depression Holders and Secret Keepers” which was released in advance of the book. I haven’t heard Bigelow’s work aloud, but I can say that there were several poems which seemed so clearly meant […]
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Indigenous art meets comic books, children’s toys and mythology in Cara and Diego Romero’s “Tales of Futures Past” at the Figge
Artists Cara (Chemehuevi) and Diego (Cochiti) Romero’s traveling exhibition Tales of Futures Past premiered this month at the Figge Art Museum in Davenport. Cara and Diego Romero are indigenous artists who work in different mediums exploring the diversity and impact of indigenous identity.
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Book Review: ‘The Wilderlands’ by R.E. Bellesmith
I have apparently never read fantasy before The Wilderlands by R.E. Bellesmith (November 2024). I didn’t know that. I thought the various books I read involving magic and the like were fantasy. Apparently there are levels. For folks like me who see themselves more often reading literary fiction, I hope this review will act as […]
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Book Review: Ben Miller — ‘Pandemonium Logs’
We don’t talk about the tolls the pandemic has taken on each of us. In Ben Miller’s new book Pandemonium Logs: Sioux Falls, South Dakota, 2020-2022 (Rutgers University Press, November 2024) he says the quiet part aloud.
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Book Review: ‘(Re)present: Racism and Resistance in Iowa’
Important books exist. They are written and published every day. There are people dedicated to creating and publishing work that changes and educates people. Sometimes, they put out important work that is accessible and educational and aimed at helping the youth in Iowa understand their home and their histories. (Re)Present: Racism & Resistance in Iowa […]
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‘I’ve had “evil video game” in my notes for story ideas for, like, ever’: Tatiana Schlote-Bonne on writing horror for the fun of it
On the day of the release of her debut, Such Lovely Skin, Tatiana Schlote-Bonne expressed excitement and optimism about her literary future and upcoming books. The Iowa Nonfiction Writing Program graduate’s horror novel centers on a young gamer and Twitch streamer, Viv, whose most recent game creates a demonic mimic of her which is determined to ruin her life.
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Book Review: ‘Such Lovely Skin’ by Tatiana Schlote-Bonne
Never in my memory has a book kept me from sleep or made me avoid everyday objects. Officially, Such Lovely Skin (Page Street Publishing) by Tatiana Schlote-Bonne is the most unsettling book I have ever read, full stop. The novel follows the narrator, a teen girl named Viv who is a relatively well-known video game […]
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Review: Playcrafters Barn Theatre’s ‘A Streetcar Named Desire’ is raw, visceral and deeply moving
Having read A Streetcar Named Desire three times but never seen the play, I was excited to see it being performed at the Playcrafters’ Barn Theatre in the Quad Cities.
