Written as a calendar documenting March through October, a single narrator moves through life in lockdown in L.A. Felleman’s The Length of a Clenched Fist (Finishing Line Press). If I hadn’t lived through 2020 I might not understand references like “While Italians Sing Arias From Balconies” (the first poem’s title) or “the square / Marked […]
Sarah Elgatian
Posted inBook Reviews
Book Review: ‘A Playbill For Sunset’ by Dan Campion
Formulaic poetry seems to be simultaneously under- and overrated, something force-fed us by teachers and then never seen again — as though only the archaic men of our textbooks were allowed to use the respective forms. Truthfully, formulaic poems have never actually left the literary milieu. In A Playbill For Sunset (Ice Cube Press, 2022), […]
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Book Review: ‘Memento Vivere’ by Laura Johnson
In Memento Vivere (Cabin Bear Books), a tiny volume of rebellion against death, Cedar Rapids poet Laura Johnson creates a still life of delights and damages reminding both herself and the reader: Remember you must live. (For those missing the reference, “memento mori” is a commonly used phrase meaning “remember you must die.”) In the […]
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QC Environmental Film Series kicks off with ‘Picture of His Life’
River Action — a Davenport nonprofit that, per their mission statement, works to “foster the environmental, economic and cultural vitality” of the Quad City riverfront — is premiering their 2022 QC Environmental Film Series on Sunday, Jan. 23 at the Figge Art Museum. The series, which highlights environmental issues relevant to life in the Mississippi […]
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Book Review: ‘Midwinter Constellation’ ed. Becca Klaver
Midwinter Constellation (Black Lawrence Press) is the collaborative effort of 32 poets paying homage to Midwinter Day, by Bernadette Mayer, on the 40th anniversary of its creation. It is the brainchild of editor Becca Klaver who states in the afterword that she created this virtual space to be transparent and collaborative, following the “six-part structure […]
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Northern Parallels close out a chapter with a fifth anniversary NYE show at Rozz-Tox
In December 2016, Adam “Higgy” Higgins and Mike Derer held the first Northern Parallels event. This was before the record label, before the event promotion, before the series of dance parties. “It was a crazy night, the weather wasn’t in our favor, it was a blizzard with 40+ mph winds and well-below-zero temperatures,” Derer wrote […]
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Book Review: ‘We Heard it When We Were Young’ by Chuy Renteria
We Heard It When We Were Young (University of Iowa Press) is a love letter to all of us who, like author Chuy Renteria, don’t know whether or not they had a happy childhood or whether or not they are good people. It is a love letter to those of us who feel guilty whichever […]
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Iowa Press Spotlight: Final Thursday Press in Cedar Falls
Final Thursday Press out of Cedar Falls specializes in special books. Jim O’Loughlin, press founder and publisher, curates the collection from regional writers whose work stands out and whose projects excite him. “I’m always trying to work one level beyond what I’m comfortable with,” O’Loughlin said, each project challenging him in a way that allows […]
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Iowa City Poetry and IC Speaks kick off new Mic Check Poetry Festival this weekend
Mic Check Poetry Festival, a new addition to the Iowa City festival scene, runs Nov. 5-7 and features a full lineup of both local and nationally known spoken word artists, who will both perform and teach. But it started as a conversation between Lisa Roberts, founding director of Iowa City Poetry, and Caleb “The Negro […]
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Book Review: ‘Nightbitch’ by Rachel Yoder
I think I need to open with an admission of guilt: I am not a parent. I have been a nanny, a preschool teacher, I’ve worked in youth housing — this is to say, I have helped to raise children of all ages, but I am not a parent. So while reading Nightbitch (Doubleday) I […]
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Book Review: ‘The Renunciations’ by Donika Kelly
Donika Kelly’s The Renunciations (Graywolf Press) sees its greatest impact when panned out to see the full picture. Zooming out adds nuance. On the whole, Kelly is, as the title suggests, rejecting the contents inside. They are framed within units of time that repeat: NOW, THEN, AFTER. The renunciations, then, are Kelly’s reckoning. This elegiac […]
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Gina Nutt talks terror ahead of her Mission Creek Festival 2021: Duos reading
Night Rooms is unlike anything I have ever read. So much so that I have repeated that phrase to anyone who will listen, including the author. I asked Gina Nutt, over email, light-headed at the opportunity to talk to someone I had already decided was a pioneer, how this book came to be. “I have […]
