Associate Editor Caitlin Doyle: In “Reorient,” Diana Khoi Nguyen explores the dissonance between surfaces and interiors: “I carry my body, but not like a briefcase. My body takes two cases: Vietnamese American. You can see one, but not the other.” Nguyen examines how occupying a body viewed as “other” forces a continual reorientation of self …
When we mail out each issue to contributors, we encourage them to let us know if they’d like to expand the context for their work in our pages, via our blog. For Issue 15.2, we’ve heard from several writers; the latest is Sophie Klahr, who’s interested in explaining the impetus behind her two poems in …
Associate Editor Molly Reid: We first had the pleasure of featuring Jolene McIlwain’s work in our miCRo series. Her story “Drumming” captures a tender moment in a diner between Dusty, who works behind the counter, and Elbert, a customer and former classmate. Because of the deft, subtle narrative maneuverings, these characters remain with the reader …
Associate Editor Caitlin Doyle: In his poem “The Collectors,” Stephen Kampa explores a far too common figure in American life, “a nearly / incomprehensible boy” who walks into a “fear-flung classroom” with a gun. In taut language layered with complex and often paradoxical implications, Kampa examines the human tendency to fit other people into narratives …
Associate Editor Caitlin Doyle: “Girl 1994: Gawd.” by Faylita Hicks combines narrative tension with a kinetic command of diction. As Hicks’s forward-driving couplets propel us down the page, the speaker’s awe toward “Gawd” imbues her with a kind of mythos that supercharges the poem’s language. The rich and constantly ricocheting sounds in this poem make …
Associate Editor Caitlin Doyle: Alexandra Teague’s “[It is undone business I speak of, this morning]” asks us to confront the all-too-narrow distance between safety and danger in our daily lives. In her examination of the “ordinary spells against gravity” that keep ruin at bay, Teague never lets us forget that annihilation is always just a …
Search
You don't have credit card details available. You will be redirected to update payment method page. Click OK to continue.
![miCRo: “[It is undone business I speak of, this morning]” by Alexandra Teague](https://www.cincinnatireview.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/Teague-197x300.jpg)