Why We Like It: “Next to Us: Sonnets, Divided” by Lis Sanchez
In “Next to Us: Sonnets Divided,” Sanchez skillfully considers what it means to be both simultaneously inside and outside acts of violence.
Why We Like It
Why We Like It: “A Detail from the Bayeux Tapestry, 11th c.” by Jacques J. Rancourt
Jacques J. Rancourt’s fabulous poem “A Detail from the Bayeux Tapestry, 11th c.” moves beyond simple description, employing the tools of the best ekphrastic work…
Why We Like It: “Confetti” by Marilyn Abildskov
Instead of focusing on how, Marilyn Abildskov’s essay “Confetti” delves into that which often goes unnamed in workshops: What do we write about?
Why We Like It: Newtown, by Dan O’Brien
Alison Carey: The opening act of Dan O’Brien’s latest play, Newtown, is heartbreaking and nauseating: Nancy Lanza is speaking to her son, Adam, the night before he kills her and then twenty-six children and staff at Connecticut’s Sandy Hook Elementary School…
Why We Like It: “The Goddamn Sorcerer of Love” by Adam Latham
Editorial Assistant Jason Namey: I always love when authors use language in unexpected ways, but I especially love when authors—such as Adam Latham, in his story “The Goddamn Sorcerer of Love” from issue 16.1 (read an excerpt here)—do this right from the opening sentence.
Why We Like It: “The Crow in Effigy: A Flip-Book” by Sarah Minor, and Other Nontraditional Essays
But why choose a flip-book and not, say, the traditional page breaks of a lyric essay?
Why We Like It: “Gil Butsen Ford” by Steve Amick
Editorial Assistant Afsheen Farhadi: In issue 15.2‘s “Gil Butsen Ford,” Steve Amick dramatizes the logic of advertising—the promise to deliver happiness as balm for the consumer’s deepest pain. This is found in the language of advertisements, which often use words like love, kindness, family, words out of place, too weighty and meaningful for the exchange …
Why We Like It: christopher oscar peña’s The Strangers
Issue 15.2 has arrived in our offices! We’ll be mailing it out to contributors this week, and subscribers will see a nice shrink-wrapped package in their mailboxes sometime soon too. In honor of its release, we’d like to share a special feature: an appreciation of the play included in the issue: The Strangers, by christopher …
Why We Like It: How to Celebrate National Days: Instructions for Enjoying Pseudoholidays, by Marie Kare
Assistant Editor Maggie Su: The excerpts from Marie Kare’s series How to Celebrate National Holidays: Instructions for Enjoying Pseudoholidays featured in CR Issue 15.1 offer absurd reimaginings of commercialized celebrations such as “National Pen Pal Day,” “National Gingerbread Day,” “National Higher Education Day,” “National Best Friends Day,” and “National Handshake Day.” Using imperatives in each …
Why We Like It: “Family Photo of America” by Lynne Potts
Assistant Editor Caitlin Doyle: Exploring the intersection between nation and citizen is never an easy undertaking for an artist, and poet Lynne Potts braves the task with startling skill in “Family Photo of America” (in our most recent issue, mailed to subscribers just last week!). From the very beginning, via the piece’s title, she invites us …