House of the Cardamom Seed by Penelope Scambly Schott / Cherry Grove / 2018 / 978-1-62549-270-8 One of the pleasures of making a pilgrimage to Powell's Books in Portland, Oregon is sometimes stumbling on readings by writers you haven't heard of. Such … [Read more...]
The Mathematics of the Breath and the Way: On Writers and Writing by Charles Bukowski
The Mathematics of the Breath and the Way: On Writers and Writing by Charles Bukowski. Edited by David Stephen Calonne / City Lights Books / 978-0-87286-759-8 / 2018 I kind of don't know how they keep coming, but Charles Bukowski was such a prolific … [Read more...]
American Sonnets for My Past and Future Assassin by Terrance Hayes reviewed by John Yohe
American Sonnets for My Past and Future Assassin by Terrance Hayes / Penguin / 2018 / paperback / 9780143133186 I knew Terrance Hayes' new book was going to be powerful when some of the poems appeared in the American Poetry Reviewrecently. I am not … [Read more...]
Mortal Trash: Poems by Kim Addonizio, reviewed by John Yohe
Mortal Trash: Poems by Kim Addonizio / W. W. Norton / 978-0-393-35434-8 / paperback / August 1, 2017 I've reviewed Kim Addonizio before, for her short story collection The Palace of Illusions (2015). I still think of her as a poet, though she's one … [Read more...]
Aztec Summer
And after I got laid off from my teaching job in Michigan, I moved out to Portland and lived on unemployment and savings for almost two years, running my credit union accounts almost down to zero searching for another gig. When that didn't happen, I … [Read more...]