Transforming Struggles Into Art Interview by Emily Jaeger, Features Editor Patty Somlo is an author of fiction and creative nonfiction living in Sonoma County, California. Her second book, The First to Disappear (Spuyten Duyvil), was a finalist in the Fiction: Short Story category of the 2016 International Book Awards. Her work has appeared in journals, including the Los Angeles Review, the…
Tag: books
Site Review: Poetry Daily
An Evolving Anthology by Emily Jaeger, Features Editor Poetry Daily has a simple premise: publish a stellar poem every day, by a different emerging or established poet. And modest beginnings have led to an impressive and constantly evolving “anthology of contemporary poetry.” An enjoyable read for all poets and poetry enthusiasts, Poetry Daily showcases the…
Site Review: Sarah James
The Possibilities of Poetry by Emily Jaeger, Features Editor Sarah James, which began as poet Sarah Leavesley’s promotional website, has evolved into a cache of reviews of indie poetry and interviews with poets, and is still evolving. Leavesley, a poet and playwright with a background in journalism, is the author of four collections of poetry: plenty-fish,…
The Kudzu Chronicles
Poetry by Mississippi Laureate Video by Beth Ann Fennelly, see her work in Vol. IV #8 Step inside “The Kudzu Chronicles.” As the poet reads her book-length poem, you learn more about her than you may know about your closest friend. Subsidized by United States Artists. In December 2002, Beth Ann Fennelly was among only…
Site Review: Bill and Dave’s Cocktail Hour
A Literary Blog with a Twist by Emily Jaeger, Features Editor The bantering banner of Bill and Dave’s Cocktail Hour is the perfect introduction to the general vibe of this web-blog that combines literary arts, politics, cartoons and more: quirky but crucial, conversational but intellectual. The founders, best-selling and award-winning authors Bill Roorbach (The Girl…
Eye on the Indies
Indie Book Reviews and a Look at Indie Publishers by Lanie Tankard, Book Review Editor Book: Body of Water: A Sage, a Seeker, and the World’s Most Alluring Fish Minneapolis, MN: Milkweed Editions, October 11, 2016 ($24.00 cloth, 232 pages). ISBN 978-1-57131-352-2 (Also available as ebook.) Author: Chris Dombrowski An acknowledged poet, Chris Dombrowski speaks here…
Book Review: Grabbing the Apple
An Anthology of New York Women Poets By Joyce Peseroff, Contributing Editor Edited byTerri Muuss and M.J. Tenerelli JB Stillwater Publishing The foreword to Terri Muuss and M.J. Tenerelli’s anthology of poems by New York women poets, Grabbing the Apple, could have been written forty years ago. “In response to the glaring lack of parity…
Gross and Wapiennik's Freak Show
Collaborative Calm Behind the Carnival View Cheryl Gross and Marta Wapiennik’s work in Vol. IV #7 Artistic collaborations can often be tenuous arrangements, especially when the traditional expectation or practice of the artist is to create alone. However, as Cheryl Gross and Marta Wapiennek, the artists behind Freak Show have shown, collaboration can spark artistic growth and works…
From Novelist to Poet
On Logophilia and Process By Stephen Mead See his work in Vol IV. #7 Just as some have a natural proclivity for math or sports, I have had one for actual words since an early age. “Chrysalis” was a particular favorite, the name of an old Jethro Tull record – I remember the icon on the…
Eye on the Indies
New To WTP Blog: Indie Book Reviews and a Look at Indie Publishers By Lanie Tankard, Book Review Editor Book: Ninety-Nine Stories of God Portland, OR: Tin House Books, July 12, 2016 ($19.95 cloth hardcover; 168 pages) ISBN 978-1-941040-35-5 Author: Joy Williams The highly respected writing of Joy Williams includes four novels, four prior short-story collections, a…
Information vs. Emotion in Memoir
Writing about Dreams, Loss, Fatherhood & Farming By Richard Gilbert, Contributing Editor One fall day, I sat down to write about my family’s experiences in Appalachian Ohio, where we lived and worked and were part-time farmers for thirteen years. It took me a year and a half to produce a manuscript of 500 pages. It took me…
Review: Dani Shapiro's Still Writing
Memoir: the Personal vs. the Universal By Contributing Editor Richard Gilbert “Demons haunt your pages because they already exist.”—Dani Shapiro “Do what you love. Know your own bone; gnaw at it, bury it, unearth it, and gnaw it still.”—Henry David Thoreau Neat sentiment, Henry David, and it seems apt for writer Dani Shapiro, who has…