Blood and Breath in High Fidelity: A Review of Hanif Willis-Abdurraquib’s The Crown Ain’t Worth Much
Candace Williams09.21.17
Hanif Willis-Abdurraqib’s debut collection, The Crown Ain’t Worth Much, is an urgent, blood-soaked wake up call, rife with black culture, art, and erasure. Candace Williams reviews.
Connected at the Skull
Matthew Dexter09.20.17
“Licking Lilliputian lips, Larry rides me, whips my armpit hair with the inertial majesty of Ron Turcotte on Secretariat in the final stretch at Belmont Park finish line coming into blurred vision, Camel smoke sifting from furry nostrils, field thirty-one lengths behind.” New fiction from Matthew Dexter.
SLEW FOR A SECULAR SERMON
Jon Cone09.19.17
“Considering the verb to consider, [Emerson] reminds us that it comes from the Latin con-siderare, and thus carries the meaning of ‘to study or see with the stars’.” Jon Cone channels Barthelme’s brain on Nothing for an essay of another sort; a set of flashes, leading nowhere; or leading everywhere.
Paring Away At That Apple: An Interview with Kate Wyer
Julie Reverb09.18.17
Kate Wyer in conversation with Julie Reverb about alchemy, polyphony, insomnia, and surprising yourself as a writer.
On Lynn Crawford’s Shankus & Kitto: A Saga
Eugene Lim09.14.17
Lynn Crawford turns the family epic in upon itself, creating an against-the-grain take on the new normal. Eugene Lim reviews.
Coastal Zone
Derick Dupre09.13.17
“A man with bypass scars spoons something greasy into his mouth. Torpid picnics in the sand. An embarrassment of fishcakes. A pornography of bologna. The sun. The scents.” New short fiction by Derick Dupre.
The Toxic & the Lyric II: Hearing and Hell; Inversion as Subversion; Everyone, or, The Dead; the Child-Migrant
Joyelle McSweeney09.12.17
The second installment in Joyelle McSweeney’s ongoing column on The Toxic and The Lyric, this week turning to the notion that “The Map of the Ear is the Map of Hell,” and including consideration of the work of Kim Hyesoon, Don Mee Choi, William Blake, and more.
In Search of Duende: Kiss the Fire
Daniel Vidales09.11.17
“Rather than just bastardized values of authenticity and emotion, Lorca’s theory really deals with formulation and application. Duende arguably occurs during the creative process, a period where distortions, cracks, and twists birth meaning with experience and skill.” Daniel Vidales challenges traditional notions of duende, emphasizing the willful intention behind art.
A Simple Stretch of Highway
Brett Ortler09.07.17
“If Google Earth marked each death with a pin in real time, the world would seem to bloom with departure. On a day-to-day basis, the locations of most deaths go unmarked.” Brett Ortler investigates the tragedies that underly the roadside memorials that line our daily paths.
THE THIRTEEN TIMES I MET KEVIN COSTNER
Chris Okum09.06.17
“The first time I met Kevin Costner he was on the other side of a locked bathroom door. I introduced myself and told him it was nice to meet him, but he didn’t say anything.” New short fiction by Chris Okum.
