When I picked up James J. Patterson’s lovely Junk Shop Window: Essays on Myth, Life, and Literature (Alan Squire Publishing 2023), I did not know that I had accepted an invitation to spend several hours with a wise and charming Muse. Patterson graciously welcomes us into his world and into his thoughts about our larger one. This…

Wolfsong (ELJ Editions 2023), Kathryn Silver-Hajo’s first full-length publication, is a gorgeous hybrid collection of flash fiction and CNF stories capturing formative moments in girls’ and women’s lives. There is pain in these stories. And longing. There are bad decisions. But there is also a remarkable fierceness in these girls and women and a deep wisdom,…

Imagine putting your relationship under a microscope and then sharing what you’ve discovered with the world. That is exactly what Jennifer Lang has done in her memoir Places We Left Behind, and we are all the better for it. When American-born Lang, a secular tourist, falls in love with French-born Philippe, an observant immigrant, during the…

Ana Maria Spagna is a master at bringing the power and beauty of her beloved Pacific Northwest  to the page. She is a four-time finalist for the Washington State Book Award, and in her latest book, the braided nonfiction narrative Pushed: Miners, a Merchant and (Maybe) a Massacre (Torrey House Press), she documents her investigative journey through the landscape…

Sending a child off to college or out on her own is an important life passage for parents. While preparing a child to successfully “leave the nest” is the ultimate goal and at least one of the measures typically used to evaluate one’s effectiveness as a parent, that new stage can be felt as a…

During unsettled, unsettling times, we often look to poetry to make sense of chaos, to ground us, and to feel less alone. David Groff’s third book of poems, Live in Suspense (Trio House Press), is a wonderful place to turn. Read more

You want to matter. Everybody wants to matter. Physics and you were never best friends, but you know matter makes up the world. The table you’re sitting at, the chair, your notebook. Matter. Your whole body is matter, but how to matter? Is this aqua flair dress, these Rag & Bones jeans, this size ten, the measures…

Compelling author and editor Diane Gottlieb talks deep with us about resilience and loving others. Click to hear podcast

What if someone offered you hard-earned wisdom about life? Would you listen? Jesse Lee Kercheval’s latest collection of poetry, I Want to Tell You: Poems (Pitt Poetry Series) is a gorgeous examination of grief, death, God, silence, place, and dogs. Kercheval’s “voicey voice” (her words) presses us to learn from her mistakes so we can be spared…

THE SPIRITUAL FACT OF OUR ONENESS: A CONVERSATION WITH CHARIF SHANAHAN BY DIANE GOTTLIEB April 3rd, 2023 Charif Shanahan’s second poetry collection, Trace Evidence (Tin House, 2023) is a stunning tryptic that powerfully explores themes of mixed-race identity, time, mortality, and queer love. At the center of the collection is the poem, “On the Overnight from Agadir,” a…