Reuben Jackson Joins WPFW's "The Sound of Surprise" Jazz expert, Reuben Jackson, takes his expertise to the beloved DC jazz standby. Beginning May 1st, Reuben will begin as host of DC radio channel WPFW's "The Sound of Surprise." The show runs from 4 to 6pm and Reuben will be alternating every other Sunday with the program's creator, Larry Appelbaum. WPFW (89.3) has been serving the DC metropolitan area since 1977 as a standout talk and jazz station. Entirely listener supported, WPFW does not play commercials. Reuben Jackson is a poet, raconteur, and former archivist of the … [Read more...]

A Book and Its Cover: Rose Solari Reviews Two New Collections of Poetry for WIRoB Terri Ellen Cross Davis and Dan Beachy-Quick's new collections get the Rose Solari treatment in a new review which ties subject matter to cover design. Rose Solari's latest review column for Washington Independent Review of Books tackles two stellar new collections by established small-press poets, Terry Ellen Cross Davis and Dan Beachy-Quick. As with all her reviews, Rose uses a common theme to link the subject matter of the books she is reviewing. This month, she explores how the cover design is … [Read more...]

New Review of Girls Like Us: The Collection "Bulges with Debilitating Last Lines" "The surprise-suplex-onto-concrete, knock-the-air-out-of-you kind of debilitating. Hazen is even dastardly enough to look the reader in the eye, then hook them with the very first last line: 'We've been called so many things that we are not, we startle at the sound of our own names.'" In Lannie Stabile's new review of Elizabeth Hazen's second collection Girls Like Us, she raves about the effect of Hazen's "last lines." Girls Like Us, she says, is "bulging with debilitating last lines." Like this one in … [Read more...]

New Poem by Elizabeth Hazen "Panic Attack" Lands in Failbetter A new poem by Maryland standout Elizabeth Hazen has been published in the 62nd volume of Failbetter literary journal. The poem, titled "Panic Attack," is dark and violent featuring images of fire, anxiety, and this evocative extended metaphor which crawls under the author's skin, "a banshee with curled fingernails; a gorgon, green and merciless; a girl with a loaded gun trapped inside a woman with her tongue cut out." Elizabeth Hazen's latest collection of poems, Girls Like Us, was released in March 2020 just … [Read more...]

Attending AWP? Check out Katherine E. Young's Panel on Women in Translation "This panel of poet-translators working in Catalan, French, and Russian focuses on the systems of exclusion that permeate the literary culture in this country and the role of translators in amplifying these voices." Join professional translators Katherine E. Young, Aviya Kushner, Nancy Naomi Carlson, Sharon Dolin, and Andrea Jurjević as they discuss "systems of exclusion which permeate literary culture." This panel at AWP is an important one for Katherine E. Young who has historically translated … [Read more...]

Listen to Katherine E. Young on the Badass Women-Folk Podcast Christine Sloan Stoddard hosts the Badass Lady-Folk podcast produced by Quail Bell Press. Badass Lady-Folk is a podcast about "socially engaged women & NB femmes kicking buns big & small." On the most recent episode, Katherine E. Young discusses several new projects including a poetry anthology composed of poems from Arlington County, VA and an English translation of a controversial (in Russia) Russian novel. … [Read more...]

"Woman Dinking Absinthe" Now Available! Katherine E. Young's evocative new collection of poems, Woman Drinking Absinthe, is now available from Alan Squire Publishing. Katherine E. Young's second collection follows up the critically acclaimed Day of the Border guards and was written during her tenure as Arlington County Poet Laureate. The poems in Woman Drinking Absinthe probe the extremes of passion and transgression, desire and its aftermath. The mood is Paris, the morning after a debauch: bitter hot chocolate, a croissant, and a strong aftertaste of the previous night. The setting … [Read more...]

Poets vs The Pandemic! Café Muse invites Grace Cavalieri and Rose Solari to bring some much-needed warmth to a chilly night! Watch and listen here! It was a magical evening! … [Read more...]

Rose Solari Describes Her Favorite Erotic Literary Scene in WIRoB Article "In Possession, the repressions of time and circumstance explode with a dazzling erotic force." "We're in England in the 1860s. Cristabel LaMotte is a poet of modest reputation and hermit-like tendencies, living with a female companion who is secretly her lover. Randolph Ash is a renowned poet stuck in a sexless marriage with a loving but frigid wife. What begins as a chance meeting develops into an increasingly passionate epistolary relationship. By the time they consummate their love - on a stolen seaside … [Read more...]

Laureate Lovefest (with Grace Cavalieri!) A FREE webinar presentation of a procession of poets laureate from Ireland, Canada, and across the USA. Readings and panel discussion, including special video readings by former U.S. Poet Laureate TED KOOSER. Featuring our very own Grace Cavalieri! Grace Cavalieri, Poet Laureate of Maryland, has authored 23 poetry volumes, a memoir, myriad texts, lyrics, and 26 produced plays. She created and hosts NPR's weekly The Poet and the Poem. The recipient of many accolades, including the Paterson Lifetime Achievement Award, she has been a teacher, … [Read more...]

Rose Solari Reviews Three New Collections Exploring History and Identity The WIROB critic tackles collections by Steven Leyva, Miles David Moore, and Stanley Moss in the January roundup Rose Solari reviews three exemplar new poetry collections for Washington Independent Review of Books. In her ongoing poetry column, Solari takes great care to tie each of the collections she reviews together and the theme this month is history and identity. From the beautifully drawn New Orleans of Steven Leyva's The Understudy's Handbook, to the WWII of Miles David Moore's Man on Terrace … [Read more...]

Arlington Literary Journal Publishes New Katherine E. Young Poem "If There is a Hell" The former Poet Laureate of Arlington's new poem asks and answers the question if there was a hell, what would it look, feel, smell and taste like? The latest poem by former Arlington Laureate in the Arlington Literary Journal comes direct from the pages of Young's forthcoming collection, Woman Drinking Absinthe. Previously published in Tampa Review, "If There is a Hell" has been making the rounds as a teaser for the collection to come. Katherine E. Young recently read her poem "Women's Work" … [Read more...]

Grace Cavalieri Interviews Poetry Superstar Ocean Vuong Grace Cavalieri kicks off the new year and a new season of "The Poet and The Poem" with an interview of poetry superstar Ocean Vuong. From her website: "Ocean Vuong is the author of The New York Times bestselling novel, On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous, out from Penguin Press (2019) and forthcoming in 30 languages. A recipient of a 2019 MacArthur "Genius" Grant, he is also the author of the critically acclaimed poetry collection, Night Sky with Exit Wounds, a New York Times Top 10 Book of 2016, winner of … [Read more...]

Katherine E. Young Describes Writing of Occasional Poem "Women's Work" for Swearing-In of Libby Garvey "What I found was: almost nothing. In fact, I discovered very few recent poems about public service or public servants in general, and no poems celebrating women in public service." by Katherine E. Young Soon after I was appointed Arlington County's first poet laureate in 2016, I got a phone call: could I please find a poem to read at the swearing in ceremony for County Board Member Libby Garvey? I dutifully pulled up various databases of poets and poetry, ran online searches, and … [Read more...]

Reuben Jackson Makes Banshee Press' 2020 Best Short Readings List Jackson's poetry cycle, "Kelly's Love for Waltzes" (published by Boston Review) is chosen by Jaydn Dewald for the year-end list. THIS YEAR, the Irish publisher, Banshee Press, asked its editors and contributors to pick "their favourite shorter reads of the year." Poet, Jaydn Dewald, whose work has appeared in Banshee and numerous other journals, chose Reuben Jackson's poetry cycle "Kelly's Love for Waltzes" for the list. The cycle was originally published by Boston Review and includes poems that utilize a waltz-like … [Read more...]

John Doe of Band X Recalls his Time Studying Under Grace Cavalieri at Antioch The punk-rocker, like so many others, discovered poetry through Grace Cavalieri. She offers some sound advice for aspiring readers. John Doe, California punk-rocker of the band X shares a common trait with so many Maryland and D.C. poets: he discovered poetry through Grace Cavalieri. While Grace has introduced countless readers to poetry through her original work, it was in Grace's class at Antioch that Doe discovered the "current" poets whose vernacular was similar to his own. In an article from The Tampa … [Read more...]

WRITTEN IN ARLINGTON, Katherine E. Young Edits Exciting New Anthology of Poetry The former Poet Laureate of Arlington, VA, Katherine E. Young, curates this collection of contemporary poetry which shines a light on singular art from outside the big city. From the book: Written in Arlington showcases contemporary poets from and poetry about Arlington, VA. The anthology, edited by Katherine E. Young and published by Paycock Press, contains the work of eighty-seven poets and translators originally written in four languages (Hindi, Russian, Spanish, and English). The poets whose work … [Read more...]

Selected Lucille Clifton and Henry Taylor Reviewed by Rose Solari This edition of Solari's review column for The Washington Independent Review of Books tackles new selected editions of the poetry of Lucille Clifton and Henry Taylor In her latest review column, Rose Solari tackles the selected poetry of two stalwarts of American letters, Lucille Clifton and Henry Taylor. Solari looks at the continuing legacy of the late Clifton and a Taylor who has chosen the Winnebago over the academy. Rose Solari keeps a regular poetry review column on The Washington Independent Review of Books' … [Read more...]

"Necromancy Never Pays" Features Rose Solari Poem The unique literary blog from writer Jeanne Griggs features Solari's "Somewhere Between Four and Five A.M." Blogger and English PhD, Jeanne Griggs, discovers a gem while sorting her bookshelves. Reading as she sorts, "because, you know, that's why we keep these books, so we can dip into them whenever we want to," Griggs picks out a thin volume with deckled edges and French folds: The Last Girl by Rose Solari, a poet friend from graduate school. The Last Girl is Solari's third collection of poetry after Orpheus in the … [Read more...]

Hazen Featured in New Article: "Baltimore: Great Poets Live Here" Poet, Elizabeth Hazen, and her second collection, Girls Like Us, are featured in this Fishbowl article exploring the poets of Baltimore Elizabeth Hazen reads from her collection "Girls Like Us" at Baltimore's Atomic Books Poet, Elizabeth Hazen, is featured alongside other notable names in the Baltimore literary scene such as Dora Malech and Steven Leyva in this extolling article from Baltimore Fishbowl writer Jennie Hann. Elizabeth Hazen, who has written several essays for the Fishbowl, released her latest … [Read more...]