Two Towns Over by Darren C. Demaree Review by Sam Frost
Darren C. Demaree’s Two Towns Over was chosen by Campbell McGrath as the winner of the Louis Bogan Award from Trio House Press and will be launched at AWP this year. Reading these poems left me both hollow and whole, an incredible experience. The collection creates the feeling of reading one’s diary and at the […]
Monster Portraits by Del Samatar and Sofia Samatar Review by RL Black
As we’ve come to expect from Rose Metal Press, Monster Portraits is a hybrid creature, a collaboration between a sister and a brother, part illustration, part text—the text part inspired by the drawings, rather than the other way around—and part autobiography. Because how can you look at monsters without also looking at the self. Described […]
Ho Chi Minh: A Speculative Life in Verse and Other Poems by Benjamin Goluboff Review by Unbroken staff
Take a subject, any subject, pass it through the speculative heart of a poet, and it is transformed, it becomes something new, or maybe reveals something that was there all along. This is what Benjamin Goluboff has done in this collection. With powerful language and stunning imagery, the poet begs us to look again at […]
The Passion of Woo & Isolde by Jennifer Tseng Review by RL Black
The Passion of Woo & Isolde, by Jennifer Tseng, winner of the 11th annual Rose Metal Press Short Short Chapbook Contest, is tiny fiction at its best, a shining example of the powerful punch short fiction can deliver. Divided into three parts, there are 24 short fictions, and each one can be read in a […]
Whores Are Always Melancholy by Jess Mize Review by Lydia Havens
In Whores are Always Melancholy, by Jess Mize, published by Finishing Line Press, what starts off as a narrative with a haunting, gritty film-noir feel soon becomes something more contemporary and sinister. The book begins with descriptions from a ghost-like narrator, who travels around the world and describes everything they see. They allude to jazz […]
Many Full Hands Applauding Inelegantly by Darren C. Demaree Review by Ani Keaten
For readers of Unbroken, Darren C. Demaree needs no introduction; but if you haven’t read him, you can find several of his stunning prose poems in our past issues, the latest being his, Here We Are, Sore, in the October issue. I recently had the privilege of reading an advance copy of Demaree’s latest book, […]
Descriptions of Heaven, by Randal Eldon Greene
I was delighted to read an advance copy of Randal Eldon Greene’s literary novel, Descriptions of Heaven. Some of you will remember Randal’s, Come Light, from Issue Eight of Unbroken. If you haven’t read him, head over there and read that now, and you’ll get a taste of the author’s voice. It is that voice […]
Rose Metal Press’s ‘Family Resemblance’
Rose Metal Press has done it again! Family Resemblance, edited by Marcela Sulak and Jaqueline Kolosov, is not only an exceptional tool for the craft, but also a vivid example of the craft. In much the same style as their Field Guides to Flash Fiction, the Prose Poem, and Flash Nonfiction, Family Resemblance brings us […]
‘Of a Feather’ by Michael Daley
I was pleased to receive a review copy of Michael Daley’s new collection, Of a Feather, published by Empty Bowl Press, a division of Pleasure Boat Studio. Reading through the poems here, I was reminded of why I like Michael’s poetry so much, it’s because he has such a way of bringing me into the […]
‘Not for Art nor Prayer’ by Darren C. Demaree
Darren C. Demaree is one of my favorite poets, and I was delighted to receive an advanced copy of his new collection, Not for Art Nor Prayer, scheduled to be published in October by 8th House Publishing. As usual, after reading Darren’s poetry, I’m at a loss for words that would justify the beauty of […]
‘Ghost Box Evolution in Cadillac, Michigan’ by Rosie Forrest
Yes, this is a prose poem journal, but I’m including this review here because the flash fiction in this chapbook is very much poetic. Rosie Forrest’s chapbook won the ninth annual Rose Metal Press short short chapbook contest, and it’s easy to see why. I loved the dark tone and mood of the prose, each […]
‘The Pony Governor’ by Darren C. Demaree
Politics: besides religion, it’s the one subject often tiptoed around, but in The Pony Governor, Demaree holds nothing back and his poems say the things we’ve all wanted to say at times. Due to be released this July by a….p press, The Pony Governor is a daring collection that points a poetic finger at corrupt […]