The Baghdad Eucharist
Iraqi novelist and poet Sinan Antoon's The Baghdad Eucharist is an unforgettable novel of memory, loss, love and diaspora. Shortlisted for the International Prize for Arabic Fiction in 2013.
Sic Transit Gloria Mundi, More or Less
Geoffrey Dutton reviews this transfixing collection of "fictions" by Luke O’Neil that features animals large and small, perhaps the least interesting of which are Homo sapiens.
My Xanthi
Even the sixty-six-year-old attorney Nick Milonas, the protagonist in Stephanie Cotsirilos’ novella My Xanthi, learns over thirty years of legal practice that justice has its own terrain, and sometimes jurisprudence may not be what it should…
One Curious Doctor – A Memoir of Medicine, Migration and Mortality
Hilton Koppe opens a window into the inner world of a family practitioner through a focus on the doctor/patient relationship and deep self-reflections on the complexities and mysteries of attending to the living and the dying.
Yellowface
Yellowface by R.F. Kuang breaks open the pitfalls of a publishing industry in today's cultural economy. It is an unsettling read by a masterful storyteller.
Poverty, By America
POVERTY is one subject Matthew Desmond knows intimately. That he has personally experienced what it is like to grow up poor in the richest country in the world, and received a Pulitzer Prize for writing about it, sets him apart from other…
On the Level
Mark Wagstaff’s new novel, On the Level, crashes the Jason Bourne films into Catcher in the Rye. Non-stop intrigue drives a coming-of-age story in which protagonist Riz Montgomery is both an unforgettably troubled, smart, and passionate…
Furnace Creek
Furnace Creek retells the classic bildungsroman Great Expectations, exchanging Victorian England for 1960s America, arguably one of the most turbulent decades in social history.
As I Walked Out One Midsummer Morning
For those who enjoy the unconventional bildungsroman—or are thirsting for some adventure—read this memoir by Laurie Lee. Originally published in 1969, it recounts the poet's long walk across Spain in the 1930s.
Category Unknown
Category Unknown by Koushik Banerjea is a dense and ambitious book that continues the conversation relaunched by the racial reckoning of 2020, "and reminds us that the conversation isn't the least bit new."
The Writer’s Journey
Glimpses, as if with peripheral vision
Patrick T. Reardon's poetry and writing are deeply rooted in his experience growing up in the Catholic church, his reading of great works, and his grief of tragic loss.
This, Too, Is Literacy
Stephanie Cotsirilos' writers' journey challenges a traditional notion of "literacy" and argues that culture, art, and experience are this, too.
Writing About the Chaqwa
Sandro Piedrahita's return to Peru at age 22, at the height of Shining Path terrorist activity, framed a lifetime of writing about the characters and stories in the Shining Path war.
Interviews
Patrick T. Reardon: “I’m not looking for peace. I’m wanting to feel all of life—”
"People want to know if, in writing so many poems that deal with David, I’m finding peace. I’m not looking for peace. I’m wanting to feel all of life — all of my share of joy and pain, all of my share of beauty and darkness."
Stephanie Cotsirilos: “the desire to read felt like thirst”
"You see, I don’t believe you should write only about what you know. You take what you know to explore the infinite territory of what you don’t know…"
Mark Wagstaff: “it’s the act of writing as yourself that matters”
"To understand that this is a long game and you will not win, and that’s not important. Because it’s the act of writing as yourself, of conveying what you want to write, that matters."
Carol Ann Wilson: “I continue to write because I must.”
"We can choose to face facts squarely and resolve to change, or we can continue in willful ignorance because the familiar is more comfortable. I think, given the choice, most young people would prefer the former. And providing that choice just may help our democracy realize more of its potential."
Essay
Document 14
Michael McQuillan exhorts Americans to heed Orwell's prophetic work 1984, and through the poem "Document 14," Michael draws attention to the breakdown of society as we know it today.
Creativity is the Human Condition
Throughout the majority of humanity’s existence, creativity has been regarded as a mystical enigma. Architect and architecture critic Robert Furneaux Jordan asserted that “to comprehend [creativity] fully would be to be God. We can never comprehend God.” Thanks to this prevailing opinion, it wasn’t until the late 1940s that the study of creativity even started down the path toward…
Parts of Me: Reflections on Reviewing The 1619 Project: A New Origin Story
In this Writer's Journey essay, Carol Ann Wilson shares how, in reading and reviewing The 1619 Project, she also uncovers "parts of a bigger me to be discovered and explored."
Longform reviews
The Way to the Spring: Life and Death in Palestine
Ben Ehrenreich, on assignment for Harper’s magazine, went to Palestine’s West Bank in 2011 to report on Israel’s water war with Palestine. The Way to the Spring is based on his eye-witness account of life in the West Bank—in the village of Nabi Saleh and the cities of Hebron and Ramallah.
No Enemies, No Hatred: Selected Essays and Poems
Liu Xiaobo is the author of hundreds of essays and seventeen books. Most of the essays in No Enemies, No Hatred are from the period between 2004 and 2008, and reflect, in the service of freedom of speech, how words followed by action can change the direction of a country.
Tiger and Clay – Syria Fragments
“There are memories for which we can live more than a life time.” —Brother of Rana Abdulfattah Photographs over the past several years have shown migrants and refugees crossing the Mediterranean Sea, some of them dying as they flee war, poverty, drought, and authoritarian regimes. The headlines and photos may have made some readers immune to their plight, even angry, but they might think again if they read Tiger and Clay – Syria Fragments by the poet Rana Abdulfattah. Once engaged,…
The Serpent Papers
The Serpent Papers is about the completion of Joseph Bell’s soul. This battle is fought within and without, and the outcome determines whether his soul lives or dies.
Frottage & Even As We Speak: Two Novellas
Ingeniously crafted and each uniquely their own, the two novellas in Mona Houghton's <em>Frottage & Even As We Speak</em> transport and transfix the reader through the emotional turmoil and change of their characters. Winner of the 2012 Gold Award (Book of the Year in Literary Fiction).
From the Archive
Hitler: Ascent, 1889–1939
As the son of a WW II veteran who fought in the Battle of the Bulge, I grew up hearing stories from my Dad about his personal experiences in the war. I picked up Volker Ullrich's Hitler: Ascent, 1889–1939 because I wanted to know more about Hitler the man: his roots, his formative years, his path to Führer, the choices he made along that path. "If anything, he will emerge as even more horrific."
Two Novels that Strike Close to Home: On Finding Oneself in a Book
Geoffrey Dutton looks at the "book-within-a-book" literary device, as used in the 2015 novel Disclaimer— and his upcoming novel Her Own Devices.
An Architect Aims for Creativity and Discovers Writing
To refine her skills as an architect, Nicole Voss went searching for the meaning of creativity. What she found was writing.
How Storytelling Can Guide Us: On Toni Morrison’s “God Help the Child”
What impresses me most about the storytelling and the writing of God Help the Child is how carefully Ms. Morrison chooses when to reveal what needs to be revealed so we can begin to understand the inner motivation of the characters’ journeys.
Sic Transit Gloria Mundi, More or Less
Geoffrey Dutton reviews this transfixing collection of "fictions" by Luke O’Neil that features animals large and small, perhaps the least interesting of which are Homo sapiens.
My Xanthi
Even the sixty-six-year-old attorney Nick Milonas, the protagonist in Stephanie Cotsirilos’ novella My Xanthi, learns over thirty years of legal practice that justice has its own terrain, and…
One Curious Doctor – A Memoir of Medicine, Migration and Mortality
Hilton Koppe opens a window into the inner world of a family practitioner through a focus on the doctor/patient relationship and deep self-reflections on the complexities and mysteries of…
Yellowface
Yellowface by R.F. Kuang breaks open the pitfalls of a publishing industry in today's cultural economy. It is an unsettling read by a masterful storyteller.
Interviews
Patrick T. Reardon: “I’m not looking for peace. I’m wanting to feel all of life—”
"People want to know if, in writing so many poems that deal with David, I’m finding peace. I’m not looking for peace. I’m wanting to feel all of life — all of my share of joy and pain, all of my share of beauty and darkness."
Stephanie Cotsirilos: “the desire to read felt like thirst”
"You see, I don’t believe you should write only about what you know. You take what you know to explore the infinite territory of what you don’t know…"
Mark Wagstaff: “it’s the act of writing as yourself that matters”
"To understand that this is a long game and you will not win, and that’s not important. Because it’s the act of writing as yourself, of conveying what you want to write, that matters."
Carol Ann Wilson: “I continue to write because I must.”
"We can choose to face facts squarely and resolve to change, or we can continue in willful ignorance because the familiar is more comfortable. I think, given the choice, most young people would prefer the former. And providing that choice just may help our democracy realize more of its potential."
The Writer’s Journey
A Journey of Wonder for One Curious Doctor
Hilton Koppe is a family doctor from a small village on the east coast of Australia, and writing became a path to healing himself and helping others. It is his writers journey.
Be Afraid, But Do It Anyway
Cory Essey has been writing since she was young, but kept it to herself. With persistence,—and many stories to tell—she now shares her writing with others.
Electrifying Oral Tradition
How has story been told? Geoffrey Dutton looks at the evolving technology of story, from oral tradition to artificial intelligence.
Essay
Document 14
Michael McQuillan exhorts Americans to heed Orwell's prophetic work 1984, and through the poem "Document 14," Michael draws attention to the breakdown of society as we know it today.
Creativity is the Human Condition
Throughout the majority of humanity’s existence, creativity has been regarded as a mystical enigma. Architect and architecture critic Robert Furneaux Jordan asserted that “to comprehend…
Parts of Me: Reflections on Reviewing The 1619 Project: A New Origin Story
In this Writer's Journey essay, Carol Ann Wilson shares how, in reading and reviewing The 1619 Project, she also uncovers "parts of a bigger me to be discovered and explored."
Longform reviews
The Way to the Spring: Life and Death in Palestine
Ben Ehrenreich, on assignment for Harper’s magazine, went to Palestine’s West Bank in 2011 to report on Israel’s water war with Palestine. The Way to the Spring is based on his eye-witness…
No Enemies, No Hatred: Selected Essays and Poems
Liu Xiaobo is the author of hundreds of essays and seventeen books. Most of the essays in No Enemies, No Hatred are from the period between 2004 and 2008, and reflect, in the service of…
Tiger and Clay – Syria Fragments
“There are memories for which we can live more than a life time.” —Brother of Rana Abdulfattah Photographs over the past several years have shown migrants and refugees crossing the…
The Serpent Papers
The Serpent Papers is about the completion of Joseph Bell’s soul. This battle is fought within and without, and the outcome determines whether his soul lives or dies.
Longform reviews
The Way to the Spring: Life and Death in Palestine
Ben Ehrenreich, on assignment for Harper’s magazine, went to Palestine’s West Bank in 2011 to report on Israel’s water war with Palestine. The Way to the Spring is based on his eye-witness…
No Enemies, No Hatred: Selected Essays and Poems
Liu Xiaobo is the author of hundreds of essays and seventeen books. Most of the essays in No Enemies, No Hatred are from the period between 2004 and 2008, and reflect, in the service of…
Tiger and Clay – Syria Fragments
“There are memories for which we can live more than a life time.” —Brother of Rana Abdulfattah Photographs over the past several years have shown migrants and refugees crossing the…
The Serpent Papers
The Serpent Papers is about the completion of Joseph Bell’s soul. This battle is fought within and without, and the outcome determines whether his soul lives or dies.
Latest Book Reviews
The Baghdad Eucharist
Iraqi novelist and poet Sinan Antoon's The Baghdad Eucharist is an unforgettable novel of memory, loss, love and diaspora. Shortlisted for the International Prize for Arabic Fiction in 2013.
Sic Transit Gloria Mundi, More or Less
Geoffrey Dutton reviews this transfixing collection of "fictions" by Luke O’Neil that features animals large and small, perhaps the least interesting of which are Homo sapiens.
My Xanthi
Even the sixty-six-year-old attorney Nick Milonas, the protagonist in Stephanie Cotsirilos’ novella My Xanthi, learns over thirty years of legal practice that justice has its own terrain, and…
One Curious Doctor – A Memoir of Medicine, Migration and Mortality
Hilton Koppe opens a window into the inner world of a family practitioner through a focus on the doctor/patient relationship and deep self-reflections on the complexities and mysteries of…
Yellowface
Yellowface by R.F. Kuang breaks open the pitfalls of a publishing industry in today's cultural economy. It is an unsettling read by a masterful storyteller.
From the Archive
Hitler: Ascent, 1889–1939
As the son of a WW II veteran who fought in the Battle of the Bulge, I grew up hearing stories from my Dad about his personal experiences in the war. I picked up Volker Ullrich's Hitler: Ascent, 1889–1939 because I wanted to know more about Hitler the man: his roots, his formative years, his path to Führer, the choices he made along that path. "If anything, he will emerge as even more horrific."
Two Novels that Strike Close to Home: On Finding Oneself in a Book
Geoffrey Dutton looks at the "book-within-a-book" literary device, as used in the 2015 novel Disclaimer— and his upcoming novel Her Own Devices.
An Architect Aims for Creativity and Discovers Writing
To refine her skills as an architect, Nicole Voss went searching for the meaning of creativity. What she found was writing.
How Storytelling Can Guide Us: On Toni Morrison’s “God Help the Child”
What impresses me most about the storytelling and the writing of God Help the Child is how carefully Ms. Morrison chooses when to reveal what needs to be revealed so we can begin to understand the inner motivation of the characters’ journeys.