Optic NerveMatthew Hollett Brick Books, 2023 Review by Stella Cali In this collection’s final poem, writer and visual artist Matthew Hollett describes the intimate space inside a woodstove, “that blackened cave where images spark / and flicker” (“Woodstove”). This...
Antonyms for DaughterJenny BoychukVéhicule Press, 2021 Review by Stella Cali Antonyms for Daughter, Jenny Boychuk’s unflinching debut collection, explores Boychuk’s mother’s addiction and the author’s complex grief after her mother’s death. Like the seasons, this debut collection changes, decays,...
Bless the Daughter Raised by a Voice in Her HeadWarsan ShirePenguin Random House, 2022 Review by Stella Cali Multiple voices ripple through this collection, music winding through words—the grainy sound of cassette tapes from home, whispers of lyrics and...
Beast at Every ThresholdNatalie WeeArsenal Pulp Press, 2022 Review by Stella Cali Natalie Wee’s Beast at Every Threshold explores queerness, identity, and diaspora. Through formal experimentation and controlled vulnerability, Wee has created a collection that feels simultaneously challenging and...
The RenunciationsDonika Kelly Graywolf Press, 2021 Review by Stella Cali Donika Kelly’s second collection of poetry, The Renunciations, begins with fire as a transitional force that overwrites the physical landscape of the speaker’s body. Standing in a field, “the undergrowth...
Why I Was LateCharlie PetchBrick Books, 2021 Review by Stella Cali Charlie Petch’s debut collection of poetry, Why I Was Late, opens with a love letter to C-3PO. “I always thought you were gay,” says the speaker. “I imagined...