Book Reviews… As with Vigor, As with Pain, a Review of Lara Egger’s “How to Love Everyone and Almost Get Away with It” 12 Aug 2023 (Review published here in The Rumpus, July 2023) Richard Hugo in his seminal essay "The Triggering Town" writes, "Most poets write the same poem over and over. Wallace Stevens was…
Book Reviews… Review of Akwaeke Emezi’s Content Warning: Everything 12 Aug 2023 (Review published here in Colorado Review, July 2023) At one point in their debut poetry book, Content Warning: Everything, New York Times best-selling author Akwaeke Emezi (they/them) is "a…
Book Reviews… Through Our Water Like Fingers, a Review of Millicent Borges Accardi’s “Quarantine Highway” 12 Aug 202312 Aug 2023 (Review published here in South 85 Journal, July 2023) Ideological, sentimental, or unfocused urgency are just some of the challenges to overcome when creating poetry about a collective tragedy, especially…
Book Reviews… Lyrical Edginess, a Review of Jake Skeets’ “Eyes Bottle Dark with a Mouthful of Flowers” 25 Mar 2022 This review is not online... "Lyrical Edginess, a Review of Jake Skeets' Eyes Bottle Dark with a Mouthful of Flowers in Tar River Poetry, Volume 61, Number 1, fall 2021,…
Book Reviews… Review of Diana Marie Delgado’s “Tracing the Horse” 4 Feb 2021 https://coloradoreview.colostate.edu/reviews/tracing-the-horse/ (Review published in The Colorado Review, July 2020) In her strong, debut poetry collection, Tracing the Horse, Diana Marie Delgado comes to terms with cultural forces that limit her,…
Book Reviews… Review of Ashley Toliver’s “Spectra” 26 Apr 2020 https://www.massreview.org/node/7490/ (Review published in The Massachusetts Review, July 2019) "Kinesis," the first poem in Ashley Toliver's powerful first book Spectra, frames the collection's primary strength: that of movement through trauma…
Robert Manaster 