Lanny is depicted as untainted by the moral failings of the adults around him. As a child, his purity is precarious—not only because he will grow up, but because his childishness makes him vulnerable to those who might prey on goodness.
by Natalie Tsay The castle was so much smaller than I remembered. My pulse quickened as we approached the front gates and joined the impossibly long line leading to them. I had already waited months for the trip, and yet … Read more
In each story, rural China grates against urbanization. Tradition grates against technology, and poverty grates against new wealth.
The poems move between both the urgency and complacency of living in a world which is being destroyed by our way of life.
The rhythm of this collection is in the arrangement of its stories which moves like a revolving door between past and present.
by PROSPER ALBRIGHT Lindsey Warren, Archangel & The Overlooked (Spuyten Duyvil, 2020), pp. 45. Like John Keats, Lindsey Warren knows that the task of the poet is to construct a temple in thought, “the wreath’d trellis of a working brain,” … Read more
Appel’s skill is in crafting beautiful, tender moments that stand alone in their stories, and though they may not be logical or entirely practical, these moments are undeniably human.
The collection of four somewhat thematic, loosely chronological sections illustrates not only the development of a powerful anti-colonial voice, but the hidden glories and tragedies and silent shames of colonial and postcolonial Kenya.
by Seth D. Slater Everyone was safe in the treehouse: sheltered from eye-patched pirates woodpeg limping with a loudmouthed parrot on the shoulder, blackspots buried in trousers, curses pocketed for future exhortation. Wind blew through autumnal sails as we cut … Read more
