One common function of literature is to tease out or create something life-affirming out of troubling or disorienting situations. We’re happy to present in this issue writers who offer something fresh and freeing out of such situations, as well as writers focused on the quotidian.
In poetry, we welcome back three poets to our pages—Marge Piercy, George Freek, and Ron Riekki. Famed poet and novelist Marge Piercy is here approaching the extraordinary ordinariness of growing older in three poems. George Freek’s poetic meditations always carry the reader to a quieter but often questioning place. The last time we published Ron Riekki, one of those pieces earned him a Pushcart Prize. Once again, his original creations are very disorienting and startling, while providing transformative possibilities. We also welcome poets new to our pages—Ivan de Monbrison (with translations of his poems from the Russian), Robert Detman, and Hannah Marshall.
The complex bonds between parents and children and the influences of genes and environment are the focus of our three prose pieces in this issue. Our authors cover several generations. We have from author and artist Lucy Zhang, a short story, “Whalefish,” a memoir from Éanlaí Cronin,” God’s Backyard,” and from Sidney Trubowitz, a rather fast-paced essay, “Running.” Enjoy.
Be well, stay safe, help each other.
Leonard Lang, Senior Editor and Adrienne Pilon, Associate Editor
New Books from Contributors
- D.S. Maolalai…a collection of poems going out this April with Turas Press in Dublin which is going to include one, “A weak candle”, which was first published here in BoomerLitMag.
- Knives on a Table, a book of poems by Peter Mladinic, is available from Better Than Starbucks Publications. These short lyrics, blank verse, and persona poems span thirty years of the poet’s work.