by Zinta Aistars As with most of us, and, I suspect, in most any language, my first introduction to Latvian poetry was metered and rhymed, tightly reined in, an orderly clomping and marching of verses that moved like soldiers across the page. In Latvian school, which we children of the émigré community attended on Saturdays [...]
The Bakery Lady
by Grace Andreacchi The writer’s life is, essentially and not incidentally, a lonely one. You shut yourself up in a room, ignore the tempting sunshine, unplug the phone, and even refuse to come to the door when you’re ‘working’. You keep unsociable hours, skip meals, refuse invitations all in pursuit of the grand illusion. A [...]
Defining Women: Empowerment and Change in American Poetry
by Shana Thornton Poetry capable of inspiring change not only communicates the slick and tender pulse of a surface wound, it connects to the universal nerve of tremors and feelings, connecting wires, vessels, and shifting cells. Poets are transmitters of the human condition. They initiate and inspire change to transcend their time, their poems added [...]
Sssh! Let the cruelty begin: Wuthering Heights and the Child Abuse of Yesterday and Today
by Nicolette Westfall I’ll never forget one of the first times I came over to The Gentleman’s house, where he lived with his parents while going through his doctorate program. He told me I couldn’t use the front door because it would disturb his father, who liked to sleep there after work every evening. I [...]
WACK! Art and the Feminist Revolution arrives in New York
by Lee Conell “Where should I start?” I wondered when I wandered into “WACK! Art and the Feminist Revolution,” the show currently on display at PS 1. “WACK!” is international in its scope, and with over 400 works from all over the world, I don’t know if anyone could have given me a compass and [...]
Spotlight on Karen Harrington
Part I of a two-part spotlight on author and Her Circle blogger Karen Harrington about her writing passions, motherhood and the universal truths behind this role. First, what is Janeology about? A college professor struggles after his wife, Jane, snaps and drowns their toddler son. Soon, he finds himself in a legal battle, defending charges [...]
Anna Brigadere (1861-1933)
Anna Brigadere (1861-1933) “Only he who feels responsibility can be both servant and ruler.” by Zinta Aistars Raised by Latvian parents who were World War II immigrants from Soviet-occupied Latvia, I was born in the United States, but thought of myself first and foremost as Latvian. Latvian, after all, was my first language, the only [...]
Hunter Clarke Comes Full Circle
American artist Hunter Clarke recently participated in the exhibition “Full Circle: A Tribute to the Cultural Diversity of Women’s Art” at the Pen and Brush Gallery in New York City, where she won first prize for her painting “Parental Instinct 3” (Watercolor on paper, 12″x16”, 2006). The painting is part of Clarke’s “Bestiarius” series wherein [...]
The Light Sang As it Left Your Eyes: Our Autobiography by Eileen Tabios
Marsh Hawk Press, 2007 Poems For by GA. A. Banks-Martin Eileen Tabios published her first book of poetry in 1996 and won the Philippines’ National Book Award for Poetry, fourteen collections followed. Her latest book seeks to creatively solve some of the most difficult of poetic problems: love, despair, hope without reason, and absolution. Therefore, [...]
Road of Five Churches by Stephanie Dickinson
Rain Mountain Press, 2007 Where Could I Possibly Go Now That I’ve Been Here? Review by Elizabeth J. Colen From the very first story we can tell this will be a book full of fresh characters the likes of which you and I have never seen. To give a quick summary herein of the worlds [...]
