by McKenzie | Sep 23, 2014 | Poetry Collections, Reviews
Click here to view my interview with Betsy Andrews. When I first began reading Betsy Andrews’ book-length poem, The Bottom, I was reminded of an incident that occurred nearly two years ago now. In October of 2012, an article appeared on Slate.com regarding a...
by McKenzie | Sep 21, 2014 | Poetry Collections, Reviews
Click here to view my review of Interrobang. Jessica Piazza’s first full-length collection, Interrobang, was published by Red Hen Press in September 2013 and was the recipient of the AROHO 2011 To the Lighthouse Poetry Prize and the 2013 Balcones Poetry...
by McKenzie | Aug 22, 2014 | Poetry Collections, Reviews
Click here to view my follow-up interview with Jessica Piazza! Jessica Piazza’s debut full-length poetry collection, Interrobang, is all at once lovely, inquisitive and complex. I found myself startled by the constant alteration of the persona; the interjection...
by McKenzie | Aug 17, 2014 | Poetry Collections, Reviews
No matter how long I’ve been reading and writing professionally, it still amazes me how much a little time away can contribute to my appreciation of a larger work. During my first year as the Layout and Design Editor at New Issues Poetry and Prose, I had the...
by McKenzie | Jul 8, 2013 | Poetry Collections, Reviews
THE SINGING KNIVES The dogs woke me up I looked out the window Jimmy ran down the road With the knife in his mouth He was naked And the moon Was a dead man floating down the river He jumped on the Gypsy’s pony He rode through camp I could see the dust...
by McKenzie | Jul 6, 2013 | Poetry Collections, Reviews
Admittedly, whenever I sit down to read “one of the greats” for the first time, my inner-skeptic finds her way out and asks, “What’s with all the hype?” I ask this question not for the sake of propelling myself forward, or of devaluing late-writers, but for the...