Review by Jennifer Martelli In the Sophocles tragedy, the character of Antigone (daughter of blinded and exiled Oedipus) was the victim of state-sponsored violence. Entombed alive after defying King Creon’s order not to bury her brother, Eteocles, she became a symbol of resistance and betrayal and also, of a love that would not be extinguished. Jennifer Franklin’s latest collection, If Some God Shakes Your House, weaves this ancient story with sonnets and prose poems. The structure she builds is both organic and unbreakable. In “As Antigone—,” she writes It was deliberate.…
Author: Mom Egg Review
Review by DeMisty D. Bellinger In Amy Barone’s latest collection of poetry, Defying Extinction, she delves into the environment, the natural world, family, grief, and growth. She affords each topic considerable care. Divided into five sections, the volume shows how personal yet how mysterious the world can be. Barone balances ecocritical commentary and existentialism in invitingly gorgeous poems. The first section of the book is entitled “Sacred Places,” and most of the poems feature specific locales throughout the world—the Americas, Europe, and Africa—as well as celestial bodies. And as well as the animals and lands, Barone showcases the peoples…
Review by Lisa C. Taylor In this eighth collection by Alison Stone, the poet moves through the history of recent years, including the pandemic, protests, racial and economic inequities and their historical context. These are poems that do not avoid questions, even ones with no clear answer. The collection opens with a taut poem that covers pandemic denial, power disparity, and Jews turned away at Ellis Island. The poet asks, “What does it mean/to be American?” (13). This poem sets up a weaving of the past and present that runs throughout the collection. Death and politics intermingle. “…what rises/from…
Off site. On purpose. A Literary Reading SWWIM, MER, and NELLE, three premier literary journals representing women’s voices, co-host an off-site reading during the 2023 AWP Conference in Seattle. The evening will feature many of today’s celebrated women poets and writers. Admission is free. Please join us for an amazing reading and celebration. RSVP here. Off site. On purpose. A Literary Reading SWWIM – MER – NELLE Friday, March 10 Doors 6:30 PM; Readings 7:00 PM The Forum at Town Hall Seattle 1119 8th Avenue Seattle, WA 98101 Admission Free Wine, Beer, and Snacks available for purchase Featured Readers:…
Danielle Jones A Love Poem Without Subtext Because sometimes the best way to say a thing is to say it: a river is as wide as a river, a knife as sharp as a knife. My love for you is my love for you. Can’t be compared with anything else, not for anyone else—for you. The years without you were like wind racing along the river, a dry mouth thirsting, unable to kiss the water’s skin—or like skin, taking in the knife, blade never-ending, unbending, no hilt to stop it, no way for the wound to begin, much less…
Judgment “Are you a good witch or a bad witch?” — “Rating” Mothers “Are you a good witch or a bad witch,” Dorothy asks Glinda, who has no problem naming herself as good. When we apply the question to mothers, we’re in thornier territory. In reading submissions this year, we noticed a number of works focused on questions around just that determination, “good” or “bad” mothers. The concept of judgment raises questions. Who is judging? Society? Religion? Children, parents and other relatives can weigh in, but even complete strangers judge mothers. And when is the judgment taking…
Blair Hurley Breastfeeding and the Early Sacrifices of Motherhood What they say about early motherhood amnesia is true: the first few months I was a mother are mostly a blur now, and looking back on them, I’m not sure how I made it through. I had my daughter in the first week of the pandemic, in early March. The birth experience was normal, but two days later, the world had changed; her doctor (and mine) were quarantined, all of my postpartum appointments were cancelled, the physiotherapist I had lined up made an apologetic call describing some exercises to do…
M.A.M.A. issue 54 – Mathilde Jansen, Art, and Lisa DeSiro, Poetry Mathilde Jansen Mathilde Jansen hails from Deventer (at the IJssel river valley), in the Netherlands. She graduated from the Royal Academy, The Hague (KABK) in 2006. Dar es Salaam has been a second home and source of inspiration. In 2016 she completed the postgraduate studies Education in Arts (Beroepskunstenaar in de Klas) at the Amsterdam School of the Arts. Her primary photographic practice seeks the universal value of natural resources and minerals as a means of tracing the complex relationship between people and the global economy. She…
Maram Al-Masri Poetry from The Abduction (forthcoming from White Pine Press in Spring 2023) Translated by Hélène Cardona The Abduction refers to an autobiographical event in Maram Al-Masri’s life. When, as a young Arab woman living in France, she decides to separate from her husband with whom she has a child, the father kidnaps the baby and returns to Syria. Al-Masri won’t see her son for thirteen years. This is the story of a woman denied the basic right to raise her child. These are haunting, spellbinding poems of love, despair, and hope, a delicate, profound and powerful book on…
Noreen Graf After Your Mother Dies and What If I Don’t Noreen Graf lives in South Texas. Her comics have appeared in Political Irony. She was a finalist in the James Jones First Book Contest, and runner up in the Chester B Himes Short Fiction Prize. Her short fiction has appeared in The Ocotillo Review, Sixfold, and Dirty Chai. She is currently an MFA student in the Creative Writing program at the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley.