Review by DeMisty D. Bellinger Chia-Lun Chang’s debut poetry collection, Prescribee, achieves parity of ornate language and critical thought throughout, shining a spotlight on unfair immigration policies and xenophobia, but still allowing herself to be playful at times and depart from the heavier subjects. From beginning to end, Chang adeptly addresses one’s own identity in an aggressively hostile environment, questioning womanhood and personhood in an adaptive country. It is clear why this intricate collection won the Nightboat Poetry Prize. The first poem, “Parents,” works well as an introduction to the ensuing poems in that it acts as an origin…
Author: Mom Egg Review
Review by Joy Gaines Friedler The other day I saw an infant t-shirt for sale that read “I come without instructions.” It made me think even more deeply about Linda Sienkiewicz and her extraordinary book of poetry, Sleepwalker. Having a child is the most life-altering event in our lives that comes without instruction. “Our eldest child is missing from the picture/he will always be missing,” Sienkiewicz writes of her son in “From Our House To Your House.” Derek took his own life in 2011. And later, she addresses Derek directly in “Little Cuts”: “Maybe what I thought/ was sacrifice/…
Jennifer Poteet Mother Comes Back as a Bee When I heard my name as a buzz in my ear, I knew she had come back as a bee. One, I hoped, without its stinger. My mother floated among my garden tomatoes, then rested inside an eggplant blossom. Why a bee? I asked. I didn’t get to choose, she said. Can you make honey? I’m not that kind of bee. Why not come inside, Mom, where there’s air conditioning, to talk? I just wanted to take a look at you, she replied, circling me twice before she flew away. …
New Fiction and Non-Fiction (And an Anthology) On Our Radar Anthology Rachel Neve-Midbar and Jennifer Saunders, Eds., Stained: An Anthology of Writing About Menstruation. Querencia Press 2023. “The writers in Stained offer their menarche stories, sometimes magical, sometimes traumatic; their menopause stories filled with longings and goodbyes. But they are also writing all that comes in between, the stories spoken in whispers: the stains, blood-soaked sex, the babies wanted or not and the bleeding after. Endometriosis, PMDD, birth control, body dysmorphia-and many stories of medical mistreatment. Some of these writers see the blood of their bodies as an…
Watch our 2023 MER vol. 21 Launch Reading on our YouTube channel, here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0NZUhEtQgII&t=1097s
MER Online Quarterly – June 2023 MER Literary Folios Parent (verb) Mixed genre literary and art folio on parenting in action, curated by MER editors. Words: Ambriel Floyd Bostic, James Callan, Alisa Childress, Hayes Davis, Ashley Espinoza, Jennifer Furner, Mike Gray, Francesca Leader, Elizabeth O’Rourke, Ellen June Wright Art: Sally Brown, Sofia Chapman, Rachael Grad The Little Things Mixed genre literary folio on joy and humor in motherhood, curated by J. L. Scott Featured writers: Annie Marhefka, Ashley Knowlton, Margo DeBiasio, Cassie Mannes-Murray, Alexandria Faulkenbury , Jennifer Hernandez, Bethany Jarmul, Marin Smith, Melanie Faranello, Anjali Vaidya MER Books…
Parent (verb): to be or act as a parent. Words Ambriel Floyd Bostic James Callan Alisa Childress Hayes Davis Ashley Espinoza Jennifer Furner Mike Gray Francesca Leader Elizabeth O’Rourke Ellen June Wright Art Sally Brown Sofia Chapman Rachael Grad Parent (verb) Rachael Grad – “Mommy Mayhem – Elephant and Doll” Sofia Chapman, “Look After Baby” Sally Brown, “Art Time Mama Rainbow” Artist Bios A mom of three, Rachael Grad left practicing law to study painting full-time at the New York Studio School and New York University before transferring to OCAD…
Literary Folio Curated by J.L. Scott The phrase “the joy of motherhood” has become somewhat trite, full of connotations held over from a time when nobody was willing to admit that not all of motherhood is, in fact, joyful. I started to wonder where the joy in being a mother actually is. We all, of course, love our kiddos, but to find true joy in all the muck of school and athletics and doctors’ appointments and diaper changes and meltdowns? That I wondered about. Looking at my own life, I started to see a pattern. Yes, there were the…
Anjali Vaidya A Trip to the Aquarium My five-year-old has always had a mind of her own. And by always I really do mean that; she’s been loudly expressing her own opinions since the time, as a fetus, when her little feet kicked us away from the dining table my pregnant belly was wedged up against, because I wasn’t giving her enough space. These days we’ve got the art of conversation, but that’s an evolving skill. Given free reign, my daughter would just sit and draw all day. Of course I can’t give her complete free reign. Grudgingly she…
New & Noted Poetry (Full-length) Jessica Bell, A Tide Should Be Able To Rise Despite Its Moon. Vine Leaves Press 2023. Inspired by the special bond between mother and child, Bell’s poems search for meaning in a world of misconception. They begin with small everyday moments and end with a shift in understanding that not only enlightens, but leaves you wondering. From quiet nights reflecting on the sound of her child’s smile, to viewing the world from the perspective of a potted tree dreaming of being rooted into true mother earth, A Tide Should Be Able to Rise Despite Its…