An Appointment with the Goddess: A Review of Lisbeth White’s American Sycamore
Though each of White’s poems stands alone in form, White’s work is bridged. . . . by the elemental divinity that is a byproduct of self-reckoning.
“I try to be forthright”: Interview with Michael Chang
With their recent tap to edit Lambda Literary’s Emerge anthology, and timely receipt of the Poetry Project’s Brannan Prize, Fence editor and poet Michael Chang’s influence on this decade has begun. Writer Zachary Issenberg sits down with Chang to talk process and literary inspiration.
“I move like a poet in my entire life”: An Interview with Safia Elhillo
A conversation with poet Safia Elhillio about her subversive collection, her poetic origin story, and her neverending search for the perfect poem.
“Fizzy Romance, Messy Matrixes, and Death Equations”: A Review of Camonghne Felix’s Dyscalculia
The spiral inwards offers a total repossession of the self, while the spiral outwards depicts a hand in the midst of a cosmic reach, apotheosis right around the corner.
Evolving Alongside Your Art: An Interview with Fatimah Asghar
"Artmaking is the process of evolving. If you allow yourself to really let the art flow through you in the way that you need it to, you will then allow yourself to be changed by the art, rather than trying to impose your will over the art."
“Shamelessly Lyrical and Ecstatic”: An Interview with Kemi Alabi
"I'm always playing with sound, trying to find the line, and letting language lead me somewhere. I'm satisfied with what I've found when the real shit pops up, and that's what I can revise toward. Black feminist writers taught me the urgency, political potency, and transformative power of truth-telling, and the only truth I'm interested in is accessed through vulnerability—I'm skeptical of its other origins."