The Looking Distance and Our 2023 Short List

The Looking Distance and Our 2023 Short List

A great ‘voice’ is merely a great voice. Maybe it modulates. Softens or moves up the register. Terrific. Now what? The problem with voice is that you work so hard to find it. Then you find it and there is no where else for it to be. No longer searching for voice, you...
To blurb or not to blurb

To blurb or not to blurb

We went into the cypress and black water to read manuscripts and when we came back there was a whole conversation about blurbs. As usual, we missed it and just did our own thing. We’re not against love and gold stars and trying to to land teaching jobs and reading...
Wingfield by Tobias Wolff

Wingfield by Tobias Wolff

When we arrived at the camp they pulled us off the buses and made us do push-ups in the parking lot. The asphalt was hot and tar stuck to our noses. They made fun of our clothes and took them away from us. They shaved our heads until little white scars showed through,...
Breakfast in Fur

Breakfast in Fur

Once a book contract is signed, the rush for blurbs is so rushed. Especially for a debut collection. As if the years of creating would still depend on green lights, even after publication. As if each book were a traffic intersection. As if it still needed whistle...
The Electric Guitarist by John Philip Drury

The Electric Guitarist by John Philip Drury

Content Warning: Suicide Originally published at Measure Review In Memory of Jim Simmermanby John Philip Drury “Ever the best of friends,” your letters ended,great expectations for a wave of yearsthat promised more reunions, correspondence.But all that’s over. The...