Thank you to @dctex for sharing the origin of his chapbook's title poem, "Smells like rain," for this week's installment of Poem's Origin Story! This poem was first published in Gargoyle and later in his chapbook (Sligo Creek, 2024.) Link here and in bio:
/p/poems-origin-story-gregory-luce
New poetry review today! @dctex takes a close look at O MY CHARMER, poetry collection by Katherine Gekker
@kgekker and finds much to admire.
Link in bio and here:
washington-unbound.com/bookreviews/charmer
A sneak peek:
"The vagaries of love—romantic, sexual, or platonic—are an eternal theme for poetry, but Katherine Gekker manages to bring fresh observations to the subject in her second collection. By turns witty and angry, contented and fearful, the poems in this book are compelling ... "
I am thrilled and honored to be reading along with this amazing lineup of writers and musicians. Free and open to the public. Link in bio or here: /e/reimagining-america-toward-a-poetry-of-the-demos-tickets-1989174596766?utm_experiment=test_share_listing&aff=ebdsshios&sg=70e3f15fc594eadc5da75447938487c0c08c80f594e7c047c1101be5c428f450a39d2e0ca92169fde5389ea7d090a00eb6cca6f416eefcd81793979bb3088b37db6d6c622757e5f4e2d665fb95
This Tuesday we return to fiction, with a new review by @kathleeng14 . Katy delves into CHITRA DEMANDS TO GO HOME, a novel by Rajendrani Mukhopadhyay @rajeditseverythingfrom , from DC-based indie press @modernartistpress .
Link in bio or here:
washington-unbound.com/bookreviews/chitra
A sneak peek:
When we do get an older person in a story, they’re often softer, wiser than the other characters. Or, they’re entertaining because they don’t care anymore, have lost their scruples, and charm us as a result. Chitra, of the eponymous 'Chitra Demands to Go Home,' is neither soft, wise, nor charmingly grumpy. I can’t say I love her for it—her personality is prickly without much to balance it out—but in this debut novel, I found myself loving the story precisely because Chitra is a character to chafe against. ..."
Happy Birthday to us! It has truly been a whirlwind year. So one year, 54 Tuesdays with new pieces published each week, and 17,000 views later, we are pausing to celebrate.
So this week we have a roundup of what we've published this year by sharing ou r favorite poetry reviews, fiction reviews, theater reviews, as well as our favorite interviews. And, in order to give you all a look inside the workings of Washington Unbound, we interviewed each other about how we each got started writing, the founding of the magazine, what we’ve learned over the past year, and our hopes for the future. The interview is too long to publish the full text, so we offer some choice extracts. For the audio of the complete interview, become a paid subscriber to our Substack. We got very chatty, so we’ve divided the audio into two parts, with the first half available tomorrow, Wednesday April 29, and the second coming in May. Happy reading and writing, friends!
Link in bio and here: bit.ly/4cQyH5Q
List of favorites includes work by @bsratmezghebe , @writesloud , @margaret__hutton , @tjnavratil , @kathleeng14 , @red_sea_rose , @brandelfdeb , @sagustocox , @folgerlibrary , @shakespeareindc , @regieguy , @jonettarose5 , @bol_coop
