Making Music We Like: A Conversation With Big Harp

Chris and Stefanie formed Big Harp in December 2010, and released their debut album, White Hat, in 2011. They will release their sophomore album, Chain Letters, on January 22 via Saddle Creek. More at http://bigharp.com/. *** Prologue  Outside I can hear the palm rats scraping their way up the rough trunks of the Mexican Fans (Washingtonia robusta) in […]

Author’s Playlist: The Alligators of Abraham by Robert Kloss

Below is a list of songs that Robert Kloss has recommended for his novel, The Alligators of Abraham. BOOK I “When Johnny Comes Marching Home” by Pete Seeger Hopefully the early pages of my novel mirror the enthusiasm and optimism of this song, confetti-strewn streets, marching bands, a kiss stolen from the farm girl down […]

Reflections from Washington State: Love Takes All

11/6,  Election Day 6:00 pm: It is time to stop writing and start watching returns. I park myself on the red couch in the basement and turn on CNN. My partner, Adam, texts from the east coast lamenting how late it is there. We know absolutely nothing about our adopted state of Washington and won’t […]

“Some Case Studies in Failure” by Rebecca Rubenstein

K is failing to digest her food properly. The abdominal cramps came on suddenly, flash floods of pain that seized her mid-region, and now she eats a steady diet of rice and vegetables, because everything else is too heavy, and nothing comes out right anyway. She forewarned me once, that things were about to get […]

Reflections from Connecticut: Dear Linda McMahon

Linda McMahon c/o World Wrestling Entertainment 1241 East Main Street Stamford, CT 06902 November 7, 2012 Dear Linda: If I’d left a good job to chase a pipe dream for a few years, the first thing I’d probably do after the whole thing tanked would be to drop by my old break room with a Box o’Joe, […]

Five poems by Russ Woods

CATS There are three times as many cats in this room as I would like for there to be. There are eight cats in this room and I would like for there to be two and a bloody third of a cat, still a little bit alive. I think this would create some nice drama […]

Review: Laura Lamont’s Life in Pictures

The Reviewed: Laura Lamont’s Life in Pictures by Emma Straub The Reviewer: Joellyn Powers *** There is a scene late in Emma Straub’s debut novel, Laura Lamont’s Life in Pictures, where forgotten starlet Laura Lamont thinks of how much she misses the circle of lights on her dressing room mirror, the lights that surrounded her face and […]