Skip to content →

Category: Uncategorized

Issue 33 / Winter 2023

Welcome to the Winter 2023 issue of Whale Road Review! This marks our 8-year anniversary, and we’re so happy to celebrate with these incredible pieces. This issue takes a deep dive into seasonal imagery and archetypes. It contains enough birds to qualify as an aviary and enough relatives to qualify as a family tree. The number of gorgeous moments that made me gasp might also allow this issue to qualify as a breathing exercise. In this time of too much darkness and not enough peace, I hope you’ll find this writing to be a light.   

Issue 33 features creative work by Mark D. Bennion, Brendan Bense, Molly Bolton, Phillip Watts Brown, Duncan Campbell, Grant Clauser, Lisa Dordal, Brian Duncan, Suzanne Edison, Cynthia Marie Hoffman, Melissa Fite Johnson, Judy Kaber, Sally Rosen Kindred, Eric Lochridge, Elizabeth Loudon, Melanie Maggard, Dawn Miller, Angelina-Maria Montejo, Anne Rankin, n.l. rivera, James Roach, Leonora Simonovis, Emily Tee, and Heather Truett.

We’ve got two fun and useful pedagogy papers: Julija Šukys provides a lesson in place writing with maps, and Laura Sweeney shares a lesson in collecting material through immersion at the opera.

The three reviews in this issue take us inside new books by Mary Makofske and Sandra Marchetti and into the 2023 mini chapbooks bundle from Yavanika Press; thanks to Diane Bliss, Jess Chua, and Mindy Kronenberg for their thoughtful work!

This issue closes with two fantastic interviews: the first with Alex Carrigan was conducted by Robert Allen, and the second is a conversation that Lesley Wheeler conducted with Jeannine Hall Gailey and Cynthia Hogue.

Many of these writers would be delighted if you sent them a little gift using the Tip the Author link below their bio to let them know you enjoy their work. Happy holidays to you and yours. Thanks for reading!

Katie Manning
Editor-in-Chief

One Comment

Issue 32 / Fall 2023

When long-time WRR staff member Ell Huang and I were gushing to each other this week about how amazing the pieces are in this Fall 2023 issue, I confessed to her that fall issues might be my favorite to curate. (Please don’t tell the other seasons…) Autumn imagery and archetypes call to me, and they abound in this issue; we’ve even got a couple of Halloween poems in here! The vivid writing in these pieces will invite you to stare down death, racism, impossible body standards, and other causes of rage and grief, but it will also take you into scenes of beauty and tenderness, make you laugh, and maybe even make you feel seen.

Issue 32 features creative work by Michele Bombardier, Jennifer Bullis, Samuel Burt, Jacob Butlett, Micah Chatterton, Jo Clark, Barbara Crooker, Joanne Durham, Sandra Fees, Robert Fillman, Lynn Finger, Susan Grimm, Jen Gayda Gupta, Thomas Hobohm, Tina Kelley, Susan Landgraf, Kelly Foster Lundquist, Jennifer Stewart Miller, Julie L. Moore, Cameron Morse, Curtis Pierce, Ron Riekki, Heidi Seaborn, and Martha Silano.

We’ve got three pedagogy papers here that use historical research, movie trailers, and job descriptions to teach students about immersion, atmosphere, and detail. Thanks to Garrett Ashley, Destiny Howell, and Richard Ryal for sharing these assignments and lesson plans!

The reviews in this issue take us inside new books by Emily Marie Passos Duffy, Luke Johnson, and Edward Vidaurre, and the reviews are engaging pieces of writing themselves! We’re grateful to Sarah Alcaide-Escue, Ben Groner III, and Sara Pisak for doing this work.

We’ve also got a pair of delightful interviews: one with Ryan Rivas that was conducted by TJ Gottung, and one with Sunni Brown Wilkinson that was conducted by students at Lee University who have since graduated. (Congratulations, Braden Dyk, Janey Hall, Hannah Hicks, and Hannah Swedberg!) Please enjoy the strange coincidence that both of these interviews include a discussion about coyotes.

I hope you’ll love this issue as much as I do, and I hope you’ll send a little something (or a big something if you’ve got it!) to your favorite contributor(s) with a Tip the Author link below their bio to let them know you enjoy their work. Thanks for reading!

Katie Manning
Editor-in-Chief

2 Comments

Issue 31 / Summer 2023

Happy June! Our summer issue is ready for you to enjoy! I’m so taken with the way these pieces seem to want to speak with each other across the issue. I hope you’ll take delight in these conjunctions and conversations too.

Issue 31 features creative work by Christopher Todd Anderson, Ace Boggess, Allisa Cherry, Genevieve Creedon, Patricia Davis-Muffett, Shannon Deep, Terri-Jane Dow, Laurie Filipelli, Marcene Gandolfo, Ben Groner III, Nicole Hart, Mary Crockett Hill, Jen Karetnick, Jill Kitchen, Sam Moe, Matthew Murrey, Emily Patterson, Jennifer Pons, Susan Trofimow, Jessica L. Walsh, Jessica Whipple, and Ava Ye.

The pedagogy papers in this issue are a special treat: a thorough lesson in contract grading (with links to bonus materials!) from Beverly Army Williams, a group villanelle exercise from Melissa Fite Johnson, and instructions for setting up an afterschool elementary poetry club from Vicky MacDonald Harris.

In the reviews section, Sarah Carey and Donna Vorreyer take us inside recent poetry collections by J.C. Reilly and Fox Henry Frazier, and Brendan Walsh tells us about the new Dolly Parton poetry anthology from editors Julie E. Bloemeke and Dustin Brookshire. We’ve also got some incredible interviews with Jared Singer, Audrey Burges, and Shahé Mankerian thanks to the brilliant work of Shai Afsai, Jennifer Fliss, and Yasmin Mariam Kloth.

I don’t usually mention the cover, but here at the end of our eighth year, I’ll note that my spouse and I have taken all of the photos for the covers so far. I love this one that I took a few months ago from my college campus. I rushed out of my department’s ocean-view meeting room (the meeting hadn’t started yet) to stand on the balcony and get a clear shot of the rainbow on the water. Kermit wasn’t wrong; it felt like magic.

We hope you’ll enjoy the magic of this issue as much as we do. Please find a contributor (or more than one!) with a Tip the Author link below their bio and make their day. Thanks for reading!

Katie Manning
Editor-in-Chief

2 Comments

Issue 30 / Spring 2023

We usually release our Spring issues in March, but life happened, and here we are in April. Somehow though, this feels like exactly the right time for these pieces to go out into the world together, with all their grief for lost loved ones and pointed social critique mixed with spring beauty and cosmic wonder. I needed to read these pieces again closely this week.

Issue 30 features creative work by Abbie Barker, Caroline Parkman Barr, David J. Bauman, Micah James Bauman, Bea Bolongaita, Nicole Callihan, Lisa Morin Carcia, Chiara Di Lello, Joanne Diaz, Elisabeth Adwin Edwards, Jessica Gigot, Erica Goss, Kevin Grauke, Sara Henning, Marci Rae Johnson, Jane Muschenetz, Bobby Parrott, Erin Pesut, Hayley Phillips, Jessica Nirvana Ram, Jason Reblando, Luci Shaw, Annette Sisson, Joannie Stangeland, Sarah Stockton, Taylor Supplee, and Danielle Weeks.

The pedagogy papers in this issue are timely and practical: Neil Connelly teaches students how to write the worst Mother’s Day poem ever and how to improve it with imagery, and Mary Gilliland shares her final assignment of the semester: Writing for Your Life.

This issue also features reviews of recent poetry collections by Melody S. Gee, Brittney Corrigan, Theresa Burns, and Ayesha Raees. Thanks to Mary Ansell, Michele Bombardier, Jacob Butlett, and Jennifer Saunders for taking us into these exciting new books! And special thanks to Casie Dodd for closing us out with a fun interview with former Oklahoma poet laureate Benjamin Myer!

Please make use of the Tip the Author links and feel free to share this issue far and wide. Thanks for reading!

Katie Manning
Editor-in-Chief

Leave a Comment

Issue 29 / Winter 2022

It’s the most wonderful time of the year! Among other things, this December is the 7-year anniversary of Whale Road Review, and the pieces our contributors have shared with us for this winter issue feel like gifts.

Issue 29 features poetry and short prose by Thomas Allbaugh, Mark D. Bennion, Jessica Berry, Adam Chiles, Lena Crown, Dagne Forrest, Robbie Gamble, Guillermo Rebollo Gil, Shannon Elizabeth Hardwick, Lauren Kardos, Katie Kemple, Mollie O’Leary, Jennie E. Owen, Dayna Patterson, Sara Pirkle, Vismai Rao, Remi Recchia, Robin Rosen Chang, Jen Stein, Angela Sucich, Nicole Tallman, Elinor Ann Walker, and Cassandra Whitaker.

The pedagogy papers in this issue are also full of wonder: one uses strange pairings to invite creativity, one takes inspiration for writing feedback from discussions of childhood drawings, and one looks to fairy tales and a collaborative exercise to teach structure. Thanks to Miriam Calleja, Neil Connelly, and John Gerard Fagan for inviting us into their classrooms.

This issue also includes a delightful interview with the Poetry Podcats and reviews of Liar by Jessica Cuello, The Damage Done by Susana H. Case, The White Book by Han Kang, and One Person Holds So Much Silence by David Greenspan. We’re grateful to Mai Black, Geraldine Connolly, Angie Dribben, Jacob Laba, and Molly Sturdevant for introducing us to this podcast and these books.

If you’re able, please tip the authors whose work you enjoy and share this issue with others. Happy holidays!

Katie Manning
Editor-in-Chief

Leave a Comment

Issue 28 / Fall 2022

We’re proud to present the Fall 2022 issue of Whale Road Review. The creative pieces in this issue feel like they’re taking us on a nature walk from summer into autumn, but these pieces don’t shy away from conversing about recent events like the Uvalde shooting or the Dobbs decision, and the walk is no less beautiful for that.

Issue 28 features poetry and short prose by Ayelet Amittay, Merrill Oliver Douglas, Natalie Giarratano, Merie Kirby, Stefanie Kirby, Yasmin Mariam Kloth, Divyasri Krishnan, Raima Larter, Elizabeth Taryn Mason, Libby Maxey, Julia McConnell, Jennifer Met, Janna Miller, Kathleen Mitchell-Askar, Cameron Morse, Sophie Panzer, Sage, Ron Salisbury, Meghan Sterling, Anastasia Vassos, Donna Vorreyer, Jessica L. Walsh, Dick Westheimer, Brooke White, and Jane Zwart.

The authors of the pedagogy papers in this issue are wildly generous: Laura Malafarina includes several links to her materials for micro-experiments with craft, and Aaron Sandberg offers a group of five exercises that he uses in his writing classes.

In our review section, Alex Carrigan, Irene Cooper, Sonia Greenfield, and Nate Logan give us an inside look at new books by Arden Hunter, Shareen K. Murayama, Amy Gerstler, and Solmaz Sharif. We also have a fantastic interview with Claudia Serea that was conducted by Akram Alkatreb.

We hope you enjoy this issue, and we wish you a safe and lovely fall. Thanks for reading!

Katie Manning
Editor-in-Chief

P.S. As ever, remember to tip your authors! Many have “Tip the Author” links under their bios. We promise that any amount will matter even if it feels like a very small gesture to you.

Leave a Comment

Issue 27 / Summer 2022

The Summer 2022 issue of Whale Road Review is full of family: the best abuelita, the actor father, the young daughter drawing a dinosaur during church, the sick brother, the breastfeeding mother and newborn, the parents who had lives before they were parents, and more. This issue includes a pet rock, Barbie, Monopoly, karate lessons, animals, road trips, a Disney vacation, addiction, guilt, and other family accessories too.

Issue 27 features poetry and short prose by Farah Barqawi, Rebecca Brock, Dustin Brookshire, Patricia Caspers, Leigh Chadwick, Flower Conroy, Jennifer H. Dracos-Tice, Sara Elkamel, Robert Fillman, H.E. Fisher, Molly Greer, Jose Hernandez Diaz, Bill Hollands, Andrea Lynn Koohi, Suzanne Langlois, Mitchell Nobis, Rebecca O’Bern, Donna Spruijt-Metz, Eric Scot Tryon, Kristin Van Tassel, Ann Weil, and Lucy Zhang.

Angelo J. Letizia’s pedagogy paper shares an assignment that invites students to use poetry to explore concepts from other disciplines. Michele Bombardier, Leila Lois, and Michelle McMillan-Holifield review new poetry collections by Eunice Andrada, Ama Codjoe, and Brooke Matson, and Natalie Serianni offers a fascinating interview with Jennifer Fliss about her recent short story collection, The Predatory Animal Ball.

We hope you enjoy this issue as much as we do. Please share the pieces you love, tip the authors who have “Tip the Author” links under their bios, and send us your own creative work during our June reading period if you’re a writer too. Thanks for reading!

Katie Manning
Editor-in-Chief

Leave a Comment

Issue 26 / Spring 2022

Welcome to the Spring 2022 issue of Whale Road Review! In these creative pieces, you’ll find the gardens and birds you might expect in a spring issue, but some of these gardens are haunted, and some of the birds are like bombs. A few of these pieces will take you to church, but if the church building isn’t on fire, it might have been converted into a night club. Wanna dance?

Issue 26 features poetry and short prose by C.S. Carrier, Sarah-Jane Crowson, Dagne Forrest, Jeff Friedman, Yanita Georgieva, Dhwanee Goyal, Connie Jordan Green, Mary Grimm, lukas ray hall, Saba Keramati, B. Tyler Lee, Rebecca Lehmann, Colin Lubner, Katherine Maynard, Autumn McClintock, Kindra McDonald, Joy Moore, Arlene Naganawa, Jeanne Obbard, Kathryn Petruccelli, Meg Pokrass, Margaret Rozga, Luci Shaw, and Ashley Wagner.

Our pedagogy papers include a scene ruining/repairing activity from Rebecca Arrowsmith and a perspective-shifting personal narrative lesson from Diane Forman.

This issue also features reviews of poetry collections by Risa Denenberg and Adrienne Su, a review of Marjorie Maddox’s book of poetic forms and exercises, and an interview with Evan Morgan Williams about his recent short story collection. Thanks to Maria McLeod, E. A. Miller Mlcak, Kathryn Pratt Russell, and Chrissy Kolaya for giving us glimpses into these exciting new books.

When you find some pieces to love, as you will, please share them and tip the authors who have “Tip the Author” links under their bios. Even very small tips mean a lot (and add up). Thanks for reading! Please be safe and well.

Katie Manning
Editor-in-Chief

Leave a Comment

Issue 25 / Winter 2021

Happy winter issue of Whale Road Review! “Is it winter / yet?” Yvanna Vien Tica’s poem begins, and inside this issue, it is. Reading these creative pieces—which feature space, trains, fossils, and so much more—feels a lot like unwrapping gifts.

Issue 25 features poetry and short prose by Abra Bertman, Annette C. Boehm, Marisa P. Clark, Joanne Clarkson, Hollie Dugas, Diane D. Gillette, Rick Hollon, Ra’Niqua Lee, Tingyu Liu, Jory Mickelson, Cameron Morse, J. Alan Nelson, Carolyn Oliver, Simon Perchik, Lisa Raatikainen, Gretchen Rockwell, Angeline Schellenberg, Matthew Schultz, Martha Silano, Meg Stout, Claire Sunberg, and Yvanna Vien Tica.

In our pedagogy papers, Melody Heide teaches students to love their darlings while Bupinder Singh teaches descriptive writing with mindfulness.

The reviews in this issue by Jessica Gigot, Meghan Sterling, and K. Andrew Turner take us inside a flash fiction collection by John Brantingham and new poetry collections by Holly J. Hughes and Robin Reagler.

To close the issue, we have two insightful interviews with writers named Sarah: Riley Breitbarth interviewed Sarah Bigham about her experimental memoir, Kind Chemist Wife: Musings at 3 a.m., and Angie Dribben interviewed Sarah J. Sloat about her collection of Stephen King erasure poetry, Hotel Almighty.

Please spread some holiday cheer and tip the authors who have “Tip the Author” links under their bios! If you’re also a writer, please visit our guidelines and send us your work during our December submission window. Thanks for reading!

Katie Manning
Editor-in-Chief

Leave a Comment

Issue 24 / Fall 2021

Thanks for joining us for the Fall 2021 issue of Whale Road Review! This issue provides a full spread of autumn vibes: from a harvest moon, pumpkins, and apple trees to carnivals, cemeteries, and body horror. The creative pieces will invite you in with cup of tea and leave you dreaming with the oldest dog.

Issue 24 features poetry and short prose by Jordi Alonso, Sarah Cavar, Brittney Corrigan, Jesse Curran, Martins Deep, Risa Denenberg, Eleri Denham, Cat Dixon, Samantha Fain, Marc Frazier, Trivarna Hariharan, Karah Kemmerly, Sue Mell, Matt Miller, Julie L. Moore, Diane Payne, Ren Pike, Rachel Pittman, Luci Shaw, Nova Wang, Emma Williams, and Melody Wilson.

For more teaching ideas, check out this issue’s creative writing pedagogy papers: Rebecca Lauren offers craft sheets for building protagonists, Katie Darby Mullins takes inspiration from an Aimee Mann song for an exercise in negation, and Annaleta Nichols makes figurative language more accessible by breaking it down to form and meaning.

The reviews in this issue explore a flash memoir collection by Joanna Penn Cooper and new poetry collections by River Dixon, Daniel Edward Moore, and Merrijane Rice. Thanks to Claire Bateman, Aarik Danielsen, Theric Jepson, and Bojana Stojcic for sharing these books with us.

Finally, this issue closes with two wonderful interviews: Michael Knotts and Hallie Sneed interviewed Alyse Bensel about her new book, Rare Wondrous Things, and Anna Leahy gathered three poets who are also publishers and/or contest judges— Kelli Russell Agodon, Allison Blevins, and Victoria Chang—to talk about reading, writing, and publishing chapbooks.

If you enjoy the work in this issue, please tip the authors who have “Tip the Author” links under their bios. Even a small amount will mean a lot. Thank you for reading!

Katie Manning
Editor-in-Chief

Leave a Comment