Lois Ruskai Melina is the author of The Grammar of Untold Stories, which reviewer Rene Denfeld (longlisted for an Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Fiction) described as follows: “Each essay acts as the surface of water, inviting us to explore deeper. Family, children, infertility, and loss are just some of the issues explored in this brilliant book.” After receiving a PhD in Leadership Studies, Melina taught in universities, and her research focused on social movements and leadership. She lives in Oregon with her husband, where she enjoys rowing and women’s soccer; also, she has a grown son and a grown daughter, as well as two grandchildren.
The title essay, “The Grammar of Untold Stories,” was a Notable Essay in Best American Essays, 2018 and a finalist for the North American Review’s Torch Prize and the New Letters Prize for Nonfiction.…
By Jordan Blum, Holly Rae Garcia, and Ryan Prentice Garcia
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Ryan Prentice Garcia & Holly Rae Garcia
Holly Rae Garcia and Ryan Prentice Garcia are a sort of power couple in the creative writing world. They live on the Texas Coast and their new novella, The Easton Falls Massacre: Bigfoot’s Revenge, just came out on October 30th. Holly is a corporate photographer by day and the Editor-at-Large and Art Director at Versification Magazine. Some of her favorite authors include Edgar Allan Poe, Daniel Keyes, Richard Matheson, and Stephen King. Her debut novel, Come Join the Murder, was released this past March by Close To The Bone Publishing. Ryan works in construction and his most prized possession is a Kane Hodder autographed Jason Voorhees mask. He calls himself a “military brat” and he’s lived in Germany, Turkey, and Belgium.…
David Colodney is the author of the chapbook Mimeograph (Finishing Line Press, 2019). A two-time Pushcart nominee, his poems have appeared in South Carolina Review, Panoply, Gyroscope Review, and The Chaffin Journal. David holds an MFA from Converse College, and lives in Boynton Beach, Florida, where he serves as Associate Editor of South Florida Poetry Journal.
In this episode of Cover to Cover with . . ., Editor-in-Chief Jordan Blum speaks with Colodney about Mimeograph, how father/son relationships impact us in general, his upcoming poem (“Turnstiles”), music, and much more!
Beate Sigriddaughter, author of hundreds of poems, is the winner of the 2014 Jack Grapes Prize and a multiple Pushcart Prize nominee. She has promoted women’s writing at her blog, Writing in a Woman’s Voice, for many years, an activity which grew out of her earlier Glass Woman Prize. Siggriddaughter is the author of Emily(review below) and Dancing in Santa Fe and Other Poems. Her forthcoming Dona Nobis Pacem will be issued in December 2021 by Unsolicited Press.
Emily, in your latest collection, you assume a unique voice, so different from the personas you presented in Dancing in Santa Fe. Can you tell us a little about how Emily originated? Did the collection fall together, for example, over a period of months, or years?…
Cal LaFountain has published work with Submittable, Information Today, Exterminating Angel Press, and the Electronic Literature Organization. His audiobook, Puddle Is an Ocean to an Ant, was released by Xocord in 2020. He currently lives in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. To connect with Cal, visit callafountain.com
In this episode of Cover to Cover with . . ., Editor-in-Chief Jordan Blum chats with LaFountain about the process of recording an audiobook, getting Bam Margera to participate in his book trailer, remixing chapters with producers, the joys of prank calls (and childhood activities in general), and more!
TAK Erzinger is an American/Swiss poet and artist with a Colombian background. Her poetry has been published by The Curlew, The Beautiful Space Journal, The Rising Phoenix Review, among many others, and her debut chapbook, found: between the trees, came out last year through Grey Borders Books. It chronicles a life interrupted by mental illness (specifically, PTSD) and explores how love and nature can help us find forgiveness and healing. She’s recently found a publisher for her second, lengthier poetry collection, been accepted to a writers/artist residency in Italy, and much more.
In this episode of Cover to Cover with . . ., Editor-in-Chief Jordan Blum chats with Erzinger about her artistry (both written and drawn), overcoming and normalizing mental illness, coping with the current pandemic and quarantine, and much more!…
Award winning Jaylan Salah is a writer, poet, translator, content expert, and film critic. Workstation Blues is a collection from the cubicle that resonates with white-collar workers worldwide passing the time between meetings and computer screens. The poems blur: monsters are replaced by monitors, flame-throwers by LED lights and swords by client comments. Cristina Deptula, executive editor of Synchronized Chaos Magazine, comments: “With energy and spunk, Jaylan Salah celebrates imagination, beauty, and most of all, freedom through her poetry and prose.”
What is your educational and literary backgrounds, and when did you begin to write prose and poetry?
I graduated in the faculty of Pharmacy at a prestigious private university in my hometown Alexandria, Egypt. You see, being a pharmacist and learning all the drugs in the pharmacopeia have nothing to do with literature or poetry, but it all started with school years at Sacred Heart Catholic School when the Sister senior encouraged me to be the next William Wordsworth and my mother told me to write the book I wanted to read.…
