Alina Stefanescu was born in Romania and lives in Birmingham, Alabama. A multiple Pushcart Prize and Best of the Net nominee, her first poetry chapbook, Objects in Vases, won the 2016 ASPS Award for Poetry Book of the Year. Her debut fiction collection, Every Mask I Tried On, won the Brighthorse Prize and was published in May 2018. Her writing can be found in many diverse journals, and she serves as Poetry Editor for Pidgeonholes. Finally, she’s been a finalist for or recipient of several prizes just this year, and she loves to collaborate across mediums and be the poem she wants to read in the world.
On this episode of ‘Cover to Cover with . . .,’ Editor-in-Chief Jordan Blum speaks with Stefanescu about her recent publications, gender roles, pornography, violence in America, progressive metal, and much more!…
Carolyn Turgeon’s appearance evokes an otherworldly elegance effusive with joy. With her long dark hair, complete with shiny streak of navy blue, red lipstick, and big blue eyes, Carolyn Turgeon seems herself to be a high priestess, the kind of magical creature who would be right at home in her sumptuous fantasy worlds.
Turgeon learned to love reading as an escape from her shy, dislocated childhood. She says, “I loved being alone in my room and reading.”
By chance, Turgeon’s mother brought home a book from the Betsy-Tacy and Tib series once by accident. These books by Maud Heart Lovelace had a tremendous impact on Turgeon’s development as a writer. Protagonist Betsy grows up in a small Minnesota town, reading as much as she can, climbing trees, and hoping to become a writer.…
Karolina Zapal is an itinerant poet, essayist, translator, and author of Polalka (Spuyten Duyvil, 2018). Her second book, Notes for Mid-Birth, is forthcoming from Inside the Castle in late 2019. She is collaborating with the poet CA Conrad on translating their book, The Book of Frank, into Polish. Her work has appeared in Posit, Cathexis Northwest, Witness, Bone Bouquet, Adirondack Review, Bombay Gin, Foglifter, and others. She has completed three artist residencies: Greywood Arts in Killeagh, Ireland; Brashnar Creative Project in Skopje, Macedonia; and Bridge Guard in Štúrovo, Slovakia. She served as the Anselm Hollo Fellow at Naropa University from 2015-2017. She now works in Student Services at the South Carolina Governor’s School for the Arts & Humanities.…
Gila Green is a Canadian writer, editor, and EFL teacher. As the daughter of a Yemenite-Israeli father and an Ashkenazi-Canadian mother, she often writes about the immigrant experience, including dislocation, alienation, and racism. She spent time in South Africa before settling in Israel where she lives with her husband and five children. She is the author of White Zion, two adult novels (Passport Control and King of the Class), and her short works have appeared in dozens of literary magazines and anthologies. Her new young adult novel, No Entry, is forthcoming in 2019 and is the first in an environmental series. Please visit Gila here.
In this episode of ‘Cover to Cover with . . .,’ Editor-in-Chief Jordan Blum speaks with Green about the processes and political/social motivations for her recent publications, political correctness in the modern age, the joys of being an up-and-coming novelist, and many other things.…
It was the esteemed poet and essayist Adrienne Rich who once said, “When a woman tells the truth she is creating the possibility for more truth around her.” We owe so much of our collective progress to individuals who offer us the truth, and in so doing, render their small corner of the world more genuine, authentic, and real. In her debut collection, Mother Tongue Apologize, Preeti Vangani wrangles the inner power to confront the loss of her mother, examine the construct of idealized femininity, and lift the veil that once hid centuries of unconscionable violence against women. In her words, she resides in truth and makes it possible for the world around her to follow suit.
Vangani’s
writing is not only transparent but also relatable.…
Eki Shola is a keyboardist/vocalist from the San Francisco Bay area who recently transitioned from a career in medicine to music. In both cases, her mission is the same: to heal however many people she can. Over the last few years, she’s released two albums: 2016’s Final Beginning and this year’s Possible, which is set to the first in a trilogy of LPs. Around those projects, she’s been compared to Flying Lotus, Gold Panda, and Nina Simone while also winning a NorBay Music Award for best Electronica Artist and performing in NPR’s Tiny Desk series in 2018.
In this episode of Cover to Cover with . . ., Editor-in-Chief Jordan Blum chats with Shola about her style and inspirations, her transition from medicine to music, the ways in which hardships can lead to hopefulness, and more!…
Jim Curtis received his PhD from Columbia University and taught for 31 years at the University of Missouri. He now lives in Pennsylvania with his wife and a much-loved poodle, Alfie. The origin of Decoding Dylan, his current book, goes back to his early years in Tupelo, Mississippi, when he had the chance to see Elvis Presley perform live. That was a life-changing experience that gave him his lasting love of rock and roll, and the great rock stars such as Bob Dylan.
In this episode of Cover to Cover with . . ., Editor-in-Chief Jordan Blum and Curtis go in-depth about Dylan’s cultural impact and inspirations, as well his links to other artists, Curtis’ process for completing the book, and more!
