In this issue, Ofelia Brooks explores the meaning of accents that come and go, and the tenderness required to understand each other, in “Mother Tongue.”
Lisa Parker returns to Manhattan in September 2001, a time when “burnt metal still stings the nostrils” in two poems beginning with “Smoke, Salt, Sweet.”
And June Gervais shares an excerpt from her beautifully wrought debut novel, Jobs for Girls with Artistic Flair. In the excerpt, we have the good fortune of meeting Gina, a recent high school grad with an artistic bent. She spends her days hanging in a tattoo parlor pecking at typewriter keys and contemplating her future with others in the shop: jobs, college, and even parts of her romantic life. If you like what you read here, be sure to order a copy of this fantastic novel at your favorite indie bookstore.