Skilled in writing Art, Culture, Fashion, Music, and Literature.
Naya Clark on Kim Chinquee’s SNOWDOG, a Ravenna Press flash fiction collection
At the crux of many people living in the humdrum of isolation and taking in stories quickly through social media, the “queen” of flash fiction Kim Chinquee’s new collection SNOWDOG satisfies taking in the brief and wandering details of everyday life.
“Opportunities for curiosity and generosity”: an interview with Peter Ramos
Naya Clark discusses with Peter Ramos his book Poetic Encounters in the Americas: Remarkable Bridge. In Remarkable Bridge Ramos delves into what goes into poetic translations, referencing poets such as James Wright and César Vallejo; Walt Whitman, Pablo Neruda and Langston Hughes; Luis Palés Matos and William Carlos Williams; Elizabeth Bishop and Octavio Paz, and more.
In this interview, Ramos answers questions regarding how language and place literally and figuratively cross boundaries and c...
Seeing the Mom in Pop: A Conversation with M. I. Devine
M. I. DEVINE IS A multidisciplinary writer, lyricist, and performer. An associate professor of English at the State University of New York at Plattsburgh, Devine has published widely on an array of topics, his scholarship winning the 2019 Gournay Prize in Creative Nonfiction and support from the National Endowment for the Humanities. His most recent book, Warhol’s Mother’s Pantry: Art, America, and the Mom in Pop, published in November by Mad Creek Books, delves into the life and work of pop-...
What’s at stake for West End’s art scene?
How the neighborhood’s artists are adapting to the COVID-19 era
A Review of Orange by E. Briskin
(Seattle, WA: Entre Ríos Books, 2020)
Orange, by E. Briskin, is a collection of segmented prose about the death of a grieving narrator’s dog. Along with the jolting theme, the form that Orange takes is just as peculiar. The stream-of-conscious narrative is displayed in numerically disordered blocks of thought, many times in the form of observational one-liners. The nameless narrator’s thoughts are consumed by the memories and consciousness (or lack thereof) of their late canine companion. Des...
Album Review: Curm by Curm Johnson
Curm Johnson is an Atlanta-based musician, who just released his self-titled rap album, Curm. The album cover features the be-spectacled rapper, wearing a brown fleece, and a simple pair of jeans. He looks head on to the viewer as he sits in a skinny, black chair in front of a wall of graffiti positioned behind a flooded, murky, ground,...
Megan Angelo’s Followers: A World Lonely with the Vanity of Social Media
Followers, a novel by Megan Angelo (Graydon House 2020), is a fictional prediction of a world molded by social media culture. Followers revolves around the lives of Orla Cadden, whose dream is to become a literary success, and Floss, an aspiring celebrity influencer. Told in alternating stories, the novel sees Floss and Orla hack societal prestige through digital connections.
Kelly Taylor Mitchell Displays Care for Ritual, History, and Diaspora
Kelly Taylor Mitchell is an artist and educator, using experimental art forms, care, and creativity to preserve and uncover Black diaspora.
Open Letter: A Month of Chaos and Peace
Care (n.)
/ker/
The provision of what is necessary for the health, welfare, maintenance, and protection of someone or something.
This month started like everyone’s: with uncertainty. The beginning of March felt like years ago. When the buzz of Corona Virus felt like it was just heresy laced with paranoia. The fears became real when Urban Ivy’s staff traveled to San Antonio for the AWP conference. It was something like a dream of mine– a real writer’s experience, even with fears of cancellatio...
Open Letter: From a Fish in a Pond
Just before writing this I was trying to think of an honest angle. How do I approach being an editor at a newer, small publisher without acknowledging my overwhelming sense of imposter’s syndrome? Then I started zoning out. Time does this peculiar thing, where it warps, and it seems like just a few months ago, I was starting my freshman year of college. Ironically, I was in the same coffee shop I’m in now, in my high school hometown. After working part-time at a close-by boutique, I would loo...
We’re All Fighting: A Conversation with Saeed Jones
In the midst of America’s identity reflecting itself through politics and pop culture, Saeed Jones’s new memoir, How We Fight for Our Lives, illustrates an experience of American life that is rarely talked about yet commonly lived. The book focuses the life of a queer Black boy from the South, and how the lack of conversation in America shaped the experiences of his youth, personal development, education, and sexuality into a battle of survival.
Arthur Jafa Uses Video Collaging to Convey the Black Experience
Among Atlanta's High Museum of Art's most diverse audience in history, Jafa compiles video documentation of the complexity of Blackness
José Olivarez' "Citizen Illegal" Illuminates the Experiences and Language behind Migration
Over a year ago I reviewed poet, José Olivarez' "Citizen Illegal", a collection of poetry centralizing the experience of immigration from Mexico to L.A. Have a read!
Truth through Fiction: Talking with Nicole Dennis-Benn
To say that Nicole Dennis-Benn is highly accomplished as a writer is an understatement. Her debut novel, Here Comes the Sun, received titles of best book of the year from the New York Times, NPR, Amazon, and Kirkus Reviews, amongst others. Now, Dennis-Benn is also the writer behind the forthcoming novel, Patsy. Dennis-Benn and I recently discussed her writing process for both Patsy and Here Comes the Sun, as well as issues of motherhood, religion and the Church, immigration, and craft.
True Blossom: Pop for Good Samaritans
On a clear, winter night down a few backroads, and through a barely-lit, crater-ridden parking lot, a band called True Blossom rehearsed at a warehouse practice space. They warmly welcomed me in and offered me candy prior to my interview. Initially, I wouldn’t have imagined True Blossom’s music coming out of a warehouse. I pictured their sound flowing from a purple-lit living room, like a scene straight out of Scott Pilgrim. The airy, dance-in-your-room grooves and melodies True Blossom creat...