Inspired by Lily Cigale’s poem published in the Winter 2014 issue of Vagabond City. “remember riding bikes at night in northern california remember kissing on various couches but never alone. remember our almost-summer almost-romance”
Read moreLesley LeRoux on “Her Paraphernalia” by Margaret Christakos
Do you remember the way your mother would see you off to school in the morning? Did she sit with you for breakfast, or was she busy in her room, getting ready for the workday? Maybe her own mother used to sit with her for breakfast in the morning, and that’s what’s become routine, along […]
Read moreBethany Mary on “Away Status” by Shy Watson
“Away Status” by Shy Watson is a poetry collection that will lead you away from your comfort zone and straight into something so alarmingly honest, you will want to both close the book and keep turning pages. It is hard and easy to read the words of someone who tells the dark secrets that no […]
Read moreVagabond City Interviews Witch Craft Mag
Witch Craft is a print magazine. They publish twice a year on the equinoxes and publish other tidbits on their blog regularly. They also run Sad Spell Press, where they publish a chapbook series known as Spellbooks and other magic as they find it. VAGABOND CITY: You say that your idea of Witch Craft is […]
Read moreRachel Charlene Lewis on “all girls will not feel pretty at some point” by Elizabeth Tsung
The moment I learned of Elizabeth Tsung’s book, I reached out to her, practically begging to read it. As a girl who spent a good chunk of time and a number of points not feeling pretty, the title called to me immediately. But the book itself, beyond the title, continues to call to me even […]
Read moreNeyat Yohannes on “Even This Page Is White” by Vivek Shraya
Born in Edmonton, but based in #the6, Vivek Shraya is a an artist whose works span across the mediums of music, film, and writing. She’s put out ten albums, four short films, and three books. An accolade queen, Vivek is a three-time Lambda Literary Award finalist for her books God Loves Hair, She of the […]
Read moreTHE VAGABOND TAPES: Spring Desideratum
Inspired by Atreyee Gupta’s essay published in ISSUE 08. “At first all I see are the giant oaks and stately spruces, the way the manzanita branches distort themselves while the birches guard over this viridescent empery. They are a gleeful bunch of misfits, cradling each other’s roots, vying for the slightest glimpse of light, growing, […]
Read moreNeyat Yohannes on “I’m Very Into You” by Kathy Acker and McKenzie Wark
Recently, Carrie Brownstein—actor, comedian, author, and one-third of Riot grrrl band, Sleater-Kinney—posted a snap to Instagram showcasing her copy of I’m very into you laying atop a red background sans any commentary. It’s no wonder that Brownstein didn’t include any words with her picture because this intimate book has a way of rendering the reader […]
Read moreLesley LeRoux on “The Filaments of Heather” by Heather Goodrich
This isn’t the domestic sphere you know, the one you’re told about. This is a deconstruction, a dismantling, a tearing apart. This is a doing away with expectations – a refusal of the woman’s “role.” In The Filaments of Heather, author Heather Goodrich’s chapbook from Sad Spell Press, we find a woman ridding herself of […]
Read moreVagabond City Interviews Do Nguyen Mai
DO NGUYEN MAI, name written family name to first, is a first-generation Vietnamese-American poet and musician residing in the Los Angeles Area in the United States. In her free time, Mai can often be found researching Southeast Asian history and teaching Vietnamese to young children. Mai is also the founder and editor-in-chief of Rambutan Literary, […]
Read moreBethany Mary on “The Female Gaze Is Cool” by Alexandra Wuest
Alexandra Wuest’s chapbook “The Female Gaze is Cool” advocates for the elimination of tunnel vision, for a new perspective that shouldn’t be so new. The female gaze is so often an internalized male gaze, a reflection of how other men (and women) see women. But the female gaze should be its own gaze, and these […]
Read moreNeyat Yohannes on “Hair,” by Amy Narneeloop
“I have curly HAIR now” is a statement repeated on several occasions both as a simple description and eventually as a triumph in the titular section of Amy Narneeloop’s Hair. In this chapbook that serves as the index to Narneeloop’s ever-evolving parts, the award-winning, genre-bending writer documents her relationship to her body with matter-of-fact language […]
Read moreLesley LeRoux on “Shadow Songs,” by Christopher Morgan
There are typically two things I like to do after reading a book of poetry for the first time, especially when it’s for a review. First, I come up with a first-impression word cloud – it may be only one word or a few, but it’s meant to sum up the general feeling I have […]
Read moreBethany Mary on “Eating Alone at Chipotle” by Carmen E. Brady
If you are searching for the perfect book to read while eating alone at Chipotle, I would recommend Carmen E. Brady’s “Eating Alone at Chipotle.” One person even tweeted at Brady @therealcbrad to admit to the tragicomedy of reading it while eating alone and spilling food all over the pages. You can cry from spices […]
Read moreRachel Charlene Lewis on “I WANTED TO BE THE KNIFE” by Sara Sutterlin
Sara Sutterlin’s I WANTED TO BE THE KNIFE is an escape from pretentious, bullshit dude poems. If anything, it is the answer to these poems. It gives us a look at cum from the other perspective. What does it mean to be spewed upon instead of doing the spewing? This sounds legit disgusting, and I […]
Read moreNeyat Yohannes on “(MORE THAN) DUST.” by Jamie Oliveira
Jamie Oliveira is a traveling visual artist and writer. She is also an activist for women’s healing, which is beautifully apparent in her work. Her latest project, (more than) dust. is a powerful photo book that serves as a platform for sufferers of emotional abuse. The book came into fruition thanks to funding from a […]
Read moreLesley LeRoux on “Phases” by Danielle Perry
Just reading the author note that precedes Danielle Perry’s Phases (Sad Spell Press), her first chapbook, is enough to spark your enthusiasm over what’s to come. She’s a tarot reader who is “generally amping up her witchiness,” and who couldn’t use more of that in the world? Of course, we wouldn’t expect anything less of […]
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THE VAGABOND TAPES: Wistful
> so you didn’t get what you wanted. >> that’s okay. breathe. there is life left.
Read moreVagabond City Interviews Emily O’Neill
EMILY O’NEILL is an artist, writer, and proud Jersey girl. She tells loud stories in her inside voice because she wants to keep you close. Her work has appeared in The Best Indie Lit New England Anthology, Cutbank, The Journal, Sugar House Review, Washington Square and Whiskey Island, among many others. Her poem “de Los […]
Read moreBethany Mary on Amanda Dissinger’s This Is How I Will Tell You I Love You
If you have ever felt split in half – hesitant but in control, understanding but not understandable – Amanda Dissinger’s This Is How I Will Tell You I Love You may resonate with you. This is a book packed full of duality, guarded warnings and heartfelt admissions, about the complexity of love. Whether the subject […]
Read moreNeyat Yohannes on “Your Sick” by Elizabeth J. Colen, Carol Guess, and Kelly Magee
In this collaborative effort, Elizabeth J. Colen (author of poetry and flash fiction collections, finalist for the Lambda Literary Award in 2011), Carol Guess (author of 15 books of poetry/prose, awarded the Philolexian Award for Distinguished Literary Achievement by Columbia University), and Kelly Magee (author of chapbooks and short story collections, winner of the Katherine […]
Read moreTHE VAGABOND TAPES: calm
> so you had a long and hard day at work. >> and you want to sit back. >>> rewind. >>>> and relax.
Read moreBethany Mary on “Manic Depressive Dream Girl” by Naadeyah Haseeb
Trigger warning: bipolar, theme of suicide “Hypothesis: I will not go crazy because I am not truly insane. Just a spectacular fuck up,” is the bitterly hopeful premise of Naadeyah Haseeb’s Manic Depressive Dream Girl. This unconventional chapbook, in which the boy and girl are alternately comfortable and wild, explores the depth a relationship can […]
Read moreLesley LeRoux on “Howling at the Moon” by Darshana Suresh
“How much can you tell me about love?” asks the bird in Darshana Suresh’s opening poem, “Birds on a Power Line,” from Howling at the Moon (Platypus Press). “Enough to fill my breakfast bowl,” answers the other. In her debut poetry collection, 19-year-old Suresh has more than enough to share about love, loss and survival […]
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THE VAGABOND TAPES: Aching
> you’re aching. >> let it breathe. >>> let it wail. >>>> let it out.
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THE VAGABOND TAPES: Black Power
> so you’re frustrated about the situation of black people in america + feel helpless. >> and then you listen to the revolution waking up. >>> it’s already started. and we shall overcome.
Read moreCOMING SOON
reviews + blog posts + interviews wanna get your book reviewed/your thoughts into the void? email us > vagabondcityliterary@gmail.com
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