Lit+Mag+Recommendations

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Literary Magazine Recommendations

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Links to Some Quality Online Lit Mags

I: Your Recommendation (Do Two)
Please include: 1) Your name 2) The title of the work you read and the author 3) The work's genre (poetry, fiction, play, etc...) 4) The name of the magazine 5) Date of the magazine 6) Your recommendation (Did you like this? Why or why not? Should someone else in the class read it?)

II. Your Reading (Do One)
Please include: 1) Your name 2) Who recommended the work 3) The title of the work you read 4) The work's genre (poetry, fiction, play, etc...) 5) The name of the magazine 6) Date of the magazine 7) Say if you liked the work. Why or why not?

====I enjoyed reading the poem, though I am recommending it as a challenge to the class. The poem is comprised of ten parts and spans seven pages, and it is by no means easy reading at all times. The author connects snow, love, memory, and mysticism in a controlled but experimental poem he calls an "essay."====

Ally Knepper, “The Boy Ghost” by Marianne Boruch. Poetry. Field: Contemporary Poetry and Poetics. Spring 1992.

I did not particularly enjoy reading this poem. I had to read it a few times to understand it and even after that I still don’t really have a full grasp on it. The poem seemed to have more of a story like aspect to it rather than poem like qualities.

Lauren Bacon, " The Train" by David Orr. Poetry. Poetry, December 2007.

This poem held my attention the entire time I read it. I liked how it made you search for the meaning behind it even though it was straight forward from the start.

Nicole Koch, "Me Against the World" by Charles Bukowski. Poetry, 1994

I enjoyed this poem. It was different from many poems I have read, and it stayed that way from start to finish. It told a straight forward story but still had symbols.

Nicole Koch, "An Old-Fashioned Song" by John Hollander. Poetry, 1990

This poem was okay. This imagery was nice and the memory was touching. It does not shin against the rest of the poems but it's still a good poem.

__ Lindsey Marschka, "Second Thought, Double Take" by Michael Quattrone. Poetry, Spring 2007. Caffeine Destiny.

I enjoyed this poem for its concise idea yet he connects it with life as a whole--that is, relationships with others and relationship with oneself. The last two stanza's are particularly awesome.

Lindsey Marschka, "Hydroponics" by Melissa Broder. Poetry, Winter 2011 Edition. Action Yes.

This was a really weird, yet cool poem. You wouldn't think she would connect science with her theme from the first stanza, but she incorporates pretty interesting phrases. I would recommend it only because it's a bit different than most poems.

Lindsey Marschka, "The Train", by David Orr. Poetry, December 2007. (Recommended by Lauren Bacon)

I agree with Lauren, this poem is interesting. It's like a narrative, and I liked that, yet it still had the poetic influence of searching for meaning.

Ally Knepper, "Two Stones with One Bird", by Charles Bernstein. Poetry. Poetry, June 2008.

I really enjoyed reading this poem and I liked the feelings that it evoked. It's very short and all the lines consist of one word, or less. The line breaks that Bernstein chose are really effective as well. I also like the paradoxical nature of the poem and it's title.

Ally Knepper, "The Train", by David Orr. Poetry, December 2007. (Recommended by Lauren Bacon/Lindsey Marschka)

I really liked this poem! It was written very concisely but it had an abstract meaning that I liked. It was very pleasurable to read and by the end I could create a meaning for the poem, I don't know if it is what the author was going for but it fit well and I liked what it meant to me.

Lauren Bacon, "Immortal Instant," by Marko Vesovic. Poetry. Poetry, April 2008.

After reading this poem I really enjoyed the way all of the lines flowed together. It is confusing, fascinating, and interesting all at the same time. The long sentences used in the poem help to extend the emotion being revealed in the poem. I also find the length of this poem to be perfect, not too long but just short enough to gets its message out there.

Anna Voystock, "Floating Sweet Dumpling," by Ho Xuan Huong. Poetry. Poetry, April 2008.

I really like how the author is described in this poem and how he/she is compared to a dumpling. The sentences are long; however, there are only four lines so it is a quick and easy poem to read which is nice because sometimes people are not as interested in long poems. There is a lot of imagery and description in the story, but the last line gets to the point and tells her message. This is a very good poem filled with so much imagery that is really compelling.

Anna Voystock. "The Green Car," by Landis Everson. Poetry. Poetry, June 2008.

This poem has a deep meaning behind it. It's a little difficult to figure out so if you're in the mood for a puzzle, it's a good poem to read. I really enjoy the deeper meaning behind it and think that it is really interesting. Some of the short sentences are really powerful in it and in the poem, the author seems to be in a constant battle with himself.

Jess Hess. "Recorded Message," by Philip Dacey. The Beloit Poetry Journal, Fall 1992

This poem was very fun to read. It wasn't too complicated and was just funny and sarcastic enough, while still making the point it set out to make. It was a fun and easy read and I recommend it.

Jess Hess. "Interview," by David Starkey. The Beloit Poetry Journal, Fall 1992

I really love this poem. It's sort of vague and a little hard to understand, but the images that formed in my mind the first time I read through it were incredible. The poem sort of goes in and out of this comprehensive story, and these vivid images. It makes me feel like they are memories that are flashing in and out of someone's mind. I really liked this poem.

Lila Ciro "Recorded Message" (recommendation from Jess Hess)

Like the poems I chose, I like this because it's mocking something in real life. (The offices that put you on hold care so deeply that it looks like they don't. They're really convincing, too.) I think this makes me look like a jerk. Sorry about that.

John Dooley. “Bird at the Window”. Poetry//. Poetry//. June 2008 I really enjoyed this poem. It describes the yearning and craving for something better and that it is right there in front of them, that they almost have it but it is just out of reach, with one more obstacle in the way. I’m sure everyone can relate to this.

Anna Voystock. Recommended by Jess Hess. "Interview," by David Starkey. The Beloit Poetry Journal, Fall 1992. I really like this recommended piece because it isn't normal poetry. It is completely original and gives a lot of vivid images just like Jess said. I really like it and the language style is also really different.

Nicole Koch. Recommended by Lauren Bacon. It's a poem called "The Train." It was published in Poetry in December 2007. I enjoyed it because the imagery was spectacular and it made me think.

Christian Stock. Out of Body by Jennifer Egan. Fiction. Tin house. Spring 2010. The excerpt from "Out of body" is great. The character's are complex and the author uses creative ways to explain the highs of drug use. It was refreshing how different drug use was portrayed in the story.

Christian Stock. Grand Thefts by Tom Bissel. Essay. Tin house. Spring 2010. This essay was awesome. The author shows the spiral of his addiction in such an upfront and factual way. It especially hit home for me because I do play video games but anyone could benefit from reading this essay.

Christian Stock. "Recorded Message" recommended by Jess Hess. Poetry. The Beloit Poetry Journal. Fall 1992. I liked this poem, it seems like the author held back a little bit though. I think he could have been much more biting and aggressive, but he seems to stumble a bit on his own cleverness and instead of making him sound like someone you could relate to he sounds like a kind of pompous know it all.

Lauren Bacon."Interview,"by David Starkey. The Beloit Poetry Journal, Fall1992. (recommended by Jess Hess) I really enjoyed this poem because I often have trouble seeing an image to go along with a poem and after reading this I had a clear picture in my mind. Its descriptive language really helps to paint this picture of the meaning for the reader. You don't need to read this poem twice to understand it which also makes it enjoyable to read.

Lila Ciro (again. Because it deleted mine last time. F*ing machines...) Haiku for Friendly Skies by Leslie What. Caffeine Destiny Archives

I thought this poem was brilliant because it was a large poem made of a bunch of haikus (haiku? Is that the plural?) It makes the most unpleasant parts of airports and air travel humorous, which really needs to be done, or those traveling will get so stressed that the change in pressure at such high altitudes will cause their already buzzing heads to explode.

Lila Ciro (again. again.) Table of Contents by Jeremy Voigt. Caffeine Destiny Archives

Another funny poem, this time about computers/the internet. I bet I would have found it funnier if I was more tech savvy, but even I know the ridiculous kinds of adds that show up on every web page (who's paying for these? No, I do not want to learn my credit score.) that I visit, and how he almost mocked these.

Emily Johnson. The Train by David Orr. Poetry. Poetry. December 2007. I liked this poem a lot. The author talks about everyone passing him by and not noticing what he thinks to be so obvious...it is a very interesting poem. I would recommend it.

Emily Johnson. Secret Life by Li-Young Lee. Poetry. Poetry. December 2007. This poem was my favorite out of all the ones I read from this book. I felt bad for the boy in the poem, and I thought the author did a good job getting his feels of disappointment across.

Emily Johnson. Recommended by Anna Voystock. Floating Sweet Dumpling by Ho Xuan Huong. Poetry. Poetry, April 2008. I liked this poem. I thought it was short and to the point, and got the message across well through its clear imagery. The last line was my favorite.

Zach Bogner. For Years My Heart Required of Me by Hafez. Poetry. Poetry. April 2008. I didn't like this poem at all. It started with someone looking for a magical cup, and then he found the guy who had it, and then that guy started talking about one of his friends who got hanged. The things that he said were kind of cool, but none of it made any sense. There might have been something lost in the translation (because it was translated) but I doubt it. Don't read it.

Zach Bogner. Miguel by Cesar Vallejo. Poetry. Poetry. April 2008. I really liked this poem. I think it was about the author's dead brother. It started with a memory of the two playing hide and seek, and then related it to them later in life, saying that the brother is hiding and needs to show himself (but he's dead). It was really cool. Read it!

Zach Bogner. Recommended by Jess Hess. Interview by David Starkey. Poetry. The Beloit Poetry Journal, Fall 1992. This poem was really really weird, but I really liked it. My favorite lines were: "She could sew anything. One time she sewed a prison and put me in it." It was awesome. It was kind of confusing, but good.