In my weaker, less feminist moments, I worry writing about relationships will come off as “girly,” as if girl-like behavior is both easily defined and something to be avoided at all costs.

You, by yourself, writing. You, alone, making that thing. That’s poetry. And when you die, that goes away. AWP goes on. But when you die there will never be another Fran poem or Cate poem or Michael poem. Don’t forget that.

I found that openness of form, softness of sound and image, and sincerity in tone suggest new ways I might approach poems as a writer and reader, and too, how I might more gently and generously approach my daily interactions with those around me.

I hadn’t realized how much I’d been craving modern company in my reading till I became more conscious of it; hadn’t realized how useful to my own writing reading super fresh literature could be.

Author Marianne Apostolides’s Deep Salt Water (see our recent review here) is a powerful and fearless memoir which weaves together the theme of abortion and climate change. This work combines strong individual recollections with the more global idea of the collapse of our natural environment. Eric Maroney: I see this work as having many layers. […]