Highlighting Enter Water, Swimmer
Contributing writer Laura Brackin writes about our newest poetry release Enter Water, Swimmer by Mary Morris.
Mary Morris’ new book, Enter Water, Swimmer, is a hauntingly beautiful collection of poetry that reaches deep into the soul and touches those places where we ponder life. Each page offers the reader an opportunity to connect with nature and what Mother Earth has to offer her children. Read more
Coming and Going: “The Geometry of Wishes” by Randall Watson
Contributing writer Savanah Burns wrote this post in celebration of Randall Watson’s new book with Texas Review Press.
Everything has a place and time in life, and then life goes on, right? This is what nature warns us with the changing of the tree leaves. But in our own lives, the special and the ordinary moments in life come too fast and go too quickly. Those moments you didn’t know would be important until later on, such as when you first fall in love. And those moments you knew would change everything, such as the day your lover leaves. Read more
Taking a Look at Ephemera with Evana Bodiker
Contributing writer Savanah Burns recently interviewed the 2017 Robert Phillips Poetry Chapbook Prize winner and author of Ephemera, Evana Bodiker.
Q: Why did you title your book Ephemera? What statement are you hoping to make?
A: When titling the book, I was initially torn between “Fibrosis” and “Ephemera,” which are both titles of poems from the collection. Ephemera seemed far more applicable to more than one specific theme and more representative of the poems in the book. I also was just drawn to the sound of the word. In a way, I think those same sounds are used and repeated throughout my poems. It also is just a beautiful word. Of course, the word itself embodies a feeling of melancholy; ephemera are things only enjoyed for a short period of time. A lot of my poems can be described as elegiac and melancholic. Read more
Getting to Know 2017 Phillips Prize winner Evana Bodiker
Contributing writer Savanah Burns recently interviewed the 2017 Robert Phillips Poetry Chapbook Prize winner and author of Ephemera, Evana Bodiker.
Q: How did you hear about the Texas Review Press?
A: My partner and I both write poetry. We had just completed chapbooks in one of our advanced level poetry writing courses, so we were looking to get some of those poems out into the world. He had read Jesse Graves’ two books from the TRP and through a Google search, found out about the Robert Phillips Poetry Chapbook prize. He encouraged me to submit after we read through some of the past winners’ poetry. Read more
We Are the Bus by James McKean
This post was written by contributing writer Savanah Burns.
In the winter of 2011, James McKean’s We Are the Bus debuted onto the literary scene with the Texas Review Press. McKean’s hard work won TRP’s X. J. Kennedy Poetry Prize, an annual contest accepting submissions from poets from all over. McKean’s rich background in nonfiction and poetry, along with a hoard of life experience, shows through in his writing. He is an esteemed professor who teaches for the MFA program at Queens University Low Residency, located in North Carolina.
