Cincinnati Review

Why We Like It: “Confetti” by Marilyn Abildskov

Posted by Cincinnati Review | Aug 1, 2019 | Why We Like It

Instead of focusing on how, Marilyn Abildskov’s essay “Confetti” delves into that which often goes unnamed in workshops: What do we write about?

excerpt from “Confetti” by Marilyn Abildskov

Posted by Cincinnati Review | Aug 1, 2019 | Samples

1 I ask them what they think about. Truly, whatever’s on your mind. Write it down. Anonymously....

miCRo: “Drug Dealer: A ’90s Whip Reel” by Kristin Robertson

Posted by Cincinnati Review | Jul 31, 2019 | miCRo

From cars to cocktail napkins to Hennessy bottles, these snapshots create a coming-of-age story rich with heart and heartbreak.

Why Should This Be Beautiful

Posted by Cincinnati Review | Jul 25, 2019 | From our Contributors

In Issue 16.1, our literary nonfiction offerings include Emily Block’s essay “Fog Studies,” which meditatively explores many different aspects and meanings of “fog.”

miCRo: “사랑니: (n) wisdom teeth” by Su Cho

Posted by Cincinnati Review | Jul 24, 2019 | miCRo

When the speaker discovers that “wisdom teeth” in English translates to “love teeth” in Korean, the poem unspools into a stunning reflection on false translation and the gap between culture and identity.

miCRo: “Three Filipinas” by Harrison Geosits

Posted by Cincinnati Review | Jul 17, 2019 | miCRo

Geosits’s prose spans decades and moves the reader from “bug screens” in the Philippines to “Filet-o-Fish sandwiches” in America.

miCRo: “Epigenetic Inheritance” by Emily Franklin

Posted by Cincinnati Review | Jul 10, 2019 | miCRo

“Epigenetic Inheritance” explores the stakes and fallout of inherited trauma, how we retain its traces in our cells and pass it down.

miCRo: “Music Indoors” by Adam Gianforcaro

Posted by Cincinnati Review | Jul 3, 2019 | miCRo

Beyond the pleasure and surprise of such a fresh occasion for poetry, “Music Indoors” makes exemplary use of lush, atmospheric imagery and a slow, lingering pace to cultivate a kind of sun-drenched, Debussy-soundtracked pocket world…

What We’re Reading: To Float in the Space Between by Terrance Hayes

Posted by Cincinnati Review | Jun 27, 2019 | What We're Reading

Making a case for what he terms “liquid poetics,” Hayes suggests that great art comes from the ability to stay loose, to change tacks, to shape shift in response to these shifting, mysterious factors. Hayes’ sustained emphasis on personal poetics as both liquid and descendant creates a way for his readers (colleagues, family, fans) to find themselves within the fluctuating matrix he proposes.