Banango Lit

I have recently acquired the new issue of Black Warrior Review. Black Warrior Review is published by the University of Alabama. I have read a few things from this issue and will present some thoughts on them:

“Operation Toe Breaker” by Brandon Davis Jennings is a great story. It reminds me of Tim O’ Brien, not only because O’ Brien is referenced in it, but because it is an attempt to tell a “true war story.” This is a non-fiction piece. It features some great insights like “real war stories aren’t about excitement and adventure; they’re about facts. Shitty, blood-caked facts”. I have never been to a war, but this piece makes me feel like I have. The dialogue is very ‘real’ and believable. The part with the foot breaking is painful in a very quiet way. Looking at this again, I can maybe see people saying this is too O’ Brien, but I feel like it is working very well.

“[the fifth house]” by JA Tyler: I am not entirely sure I ‘get’ JA Tyler. I have read this and the piece in Nouns of Assemblage and both left me slightly confused in a good way. Both stories featured deer and the woods and the Black Warrior piece seems almost like an expanded version of the other one. I am not sure what is happening (it seems like Tyler works largely from the ‘mystery’ side of the ‘manners vs mysteries’ pendulum and sometimes I get confused easily) but the mood of the piece is strong. The mood is very somber. This was an interesting read.

“I Believe the Far Fields Are Made of Glass” by Lillian-Yvonne Bertram: Bertram’s work seems to be everywhere these days (I can currently see from my bed two journals on my shelf that I am pretty sure she is in). This poem is very prose-y and is another that I have trouble ‘getting’ but really enjoy. I feel like this is something Bertram excels at and it could explain why I enjoy the poem: she is able to write things that cause the reader to be a little lost but still engaged in the poem. This poem features Teddy Roosevelt and polio rags and champagne.

Two poems by Zachary Schomburg: both of these poems seem to be about endings, “Casting Out the King of Boys” more explicitly. These poems are humorous and entertaining and sad.

Part 2 of this will feature my thoughts on pieces by Sarah Rose Etter, Brandon Shimoda, Joyelle McSweeney (who has a chapbook in this issue) and probably some other people. Sweet.