Whale Road Review Posts

Our Spring 2026 issue is going live from a different coast! Today I’m in Rockland, Maine, at the birth home of Edna St. Vincent Millay, one of my very favorite poets, for a few days of writing retreat with Carly DeMento (another one of my very favorite poets!). When I began Whale Road Review a decade ago, I seriously considered naming it after Millay’s poem “First Fig.” I’ve also joked (but am I joking?) that she’s the journal’s patron saint, so I’m delighted to get to share this lovely light from such a special place.

Issue 42 features poetry and short prose by Barlow Adams, Lake Angela, Clare Bayard, Jack B. Bedell, Rebecca Brock, Hollie Dugas, Robert Fillman, Hayley Mitchell Haugen, Mary Beth Hines, Margaret Anne Kean, Candice M. Kelsey, Hoon Kim, Isabel Cristina Legarda, Cam McGlynn, Hannah Cole Orsag, Ayesha Owais, Emily Patterson, Casey Reiland, Casey Schreiner, Rowan Tate, Jenna Villforth Veazey, Ann Weil, Dick Westheimer, and Rodd Whelpley.

In this issue’s pedagogy papers, Angelo J. Letizia makes the case for using poetry as a teaching tool across disciplines, and Isaac Stackhouse Wheeler offers a microfiction exercise for navigating uncertainty.

Special thanks to Alex Carrigan and Judy Kronenfeld for taking us inside new books by Clayre Benzadón and Marjorie Maddox, and thanks also to Swetha Amit for sharing her engaging interview with Laura Toland.

Please send some love to our contributors using the Tip the Author links below author bios throughout the issue. Thanks for reading!

Katie Manning
Editor-in-Chief

P.S. If you’re going to AWP, you can find us at our offsite reading on Wednesday evening at Westminster Hall (Poe’s burial place!) at 7, doors at 6:30. We’re co-sponsoring with SWWIM, MER, NELLE, Perugia Press, and Cultivating Voices LIVE, and the lineup of readers is incredible.

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Happy 10-year anniversary of Whale Road Review! In some ways it’s hard to believe it’s been a decade, but when I think of all that’s happened during that time, I feel like it should be at least 2 decades. The tasks of reading submissions and setting up issues have been with me in hard situations (like several days in an unconscious loved one’s hospital room) and in happy times (like late at night on vacation near my sleeping kids). It’s a gift and a profound honor to be trusted with other writers’ work in this way. Thank you to all who have contributed and to the peer reviewers who have spent countless hours reading and shaping this journal with me. Here’s another fantastic winter issue that we’re excited to share!

Issue 41 features poetry and short prose by Caron Andregg, Michael Boccardo, M. L. Brown, Stephanie Burt, Lauren Camp, Jia-Rui Cook, Kristie Frederick Daugherty, Brian Delaney, Melanie Figg, Taylor Franson-Thiel, Doug Fritock, Adam Grabowski, Connie Jordan Green, Jane C. Miller, Devon Miller-Duggan, Dayna Patterson, Alan Perry, Katherine Plumhoff, Nayt Rundquist, Rikki Santer, Karen Elizabeth Sharpe, Trevor Patricia Watkin, Patricia Aya Williams, Melody Wilson, and Jane Zwart.

We have two pedagogy papers in this issue: Ginger Hanchey brings us a poetry jukebox activity, and Laura Sweeney invites us to consider who gets to be angry and how to practice anger as method.

We’re grateful to B.K. Jackson, Lesley Wheeler, and Jenny Wong for sharing their thoughtful reviews of new books by Elissa Altman, Rosa Castellano, and Karen Pierce Gonzalez. We’re also happy to share Melody Wilson’s engaging interview with Annette Sisson.

If you’d like to celebrate our anniversary tangibly, please send a little something to our contributors using the Tip the Author links below many of the author bios throughout the issue. We’ll also be holding an anniversary reading via Zoom on Saturday, December 13, at 9 a.m. Pacific. Register here!

Thanks for reading, and here’s to the next 10 years!

Katie Manning
Editor-in-Chief

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Since I live in a place without colorful leaves or colder weather to make it feel like fall, our fall issues are my favorite harbingers of the season. This Fall 2025 issue is full of earnest language and surprising humor, and these pieces are packed with autumn. I feel so fortunate that I’ve gotten to spend time in the beauty of this work. I’ve needed it.

Issue 40 features poetry and short prose by Mary Biddinger, Emma Bolden, Callie B. Dean, Nathan Fako, Adam Greenfield, Jeff Harvey, Jennifer Randall Hotz, Courtney Justus, Beth Kanter, Sigrun Susan Lane, Natalia Martinez, Maud Burnett McInerney, Luci Shaw, Beate Sigriddaughter, Brian Simoneau, Hillary Smith-Maddern, Annie Stenzel, Megan Stolz, Claire Taylor, Eric K. Taylor, Marjorie Tesser, Rita Tiwari, and Brett Warren.

This issue’s pedagogy paper by Danielle Shi offers a model for teaching creative writing through online journaling. We have reviews of new books by Nancy Miller Gomez, Michelle Lerner, Sarah Kain Gutowski, Stephanie Parent, and Cammy Thomas thanks to the thoughtful work of Simone Muench, Jennifer Poteet, Kimberly Ann Priest, Daniel Schulz, and Elizabeth Sylvia. We also have a mutual interview with Beth Castrodale and Ellen Birkett Morris about their recent novels.

If you like what you see here, please use one or more of the Tip the Author links below author bios throughout the issue. Thanks for reading!

Katie Manning
Editor-in-Chief

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Do you ever read something and feel like it’s reading you back? Our summer issue is doing this to me. My dad died just over a month ago (“A storm cannot grieve, but a grief can be a storm.” – Donna Vorreyer, “These Currents Turn Awry”). I’m leaving soon to meet up with dear friends in Paris (“…rain, the end of a baguette, the spine / of a book, and you in a long wool coat.” – Janine Certo, “Jetlag, Paris”). This is such a special issue, and I suspect many more people will find themselves being read by these pieces too.

Issue 39 features poetry and short prose by Chelsea Catherine, Janine Certo, Geraldine Connolly, Karla Daly, Lisa Dordal, Denise Duhamel, Beth Gylys, Dustin Brookshire, Julie Ebin, Marissa Glover, Kelle Groom, Ashley Hajimirsadeghi, Karen Kilcup, Edward Lees, Jane Muschenetz, Charlene Pierce, Emily Rose Proctor, Susanna Rich, Beth Sherman, Adam Spiegelman, Donna Vorreyer, Makayla Wamboldt, and Melissent Zumwalt.

In pedagogy, Jen Hirt brings us a timely and much-needed example of modeling the writing process rather than integrating AI.

Thanks to Miriam Calleja, Kevin Densley, Raphael Kosek, Gloria Monaghan, and Mary Ellen Talley, this issue contains thoughtful reviews of recent books by Julia Kolchinsky, James Roderick Burns, Lucia Cherciu, Eileen Cleary, and Annette Sisson. We’ve also got interviews with Allison Pitinii Davis and Anand Thakore thanks to the excellent work of Molly Mayhead and Lili Newberry.

Please make a writer’s day and send a little something (or a lot) using the Tip the Author links below many of the bios. As ever, thank you for reading!

Katie Manning
Editor-in-Chief

P.S. We’re now open for submissions from June 1-15. Check out our guidelines and send some work our way!

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“Tomorrow will bring a different mess,” writes Maria Koors in “The Optimist’s Almanac.” As I’ve prepared this Spring 2025 issue, I’ve been thinking about the messes that continue to pile up, both personal (sudden loss, health emergencies, etc.) and shared (political chaos, human rights violations, mass firings, etc.). I’ve also been preparing for my AWP conference panel on networking, and this is one of the positive things that keeps me going through the messes: I’m thankful for my writing community. I have been fortunate to find some of my closest friends and dearest mentors in the writing world, and I’ve connected with so many generous, collaborative people (including the contributors to this issue!) through the process of writing and publishing.

Issue 38 features poetry and short prose by Emily Rose Cole, J. P. Dancing Bear, Suzy Eynon, Kindall Fredricks, D. Walsh Gilbert, Bex Hainsworth, Michael Harper, Nancy Huggett, Melissa Fite Johnson, Courtney LeBlanc, Anya Kirshbaum, Maria Koors, Devon Neal, Rachel Pittman, Shana Ross, Kelli Dianne Rule, Sonya Schneider, Annette Sisson, Sarah Dickenson Snyder, Angela Sucich, Christy Tending, and Leah Umansky.

In pedagogy, Scott F. Parker and Nancy Myers Rust share personal experiences and philosophies of the writing life, and E.K. Taylor shares some strategies for actively teaching students how to give peer critique.

This issue also contains fantastic reviews of recent books by Jane Muschenetz, Chelsea Jackson, Wendy Barker, Theresa Monteiro, Ann E. Wallace, and Cristina M. R. Norcross. Thanks to Kristine Rae Anderson, Gabriela Bittencourt dos Santos, Jonathan Fletcher, Abbie Kiefer, N. West Moss, and Kathrine Yets for sharing them with us! Thanks also to Meg Eden Kuyatt for her delightful interview with Heather Murphy Capps.

As always, please find the Tip the Author links below most of the bios and send a little (or a lot of) love to the writers whose work you enjoy. Thanks for reading and being part of our writing community.

Katie Manning
Editor-in-Chief

P.S. We’ll be celebrating 10 years of Whale Road Review by hosting a booth at AWP in LA next week, so if you’re attending, please stop by #948 to say hello! We’re also co-sponsoring an off-site event with SWWIM, MER, Cultivating Voices LIVE, and Perugia Press on Thursday, March 27, 7-9 p.m., at MG Studio. Hope to see you there!

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Welcome to our Winter 2024 issue! This marks the 9-year anniversary of Whale Road Review, and publishing the fantastic work in this issue on a Friday the 13th feels like a scarily good way to celebrate!

Issue 37 features poetry and short prose by Valerie Bacharach, William Ward Butler, Rebecca Danelly, Aarik Danielsen, Carly Marie DeMento, Caylee Gardner, Michelle Hendrixson-Miller, Matthew E. Henry, Emily Hockaday, Margaret Anne Kean, Jessica Manack, Rita Maria Martinez, Matthew Murrey, Sarah Nichols, T. R. Poulson, Donna Spruijt-Metz, Angela Townsend, Cindy Veach, Brian Volck, Rachel Walker, Lynn Wang, Dick Westheimer, and Kenton K. Yee.

In pedagogy, Karen Babine shows us her new approaches to discussion boards, and Deborah Bacharach demonstrates a way to teach juxtaposition using established prayers across traditions. I’m so grateful to both of them for their generous sharing of teaching materials. I’ve been reminded this week of how fortunate I am to be surrounded by generous, collaborative teachers and writers.

We’ve got a whopping five reviews of new books by Francesca Leader, Sara Henning, Alecia Gabrielle, Mimi Zieman, and Barbara Crooker. Perhaps some last-minute holiday gifts? Thanks to James Roderick Burns, Lauren Crawford, Michelle McMillan-Holifield, B.K. Jackson, and Judith Sornberger for their thoughtful writing and admirable literary citizenship.

We’re also grateful to Swetha Amit and Aidan Bass for contributing their excellent interviews with Katie M. Flynn and Grace Loh Prasad.

If you would like to send a little monetary gift to one or more of our contributors, please find the Tip the Author links below most of the bios. Thanks for reading, and happy holidays!

Katie Manning
Editor-in-Chief

P.S. We’ll be celebrating our 10-year anniversary by hosting a booth at AWP, so plan to stop by #948 if you’ll be there!

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Our Fall 2024 issue is here on the eve of the first day of fall, and it’s better than any pumpkin spice latte. When I was walking on the beach one day last autumn, I stumbled upon the scene on this issue’s cover: a lovely arrangement of pumpkins and flowers on the sand. I have no idea who left them there or why, but they made me happy. I hope you’ll also find delight in the pieces you stumble across in this issue. We’re honored to get to share them.

Issue 36 features poetry and short prose by Melissa Bernal Austin, Tristan Beiter, Ronda Piszk Broatch, Merrill Oliver Douglas, Kristi Ferguson, Michael Garrigan, Evan Gurney, Romana Iorga, Gunilla Theander Kester, Sylvester Kwakye, Katy Luxem, Robert Garner McBrearty, Abigail Michelini, Zach Keali’i Murphy, Robbi Nester, Kathryn Petruccelli, Whitney Rio-Ross, Angeline Schellenberg, Laura Sheahen, Hannah Silverstein, Kelly Grace Thomas, and Mischa Willett.

In the pedagogy section, we’ve got a collaboratively written paper about swapping student-teacher dynamics in juvenile detention centers. Thanks to Chelsea Lebron, Nicholas Ritter, and Katey Funderburgh for sharing their experiences and insights.

The reviews in this issue explore new books by Eben E. B. Bein, Cory Zeller, Sophie Klahr, Suzanne Mercury, and Patrick Woodcock. We’re grateful to Melissa Flores Anderson, Hannah Cruz, Hannah Larrabee, and Lisa Lipke for their thoughtful work. We’re also grateful to Ally Gero and Jane Satterfield for their fascinating interviews with Sue Silverman and Shannon Robinson.

Please make good use of the Tip the Author links below most of the contributor bios. Any amount will be appreciated. Thanks for reading!

Katie Manning
Editor-in-Chief

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“Love, enter.
This place is a different
kind of prayer—”

So begins Amanda Roth’s poem in the Summer 2024 issue of Whale Road Review, and these lines seem like a good lens for this issue, which holds many kinds of love and many poems that feel like prayer—some address or ponder God, some offer cries of lament, some celebrate beauty and sensuality—and this feels like a good place to be.

Issue 35 features poetry and short prose by Jordi Alonso, Jared Beloff, Sheila Black, Nicole Brogdon, Lisa Charnock, Marc Alan Di Martino, Zoë Fay-Stindt, Maggie Frank-Hsu, Tammy Greenwood, Katherine Huang, Ayòdéjì Israel, Heather Jessen, Andrea Krause, Annie Marhefka, Jane Muschenetz, Yamini Pathak, Amanda Roth, Luci Shaw, Merna Dyer Skinner, and Rashna Wadia.

The pedagogy paper from Jacob Butlett offers not just one, but three multilayered poetry prompts. This issue also contains reviews of recent books by Jennifer Ruth Jackson, Richard Jeffrey Newman, Mary Pinard, and Bruce E. Whitacre by a wonderful group of reviewers: Susana H. Case, F.I. Goldhaber, Gloria Monaghan, and Christina M. Rau. To close things out, we have an excellent interview that Jennifer Fliss conducted with Jess Bowers about her new book, Horse Show.

If you enjoy what you read, please consider using the Tip the Author links below many of the contributor bios. It doesn’t take a large amount to make a writer feel seen and to let them know their work meant something to you (but they won’t say no to a larger amount if you’ve got it to send).

And you—yes, you—thanks for being part of Whale Road Review! We’re grateful to have you as a reader, and I hope you’ll want to share this issue with others as well.

Katie Manning
Editor-in-Chief

P.S. We’re now open for all submissions through June 15! Please visit our submission guidelines for more details.

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The Spring 2024 issue of Whale Road Review welcomes you to Hell—or at least that’s where a teacher told the first poem’s speaker he’d go if he was bad—and sneaking a Wonder Woman comic to Sunday School was bad. Several more of the pieces in this issue also take us into childhood experiences and life transitions, and many explore—sometimes playfully—life-threatening situations, ghosts, God, Jesus, and immortality. I will certainly be thinking about these pieces long after I’ve read them.

Issue 34 features poetry and short prose by Gale Acuff, Joe Barca, Lindy Biller, Melissa Braaten, Matt Dennison, Sonia Greenfield, Noelle Hendrickson, Jeffrey Hermann, Melissa Joplin Higley, Leslie Hodge, Jessica Klimesh, Arah Ko, Christina Linsin, Robbie Maakestad, Rachel Mallalieu, Katherine Maynard, Julia Ongking, Heather Qin, Shauna Shiff, Mary Simmons, Michael Sun, Nicholas Yingling, and Avery Yoder-Wells.

The pedagogy papers in this issue might look familiar: we’re highlighting four of our most viewed pages from previous issues! Wendy Call provides strategies for teaching poetry revision. Karen Craigo offers a menu of options for fresh workshop styles. John Gerard Fagan shares a collaborative genre fiction writing exercise. N. West Moss sends a rousing message to students (audio included!) debunking the myth of the easy A. We get so much feedback from folks who use and love the papers in our Teachers’ Lounge, and we’re beyond grateful to all of our pedagogy contributors for sharing their work!

Next up, the reviews give us glimpses into new books across genres: poetry by Tiffany Troy and Wilda Morris, flash fiction by Chelsea Stickle, and essays by Eileen Vorbach Collins. Thanks to Jonathan Fletcher, Catherine Hayes, B.K. Jackson, and Carole Mertz for their attentive work!

The final pieces in the issue are two delightful interviews: Scott Ferry was interviewed by Cynthia Atkins, and Bethany Jarmul was interviewed by Elliott Lay. We so appreciate the time and thoughtful work that our interviewers put into these fun and inspiring conversations.

Please note that many of our contributors have a Tip the Author link below their bio, and sending even a few dollars would be an easy and meaningful way to let a writer know that their work meant something to you.

Thanks for reading and sharing Whale Road Review!

Katie Manning
Editor-in-Chief

P.S. We’d love to see your pedagogy paper submissions now and any time, and we’d love to see all other submissions when we re-open in June.

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Welcome to the Winter 2023 issue of Whale Road Review! This marks our 8-year anniversary, and we’re so happy to celebrate with these incredible pieces. This issue takes a deep dive into seasonal imagery and archetypes. It contains enough birds to qualify as an aviary and enough relatives to qualify as a family tree. The number of gorgeous moments that made me gasp might also allow this issue to qualify as a breathing exercise. In this time of too much darkness and not enough peace, I hope you’ll find this writing to be a light.   

Issue 33 features creative work by Mark D. Bennion, Brendan Bense, Molly Bolton, Phillip Watts Brown, Duncan Campbell, Grant Clauser, Lisa Dordal, Brian Duncan, Suzanne Edison, Cynthia Marie Hoffman, Melissa Fite Johnson, Judy Kaber, Sally Rosen Kindred, Eric Lochridge, Elizabeth Loudon, Melanie Maggard, Dawn Miller, Angelina-Maria Montejo, Anne Rankin, n.l. rivera, James Roach, Leonora Simonovis, Emily Tee, and Heather Truett.

We’ve got two fun and useful pedagogy papers: Julija Šukys provides a lesson in place writing with maps, and Laura Sweeney shares a lesson in collecting material through immersion at the opera.

The three reviews in this issue take us inside new books by Mary Makofske and Sandra Marchetti and into the 2023 mini chapbooks bundle from Yavanika Press; thanks to Diane Bliss, Jess Chua, and Mindy Kronenberg for their thoughtful work!

This issue closes with two fantastic interviews: the first with Alex Carrigan was conducted by Robert Allen, and the second is a conversation that Lesley Wheeler conducted with Jeannine Hall Gailey and Cynthia Hogue.

Many of these writers would be delighted if you sent them a little gift using the Tip the Author link below their bio to let them know you enjoy their work. Happy holidays to you and yours. Thanks for reading!

Katie Manning
Editor-in-Chief

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