PANK Magazine

11/02/2022

"Not only does Koestenbaum surprise us with content, but also with form. The text incorporates all manner of writing from dreams to factual news. It resists privileging one mode over another. Gossip, too, has a place in this world." today at [PANK] Daily, C. Francis Fisher reads Wayne Koestenbaum's ULTRAMARINE Nightboat Books https://pankmagazine.com/2022/02/11/review-ultramarine-by-wayne-koestenbaum/

Not only does Koestenbaum surprise us with content, but also with form. The text incorporates all manner of writing from dreams to factual news. It resists privileging one mode over another. Gossip, too, has a place in this world.

17/01/2022

"this collection is unsettling, but by no means boring. It demonstrates that the comedic mixed with horror can be more scary and enthralling, more memorable, than pure solemnity." today on PANK Daily a review of GLASS BIKINI by Kristin Bock Tupelo Press https://pankmagazine.com/2022/01/17/review-glass-bikini-by-kristin-bock/

this collection is unsettling, but by no means boring. It demonstrates that the comedic mixed with horror can be more scary and enthralling, more memorable, than pure solemnity.

27/12/2021

we are nearly halfway funded fam! Please continue to support, share, & spread all the general holiday vibes as we look toward the new year with the launch of our translations imprint & the publication of Leonardo Teja's novel in English by Robin Myers https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/pank/tonight-the-great-earthquake-by-leonardo-teja/?ref=kicktraq

In Spring 2022, PANK Books will publish our very first book in translation: Leonardo Teja’s debut novel Tonight: The Great Earthquake.

07/12/2021

"This physically slim volume of poetry is an emotionally demanding work of art, as Chhetri turns an unblinking eye towards the violent, death-filled nature of reality and questions how it is possible to live in harmony with and to produce poetry alongside the darkness." today at PANK Daily, a review of Rohan Chhetri's Lost, Hurt, or in Transit Beautiful Tupelo Press https://pankmagazine.com/2021/12/06/review-lost-hurt-or-in-transit-beautiful-by-rohan-chhetri/

This physically slim volume of poetry is an emotionally demanding work of art, as Chhetri turns an unblinking eye towards the violent, death-filled nature of reality and questions how it is possible to live in harmony with and to produce poetry alongside the darkness.

22/11/2021

"... Farris captures the essence both of tenderness and terror with a few amazing deft strokes." today at PANK Daily, a review of Katie Farris's A Net to Catch My Body in its Weaving https://pankmagazine.com/2021/11/21/review-a-net-to-catch-my-body-in-its-weaving-by-katie-farris/

The poems hold occasional missed notes and ineffective lines, but mostly Farris captures the essence both of tenderness and terror with a few amazing deft strokes

08/11/2021

"Faylor mines the potential of the personal landscape with particular regard for understated, respectful communication with his reader in a way that is, at once, intimate and detached." today at PANK DAILY Clara B. Jones writes on J. Gordon Faylor's new book-length poem

https://pankmagazine.com/2021/11/08/review-phone-and-pencil-by-j-gordon-faylor/

Faylor mines the potential of the personal landscape with particular regard for understated, respectful communication with his reader in a way that is, at once, intimate and detached. The rare nod to the lyrical “I” or to overt statements never detracts from the author’s resistance to the lite...

20/10/2021

"Among lists, stanzaic pieces, and open-handed poems, Young’s most dynamic mode is the prose poem. She makes exquisite use of the syntax of a temper—density, control, and pressurized psychology—or the cognitive cascade of revelations in her associatively-woven meditations." grateful to Sara Ellen Fowler for this review of Kim Young's TIGERS in Rhino Poetry https://rhinopoetry.org/reviews/tigers-by-kim-young-reviewed-by-sara-ellen-fowler

Tigers by Kim Young Reviewed by Sara Ellen Fowler … adolescent oblivion, artistic inspiration, motherhood, and citizenship …

13/10/2021

Ricardo Wilson talks craft & the research necessary for an expansive collection like his AN APPARENT HORIZON with Emily Everett at The Common Take a listen! https://www.thecommononline.org/podcast-ricardo-wilson-on-nigrescence/

RICARDO WILSON Ricardo Wilson speaks to managing editor Emily Everett about his poem, “nigrescence,” which appears in The Common’s spring issue. In this conversation, Ricardo talks about his new collection Apparent Horizon and Other Stories, winner of the PANK Book Contest in fiction.

12/10/2021

at PANK DAILY, take a look at this energetic & insightful conversation between Shelby Handler & Kim Young on Kim's collection TIGERS https://pankmagazine.com/2021/09/28/author-interview-with-kim-young/

Shelby Handler, an incredible part of our PANK Family, sat down with author Kim Young to discuss her book of poetry, Tigers. ORDER TIGERS HERE! INTRO: Tigers is an exploration of a series of mutigenerational landscapes of the feminine–female adolescence, womanhood, motherhood, and personal revelat...

09/10/2021

"Young brilliantly gives us these testaments as a means to show how we can gather our pasts, our ghosts, our tigers, & use them for channeling strength." thanks to Blood Orange Review
& Amanda Auchter for taking a deep dive with Kim Young's TIGERS https://bloodorangereview.com/features/tigers-by-kim-young/

“I know what’s necessary for survival."

07/10/2021

"What does it mean to be a woman, rewritten by the male gaze, actively striving to tell your own story, imbue your own importance, all while the American canon makes you a fragile, breakable, sexual thing?" today on PANK Daily, Dakotah Jennifer reviews Caroline Hagood's GHOSTS OF AMERICA (Hanging Loose Press) https://pankmagazine.com/2021/10/07/review-ghosts-of-america-by-caroline-hagood/

Why can’t women write great American novels? What does it mean to be a woman, rewritten by the male gaze, actively striving to tell your own story, imbue your own importance, all while the American canon makes you a fragile, breakable, sexual thing? Caroline Hagood’s Ghosts of America: A Great A...

07/10/2021

please join us in congratulating our 2021 Best of the Net Anthology noms! & a big thank you to all of our contributors

31/08/2021

Starting this fall, we will begin reviewing applications for three new editorial roles. Join our growing fam!

Starting this fall, our team at PANK will begin reviewing applications for three new editorial roles: PANK Assistant Books Editor PANK Daily Editor PANK Magazine Assistant Editor We are excited to take the first steps toward continuing to grow our community of readers and editors, without whom this...

30/08/2021

As we count down to our first(!!) double-issue this in Philly, today we invite y’all to another sneak preview of our annual print edition, ft. new poetry, short stories, and essays

12/08/2021

"It was an opportunity to present a counternarrative that undercut an archive that too often touts progress at the expense of the West Indian bodies, dead & alive, required for the undertaking." learn more about Ricardo Wilson
& his debut AN APPARENT HORIZON at PEN America https://pen.org/the-pen-ten-ricardo-wilson/

In this PEN Ten interview, we spoke with Ricardo Wilson, author of An Apparent Horizon and Other Stories (PANK Books, 2021).

10/08/2021

"Like many, I retreat. And yet, it’s the stillness I seek. The now familiar discomfort I believe all of us should embrace lest we lose ourselves completely, drown in overstimulation, the ignorance it breeds; the one positive I can draw from the pandemic, its solitude, is that, to some extent, I was able to reclaim myself, forced to. Consuming has its limits. It offers temporary respite. Herein lies the illusion that allows capitalism to endure." today at PANK DAILY, Christopher Impiglia's "Unpossessed Places" https://pankmagazine.com/2021/08/10/unpossessed-places/

Like many, I retreat. And yet, it’s the stillness I seek. The now familiar discomfort I believe all of us should embrace lest we lose ourselves completely, drown in overstimulation, the ignorance it breeds; the one positive I can draw from the pandemic, its solitude, is that, to some extent, I was...

06/08/2021

"I’ve been fixating on gardens recently. Maybe this is because I live in an apartment, and I’ve been spending all my time inside. Maybe I’m thinking about gardens because they remind me of my childhood, when my family lived in a house with a backyard framed in the ferocious green of mid-Atlantic weeds. Maybe I’m thinking about gardens simply because, at the time of my writing, it’s spring. It’s the time of year when life reminds us that things are still moving forward, even if we think they aren’t." Ananya Kumar-Banerjee on Phoebe Bridgers' "Garden Song" https://pankmagazine.com/2021/08/06/desire-and-phoebe-bridgers-garden-song/

I’ve been fixating on gardens recently. Maybe this is because I live in an apartment, and I’ve been spending all my time inside. Maybe I’m thinking about gardens because they remind me of my childhood, when my family lived in a house with a backyard framed in the ferocious green of mid-Atlanti...

03/08/2021

the wait is over. it's officially pub day for Ricardo Wilson's propulsive debut AN APPARENT HORIZON

WINNER OF THE PANK BOOK CONTEST IN FICTION SHIPS AUGUST 2021   An Apparent Horizon and Other Stories takes you to the turn of the 20th Century during the construction of the Panama Canal, the avant-garde theatre scene of New York in the early 1970s, and a present day textured by the psychic and phy...

21/07/2021

it's true! We're finally live with a sneak peek of our print annual edition PANK 16: https://pankmagazine.com/issue/16-1-issue-16-sneak-peak/

24/06/2021

"Each poem in the collection shows her to be a master gardener, deftly pruning the lines, digging into the hard ground, nurturing delicate images, unearthing what’s buried, replanting seeds of hope after sorrow. Midwest Gothic is inventive, smart, poignant, delicate, sometimes bitingly funny, celebratory, sorrowful." today on PANK Daily, a review of Laura Donnelly's award-winning MIDWEST GOTHIC https://pankmagazine.com/2021/06/24/review-midwest-gothic-by-laura-donnelly/

Each poem in the collection shows her to be a master gardener, deftly pruning the lines, digging into the hard ground, nurturing delicate images, unearthing what’s buried, replanting seeds of hope after sorrow. Midwest Gothic is inventive, smart, poignant, delicate, sometimes bitingly funny, celeb...

28/04/2021

"Jenny Sadre-Orafai and Anne Champion’s Book of Levitations is a rare book that delivers on the promises made in the title but also delivers much more. This is a book about spells, ghosts, curses, and even instructions on how to make a voodoo doll, how to resurrect a dissected animal, or how to become a she wolf." today with Gabino Iglesias https://pankmagazine.com/2021/04/28/review-book-of-levitations-by-jenny-sadre-orafai-and-anne-champion/

Jenny Sadre-Orafai and Anne Champion’s Book of Levitations is a rare book that delivers on the promises made in the title but also delivers much more. This is a book about spells, ghosts, curses, and even instructions on how to make a voodoo doll, how to resurrect a dissected animal, or how to bec...

25/04/2021

"Pandemic poetry. We knew it was coming, but we probably didn’t expect it to be as full of light and keen observations as Windwalker’s collection is. From the start, The Bench is an invitation to sit down, pay attention, and soak in the stories we’re about to witness." continues with Gabino Iglesias on Cassondra Windwalker's THE BENCH Evening Street Press Review https://pankmagazine.com/2021/04/25/review-the-bench-by-cassondra-windwalker/

Pandemic poetry. We knew it was coming, but we probably didn’t expect it to be as full of light and keen observations as Windwalker’s collection is. From the start, The Bench is an invitation to sit down, pay attention, and soak in the stories we’re about to witness.

24/04/2021

"Simple, straightforward, and heartfelt, Albanese’s work does away with any pretentiousness and instead focuses on trying to communicate complicated feelings and thoughts in the easiest way possible. The result is a collection that speaks from the heart directly into your heart." continues with Gabino Iglesias on Dominic Albanese's By Some Happenstance Poetic Justice Books & Arts https://pankmagazine.com/2021/04/24/review-by-some-happenstance-by-dominic-albanese/

Simple, straightforward, and heartfelt, Albanese’s work does away with any pretentiousness and instead focuses on trying to communicate complicated feelings and thoughts in the easiest way possible. The result is a collection that speaks from the heart directly into your heart.

23/04/2021

"Powell’s poetry works on so many different levels—sensorial, intellectual, psychological, associative, dissociative, feminist, post-feminist, passional, intersubjective, intergenerational and trans-species—but the most intense effect it has is that of poetry in the best sense of unrhymed, unrestrained exclamations and ejaculations that form the ‘base notes’ of ‘love.’" today with Nandini Bhattacharya on Elizabeth Powell's ATOMIZER LSU Press https://pankmagazine.com/2021/04/23/review-atomizer-by-elizabeth-powell/

Powell’s poetry works on so many different levels—sensorial, intellectual, psychological, associative, dissociative, feminist, post-feminist, passional, intersubjective, intergenerational and trans-species—but the most intense effect it has is that of poetry in the best sense of unrhymed, unre...

22/04/2021

"Witch pulls readers into a world of angels, demons, shells, and strangeness. In fact, more than a poetry collection that can be easily compared to other books, the easiest way to 'explain' this collection is to compare it to arthouse films." today with Gabino Iglesias on Philip Matthews & Alice James Books https://pankmagazine.com/2021/04/22/review-witch-by-philip-matthews/

Witch pulls readers into a world of angels, demons, shells, and strangeness. In fact, more than a poetry collection that can be easily compared to other books, the easiest way to “explain” this collection is to compare it to arthouse films.

21/04/2021

"These are poems that have a unique rhythm, and undeniable musicality, but I mean more than that; these are poems that have open conversations with songs, most of which readers will know." continues on 4/20 with Gabino Iglesias on Melissa Fite Johnson's GREEN https://pankmagazine.com/2021/04/20/review-green-by-melissa-fite-johnson/

These are poems that have a unique rhythm, and undeniable musicality, but I mean more than that; these are poems that have open conversations with songs, most of which readers will know.

19/04/2021

"Benjamin Garcia’s Thrown in the Throat is one of those rare poetry collections that isn't satisfied with tackling one important subject ... this is a superb debut that explores identity in a variety of ways and heralds the arrival of a powerful new voice in contemporary poetry." continues today with Gabino Iglesias on Benjamin Garcia & Milkweed Editions https://pankmagazine.com/2021/04/19/review-thrown-in-the-throat-by-benjamin-garcia/

Benjamin Garcia’s Thrown in the Throat is one of those rare poetry collections that isn't satisfied with tackling one important subject. Between growing up undocumented and processing the complexities of q***r identity (“mom didn’t know I was gay/because she chose not to see”), this is a sup...

17/04/2021

"You’ve seen jugglers before, but from time to time you encounter one doing tricks you’ve never seen before. That’s what To Emit Teal does, and it’s what makes upfromsumdirt a poet you should read. Leave what you think you know about poetry at the door and enter his world. You won’t regret it." continues with Gabino Iglesias on upfromsumdirt https://pankmagazine.com/2021/04/17/review-to-emit-teal-by-upfromsumdirt/

You’ve seen jugglers before, but from time to time you encounter one doing tricks you’ve never seen before. That’s what To Emit Teal does, and it’s what makes upfromsumdirt a poet you should read. Leave what you think you know about poetry at the door and enter his world. You won’t regret ...

16/04/2021

"Strigas's work is intense and honest. This collection is a mirror that reminds us of ourselves." continues today with Gabino Iglesias on Christina Strigas https://pankmagazine.com/2021/04/16/review-love-metaxa-by-christina-strigas/

Strigas's work is intense and honest. This collection is a mirror that reminds us of ourselves.

15/04/2021

"All the Violent Memories is raw and emotionally gritty. Stevens writes like he’s telling a story, and his clarity and straightforward approach help these short poems deliver a harder punch." continues with Gabino Iglesias on J.B. Stevens https://pankmagazine.com/2021/04/15/review-all-the-violent-memories-by-j-b-stevens/

All the Violent Memories is raw and emotionally gritty. Stevens writes like he’s telling a story, and his clarity and straightforward approach help these short poems deliver a harder punch.