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2022 AWP Conference Announcement!

In March 2022, Philadelphia Stories will be a premiere sponsor of The Association of Writing Programs (AWP) Conference, taking place in Philadelphia. Here’s what that means for local writers.

Mid-Century Triptych

Shelly’s fiancé. Dirk. What kind of name is that? Stanley’s hand twitches.

Something a Ghost Told Me at Dachau

I’m not the type to fall under the spell of a false religion. The lesson has been on the books for ages.

A Stranger’s Time

I’ve never been less than an hour early for my train. I don’t know if it comes from a sense of heightened preparedness or an ongoing current of anxiety that doesn’t even let me sleep in on weekends.

The Time on Dali’s Watch

In the near-dark morning, unhook the moon and pin it in its dark and velvet box.

Freeze All Blue & Black

Should I just leave you in this frozen night since you’re no help?

Just Before

In a hospital room I stand next to your son, watching you drift in and out of consciousness.

Dear Renee

We used to sit together every day, the dusty bus, those long dirt roads.

What Our Fathers Didn’t Tell Us About the War

that they were young, but the enemy soldiers were younger

The Color Absence

The color absence is yellow and blood red

The Elements

From here I promise you will see it all —

Busy Night

The car alarm jabs the neighbors awake

Holy Cow

I am trying to make sense of things, which is why I find myself ruminating.

Review: Adam Falkner, “The Willies”

Throughout Adam Falkner’s The Willies, the poet seems to be looking for ways to lighten the heft of the weighty topics on shuffle through this collection.

Review: A.E. Hines, “Any Dumb Animal”

In reading A.E. Hines 2021 collection Any Dumb Animal, the reader becomes confidante, sharing the grief and rage of these poems and caring that the poet finds his way to the end of the book vindicated, or at least some sort of peace.

Review: Hayden Saunier, “A Cartography of Home”

Hayden Saunier’s A Cartography of Home (published in February by Terrapin Books) is another breathtaking example of what this poet does best: crafting sensuous language, weaving together word play and close observation.

Review: Darla Himeles, “Cleave: Poems”

The cover of Cleave, Darla Himeles’s first full-length poetry collection, features a painting of two hands tentatively cradling an empty bird’s nest.