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Review: Pangaea: Prose and Poetry by Hinna Mian

Cemetery Dance OnlineJanuary 24, 2022January 15, 2022ReviewsHinnah Mian, Joshua Gage, Pangaea, poetry, ReviewsLeave a comment

cover of Pangaea: Prose and Poetry Pangaea: Prose and Poetry by Hinnah Mian
Central Avenue Publishing (February 8, 2022)
128 pages; $16.99 paperback
Reviewed by Joshua Gage

Hinnah Mian is a Pakistani American poet and author whose work has appeared in Harness Magazine, JUMP, Blue Minaret, and The Rising Phoenix Review. Her first book, To Build a Home, won silver in the Readers’ Favorite International Book Awards. She spends her time journaling, exploring, and living out her days with the love of her life — her dog, Felix. Her newest collection, Pangaea: Prose and Poetry explores the horrors and traumas inflicted on one’s body in a striking and poignant collection.Continue Reading

Review: Coffin Honey by Todd Davis

Cemetery Dance OnlineJanuary 17, 2022January 9, 2022ReviewsCoffin Honey, Joshua Gage, poetry, Reviews, Todd DavisLeave a comment

Coffin Honey by Todd Davis
Michigan State University Press (February 1, 2022)
147 pages; $19.95 paperback
Reviewed by Joshua Gage

In Coffin Honey, Todd Davis explores themes of violence and how people hurt each other. The book is broken into sections, each one reading like a short story told in narrative poems, which makes for some haunting connections between the poems. For example, the first section contains the poem “Taxidermy: Cathartes Aura” with lines like:

The bird’s spiraling descent
was unexpected, like when
his uncle touched him
in the cellar as he shoveled
coal for winter, telling him
he couldn’t have the fried
doughnuts sprinkled
with confectioner’s sugar
if he screamed
or told his mother.

Review: The Smallest of Bones by Holly Lyn Walrath

Cemetery Dance OnlineSeptember 17, 2021September 19, 2021ReviewsCLASH Books, Holly Lynn Walrath, Joshua Gage, poetry, Reviews, The Smallest of BonesLeave a comment

cover of The Smallest of Bones by Holly Lynn Walrath The Smallest of Bones by Holly Lyn Walrath
Clash Books (September 28, 2021)
90 pages; $14.95 paperback
Reviewed by Joshua Gage

Holly Lyn Walrath’s poetry and short fiction appears in Strange Horizons, Fireside Fiction, Daily Science Fiction, Liminality, and Analog. She is the author of Glimmerglass Girl (Finishing Line Press, 2018), winner of the Elgin Award for best speculative chapbook, and Numinose Lapidi, a chapbook in Italian from Kipple Press. Her newest collection is The Smallest of Bones, a collection of minimalist poems that deal with the body and the horrors found within.Continue Reading

Review: Meaningless Cycles in a Vicious Glass Prison: Songs of Death and Love by Anton Cancre

Cemetery Dance OnlineNovember 12, 2020November 8, 2020ReviewsAnton Cancre, Joshua Gage, Meaningless Cycles in a Vicious Glass Prison, poetry, Reviews, Songs of Death and LoveLeave a comment

cover for Anton Cancre's poetry collection Meaningless Cycles in a Vicious Glass Prison: Songs of Death and Love by Anton Cancre
Dragon’s Roost Press (October 2020)
114 pages, $9.99 Paperback
Reviewed by Joshua Gage

In Meaningless Cycles in a Vicious Glass Prison: Songs of Death and Love, Anton Cancre creates scenes of death and works to capture them in short, poignant poems. Cancre works within various horror tropes but does his best to keep the ideas fresh and visceral for the reader. This is an interesting collection, and while the poetry is inconsistent at times, fans of horror poetry will enjoy perusing it.Continue Reading

Review: A Route Obscure and Lonely by LindaAnn LoSchiavo

Cemetery Dance OnlineJuly 22, 2020July 17, 2020ReviewsA Route Obscure and Lonely, Joshua Gage, LindaAnn LoSchiavo, poetry, ReviewsLeave a comment

A Route Obscure and Lonely by LindaAnn LoSchiavo
The Wapshott Press (December 2019)
60 pages, $7.50 paperback
Reviewed by Joshua Gage

A Route Obscure and Lonely is a unique artifact in horror poetry. It’s primarily in blank verse, and while formal horror poetry isn’t rare, what makes LindaAnn LoSchiavo’s poetry unique is that she doesn’t let the form control her poems. While many formalist horror poets fall back on outdated tropes and clichés in their writing, LoSchiavo is able to use those tools and make a very rhythmic poem, while also using modern ideas and imagery to update her poems to 21st century pieces.Continue Reading

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