Mandana Chaffa – Page 2

A Conversation With Elisa Gabbert About “Normal Distance” – Chicago Review of Books

Book ReviewsSeptember 14, 2022 by Mandana Chaffa

[ad_1] Mostly written during the last several years, the poems in Normal Distance, Elisa Gabbert’s highly-anticipated new collection, speak to the disjunctive nature of our times. Yet the juxtaposition of the philosophical and quotidian, often playfully rendered, belies the dexterity involved in crafting these striking poems. Also a well-regarded critic and essayist, Gabbert’s charming, inquisitive mind … Read more

The Reverberations of Desire in “Gods of Want” – Chicago Review of Books

Book ReviewsJuly 26, 2022 by Mandana Chaffa

[ad_1] Middle children often don’t get their due and that’s frequently the case for short fiction as well, wedged between poetry, flash and full-length novels. Yet in the hands of those with a talent for shaping entire worlds in brief pages, they are as powerful as the most economical poem and the weightiest novel. In … Read more

A Feel-Bad Romance” – Chicago Review of Books

Book ReviewsMay 23, 2022 by Mandana Chaffa

[ad_1] Fasten your seatbelts and make sure you know where the oxygen masks are: John Waters’ first novel Liarmouth: A Feel-Bad Romance is a hopscotching, subversive and full-versive, madcap version of Planes, Trains and Automobiles. Though I don’t want to spoil the plot’s twists and twists and twists—it’s a delicious literary strawberry Twizzler embedded with … Read more

Embracing the Eternal Present in “The Hurting Kind” – Chicago Review of Books

Book ReviewsMay 18, 2022 by Mandana Chaffa

[ad_1] In the first poem of the much-anticipated new collection from poet Ada Limón, The Hurting Kind, Limón wonders: “Why am I not allowed / delight? A stranger writes to request my thoughts / on suffering”. The collection that follows is Limón’s response to the stranger, and an exhortation to the reader: as much about … Read more

Celebrating Poetry Month with a Dozen Collections – Chicago Review of Books

Book ReviewsApril 25, 2022 by Mandana Chaffa

[ad_1] I don’t really know why I do this to myself. There’s no way to narrow down the fantastic poetry of any year into a brief list. Personal tastes aside, my hope is that you pick up as many poetry books—and chapbooks—as you can. Though the focus of this list is contemporary poetry, read any … Read more

Portrait of the Artist Transforming Grief in “Time Is a Mother” – Chicago Review of Books

Book ReviewsApril 11, 2022 by Mandana Chaffa

[ad_1] Like many, I’ve been eagerly anticipating Ocean Vuong’s Time Is a Mother, his second collection of poems following the success of Night Sky with Exit Wounds and his debut novel On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous. But whether it’s a sign of our temporally unrooted times or my increasingly scattered mind, I found myself considering … Read more

The Many Shades of Passion in “A Hundred Lovers” – Chicago Review of Books

Book ReviewsFebruary 9, 2022 by Mandana Chaffa

[ad_1] After two years of physical and psychic anxiety and what feels like a permanent, unwanted reframing of our bodies in the world and in proximity to others, there’s something especially beautiful and necessary about Richie Hofmann’s A Hundred Lovers. Wandering through this collection is similar to a luxurious meander through one’s favorite museum, with … Read more

Replications and Multiverses in “Present Tense Machine” – Chicago Review of Books

Book ReviewsJanuary 13, 2022 by Mandana Chaffa

[ad_1] Your appreciation of Gunnhild Øyehaugh’s Present Tense Machine, translated by Kari Dickson, will be partially predicated on how much you think about multiverses, or déjà vu, or ever have had the indescribable sense of something missing, in yourself, in others. What elevates this novel beyond the admittedly fascinating realm of such scientific ruminations is … Read more

Poetry Collections for Midwinter Nights – Chicago Review of Books

Book ReviewsDecember 21, 2021 by Mandana Chaffa

[ad_1] In Persian culture, on the winter solstice, we have a variety of rituals to mark the longest night of the year, one of which is to read poetry. Perhaps it’s no surprise that poetry books are some of my favorites to review, given that cultural DNA. Concurrently, at this time of year in the … Read more

An Interview with Kaveh Akbar – Chicago Review of Books

Book ReviewsAugust 10, 2021 by Mandana Chaffa

[ad_1] It’s been several years since Calling a Wolf a Wolf shot into the literary consciousness, and since its tremendous success, the award-winning poet Kaveh Akbar has also made a measurable impact as an educator, the current Poetry Editor of The Nation, and a remarkably generous poetry supporter. His sophomore collection, Pilgrim Bell, enters into … Read more