Nocturne with Supermoon & MS Relapse, by Emily Rose Cole

Emily Rose Cole is the author of Love and a Loaded Gun, a persona chapbook from
Minerva Rising Press. She has received awards from Jabberwock Review, Ruminate
Magazine, and the Academy of American Poets, and her poetry has appeared or
is forthcoming in Nimrod, The Pinch, and Southern Indiana Review, among others.

Editors note:  Nocturne with Supermoon & MS Relapse was published in Crab Creek Review in October, 2017, and was reprinted in November 2017 at Flyway , along with another outstanding poem by Emily. Go read it!

The Cow Disembarks from the Ark, by Dennis Caswell

Dennis Caswell is the author of the poetry collection Phlogiston (Floating
Bridge Press). His work has appeared in Bluestem, Crab Creek Review, Poetry
Northwest, Rattle, and assorted other journals and anthologies. He lives
outside Woodinville, Washington and works as a software engineer in the
aviation industry. Dare to visit denniscaswell.com.

Living, by Shevaun Brannigan

Shevaun Brannigan is a graduate of the Bennington Writing Seminars, as
well as The Jiménez-Porter Writers’ House at The University of Maryland.
Her poems have appeared in such journals as Best New Poets, Rhino, Redivider,
and Crab Orchard Review. She is a 2015 recipient of a Barbara Deming
Memorial Fund grant. Her work can be found at shevaunbrannigan.com.

Self-Portrait as Seven Deadly Sins, by Carol Berg

Carol Berg’s poems are forthcoming or in DMQ Review, Sou’wester, The
Journal, Spillway, Redactions, Radar Poetry, Verse Wisconsin, and in the
anthology Forgotten Women. Her most recent chapbook, The Johnson Girls, is
available from dancing girl press. She was a recipient of a grant from the
Massachusetts Cultural Council.

About the poem:
This poem was inspired by a prompt (thanks Jannie Dresser!) about the seven deadly
sins of Catholic doctrine. I gathered a word bank and used my journal to find images
I liked. I then used the phrase “I travel” to keep a coherence to the poem. The prompt
provided Latin terms and I used the ones that felt most sonic to me. I got positive
feedback from the group so decided to keep the poem.

Benign, and Other Words for This Kind of Reprieve, by Carolee Bennett

Carolee Bennett is an artist and poet living in Upstate New York, where she
has fun saying she has been the “almost” poet laureate of Smitty’s Tavern.
She has an MFA in creative writing (poetry) from Ashland University in
Ohio and works full-time as a writer in social media marketing.

About the poem:
My mom died of colon cancer when she was 56. Often, I’m convinced I have the
disease, too. Although screening procedures are intended to alleviate fear, they’re
burdened by the unavoidable fretting and so many odd humiliations. Expecting bad
news after my first screening, it was somehow more surreal to learn that I was
perfectly healthy.

Golden Torch, by Cynthia Anderson

Cynthia Anderson lives in the Mojave Desert near Joshua Tree National
Park. Her poems have appeared in numerous journals, and she is the author
of seven poetry collections, the most recent being Waking Life. She coedited
the anthology A Bird Black As the Sun: California Poets on Crows & Ravens.
www.cynthiaandersonpoet.com

About the poem:
For over 25 years I lived on California’s Central Coast, where I indulged in my love of
the desert by amassing a large collection of cacti and succulents. The annual bloom
of the golden torch was a much-anticipated event. My husband and I retired to the
Mojave Desert in 2009.

A Conversation with Rheea Mukherjee, author of "Transit for Beginners"

A conversation between Sayantani Dasgupta (author of Fire Girl: Essays on India, America, and the In-Between, Two Sylvias Press) and Rheea Mukherjee (Transit for Beginners, Kitaab International). First published in the 2017 Fall issue of Crab Creek Review.

Rheea Mukherjee 

Sayantani Dasgupta

The Heroic Penetrates the Quotidian, by Diane Seuss

Today's poem is by Diane Seuss, from her forthcoming collection Still Life with Two Peacocks and a Girl (Graywolf Press, 2018).

2017 Pushcart Nominations!

Crab Creek Review is pleased to announce the 2017 Pushcart Prize nominees:
​
From 2017 Vol.1:

Shankar Narayan: “To: CEO@Ancestry.com” 
Charnell Peters: “An Uncertain Map of How I Got Raced” 
Jennifer K. Sweeney: “The Pear Trees at Terezin” 
​
From 2017 Vol. 2:

Carlos Andrés Gómez: “Pronounced” 
Leyna Krow: “The Razor’s Edge” 
Diane Seuss: “Self-Portrait with Emily Dickinson (Rebirth of Mourning)” 

Special Mention to Sanam Mahloudji, whose short story, "Plain White Shoebox" (2017 Vol. 1) was nominated for the PEN/Robert J. Dau Short Story Prize for Emerging Writers. Congratulations, Sanam!
​

Congratulations to poets Jennifer K. Sweeney, Carlos Andrés Gómez, Charnell Peters, Shankar Narayan, Diane Seuss, and writer Leyna Krow. Best of luck to all of the nominees!​

Hello, Goodbye: Editorial changes at Crab Creek Review

“And all the lives we ever lived and all the lives to be are full of trees

and changing leaves.”  ― Virginia Woolf, To the Lighthouse

Editorial changes are afoot at Crab Creek Review! Martha Silano, poetry editor for the past eight issues of Crab Creek Review, will be stepping down at the end of this year. Martha has been a lightning rod for the collective brilliance and electric talent of the poets we've published the past four years.

Martha Silano & Jenifer Lawrence, 2016

Martha increased the journal's reach and depth, bringing her uniquely contemporary, thought-provoking, socially aware poetics to Crab Creek Review's pages. Her enthusiasm for poetry is infectious and unflagging. Martha has also been the person I turn to for advice and help in all aspects of running this little journal, and I am going to miss her fiercely. As Raymond Chandler put it, “To say goodbye is to die a little.” Martha will not disappear entirely, however. She'll be actively editing through the end of the year, and will then join our Literary Advisory Board, where she'll be available for consultation. Please share your well-wishes for Martha on our facebook page or twitter.

Laura Read

Crab Creek Review is thrilled to announce our new poetry editor, Laura Read of Spokane, WA. Laura is the current poet laureate of Spokane, and the author of the author of Dresses from the Old Country (BOA, 2018), Instructions for My Mother’s Funeral, and The Chewbacca on Hollywood Boulevard Reminds Me of You. Her awards include the AWP Donald Hall Prize for Poetry, and the Floating Bridge Press Chapbook Award. 

Laura teaches and presents regularly at literary festivals and conferences throughout the Northwest, such as GetLit!, Write on the Sound, Litfuse, and the Port Townsend Writers Conference. She's a poet, a teacher, a parent, and an advocate for literature. Laura will be transitioning in to her new role over the next couple of months, and will take over as poetry editor in January 2018.  Please join Crab Creek Review in extending a warm welcome to Laura Read!

Stay tuned for announcements regarding upcoming reading events for the newly released fall issue!

With much gratitude to Martha and Laura, and to you, our readers,

Jenifer Lawrence,

Editor, Crab CreekReview

Crab Creek Review 2017 Fall Issue

Fall 2017 Crab Creek Review 

Greetings from the editors. We're so pleased to bring you the new issue of Crab Creek Review, featuring the artwork of Melissa McKinnon. Inside, you'll find the prizewinning poem by Hannah Craig, as well as the finalist and semifinalist poems. In addition, the issue features poems by our contest judge, Diane Seuss, stories, essays, an interview with Rheea Mukherjee, and a review of Tammy Robacker's Villain Songs. Order today for late October delivery.

Crab Creek Review has some exciting news that we'll be announcing later this month. Follow us on twitter or facebook for the scoop.

As ever, we are grateful for our readers, contributors, and donors. Thanks to you, Crab Creek Review has been in print for nearly 35 years! May you each be filled with peace and courage to stand up for yourselves and others, now and in the future, and may your lives be filled with poems and stories.

 ~ Jenifer, Martha, Sayantani, & Maya.

Check out the fabulous lineup! 

Barn Lit By a Duck Egg, by Lillo Way

Lillo Way’s poems have appeared in New Orleans Review, Poet Lore, Tampa
Review, Tar River Poetry, Madison Review, The Sow’s Ear Poetry Review, Poetry
East, and Santa Fe Literary Review, among others. Seven of her poems are
included in anthologies. Way's full-length manuscript, Wingbone, was a
finalist for the 2015 Barry Spacks Poetry Prize from Gunpowder Press.

About the poem:

“Barn Lit by a Duck Egg” was written in direct response to a 3-hour workshop
led by Natalie Diaz, which was the best and most intense short poetry workshop
I’ve ever had the pleasure (and pain) of participating in. Charles Burchfield was
an early twentieth-century American painter. Olivier Messiaen was a 20th century
French composer. Burchfield describes hearing music projected from the
colors and shapes of objects. Messiaen describes seeing colors and patterns in
response to musical sounds.

The Pear Trees at Terezin, by Jennifer K. Sweeney

Jennifer K. Sweeney is the author of Little Spells (New Issues Press), James
Laughlin Award winner, How to Live on Bread and Music (Perugia Press), and
Salt Memory. A Pushcart Prizewinner, poems have recently appeared in The
Adroit Journal, The Awl, Stirring, Terrain, Tinderbox, Thrush, and Verse Daily.


About the poem:

“The Pear Trees at Terezin” was written after spending a month in the Czech Republic.
My travels triggered so many folds of memory and experience that what I could tangibly
remember and what was part of me solely through ancestry felt embedded into the
present. At times I felt like I was reaching far back into my lineage, and at others, spun
out of that dream-like tumble, having never been so far away from my story.

The Scientists Agree, by Nate Stein

Nate Stein is an international human rights attorney in New York City. His work has appeared, or is forthcoming, in Wordriot, Isthmus, Gravel, and The Santa Clara Review, as well as The NYU Journal of International Law and Politics, The NYU Law Magazine, The Orlando Sentinel, and Shanghai Expat Magazine.


About the poem:

It often takes me between a week and a month to think a thought. I wrote these [poems] when
I was thinking about how as I get older I don’t feel afraid as frequently. But I miss that feeling. I have had success in life and I miss being scared of failing and I also miss being allowed to fail.

California Dry, by Patricia L. Scruggs

Patricia L. Scruggs lives in Southern California. She is the author of Forget the Moon (2015). Her work has appeared in ONTHEBUS, Spillway, RATTLE, Calyx, and Cultural Weekly, among others, as well as the anthologies 13 Los Angles Poets, So Luminous the Wildflowers, and Beyond the Lyric Moment.

About the poem:

Last summer, during our 5-year drought, I began listing all of the names of places that were burning or had burned that year. I noted how many bore the names of saints. A poem began to emerge. The rest is court reporting of an incident during water aerobics and the scene around us—taking in the beauty of the day while parts of California were burning.