PLJ

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Pennsylvania Literary Journal (ISSN#: 2151-3066; Library of Congress Catalog Number: PN80.P46) is a printed peer-reviewed journal that publishes critical essays, book-reviews, short stories, interviews, photographs, art, and poetry. PLJ is available through the EBSCO Academic Complete and ProQuest databases in full-text. It is also on sale as single issues on Amazon, Barnes and Noble and most other online bookstores. It is cataloged in the MLA International Bibliography, the MLA Directory of Periodicals, Genamics JournalSeek, and Duotrope’s Digest. PLJ has published works by and interviews with New York Times bestselling writers like Larry Niven and Cinda Williams Chima. Dr. R. Joseph Rodríguez received the 2015 CCCC Lavender Rhetorics Award for Excellence in Queer Scholarship’s Article Award for his article, “There Are Many Rooms” which appeared in Volume VI, Issue 1 of the Pennsylvania Literary Journal (El Paso Inc).

Subscription: To subscribe to 3 annual issues for $75 (includes shipping), email Director Anna Faktorovich at director@anaphoraliterary.com with your payment preference. The mailing address listed on the contact page can change, so email a subscription request prior to mailing a payment. The options are:

1. Zelle electronic payment (free with registration, via most major banks)

3. PayPal payment (+4.8% fee)

3. Check in US $ mailed to Anna Faktorovich, 1108 W 3rd Street, Quanah, TX 79252

“I have worked with Anna for a few years now and am always pleased with the results.  She responds almost immediately to submissions, the journal is professional and always published on time, with both electronic and print options.  There is always courteous and yet efficient communication on editorial and business matters.  PLJ has interesting, formidable content.  It is one answer to the almost uniformly bland and oh-hum state of commercial publishing.” –Louis Gallo, PhD, Professor at Radford University

New and Old Historical Perspectives on Literature: Volume 2, Issue 1 ($30 – Click to Purchase): This is the third issue of an academic, literary, peer-reviewed journal. It is the first one available for purchase through Amazon CreateSpace and most major distribution channels. It includes original scholarly essays, poetry, a short story, an interview with a well-known Indian poet, Jayanta Mahapatra, photographs, and book reviews. The Summer 2010 Special Issue: New and Old Historical Perspectives on Literature (Paper $30, ISBN# 978-1-450-58358-9, LCCN:  2011922231, July 9, 2010) uses ideas originated by Stephen Greenblatt in the 1980s. Despite H. Aram Veeser’s 1989 anthology, The New Historicism, and numerous other publications in this field, one is left puzzled about why any historical examination of literature is “new.” We tackle the question of if historicism needs to be further updated. The journal is listed on the MLA Periodicals Directory and is a member of the Council of Editors of Learned Journals. An article about this journal was published in D-Lib Magazine’s November/December 2009 issue. The critical essay and book review writers include established professors from America, England, India, China and other countries across the world. Featuring: Dr. Joan Ferretti Varnum (NYU), Dr. Robert Hauptman (Editor, Journal of Information Ethics), Dr. Eugenia Russell (University of London), Dr. Hugh Fox (Founder of the International Organization of Independent Publishers), Dr. Frank Casale, Dr. Carol Mejia LaPerle, Dr. Stephen Barnes, Dr. Karley Adney, Dr. Robert McParland, Dr. Sirpa Salenius, Dr. Yihsuan Tso, Dr. Louis Gallo, and Dr. Joe Mills.

British Literature: Volume 2, Issue 2 ($30 – Click to Purchase): is a special issue that focuses on examining oppression, rebellion and the structural features in British fiction. Dr. Kelley Wezner writes about the affect of Machiavellian thought on Jonathan Swift. Dr. Mark Zunac discusses human rights and the colonial condition in Mary Robinson. Dr. Victoria Williams researches Dickens’s use of the fairytale-like details and structure in Our Mutual Friend. Dr. Ignacio Ramos Gay talks about Victorian theatrical audience censorship attempting to exclude French theatrical productions from the British stage. Lastly, Dr. Michael Cornelius discusses the suppression of homosexuality from the pages of historical British fiction. LCCN:  2011922233.

Editing Technique: Volume 3, Issue 1 ($10 – Click to Purchase): What are the components of great editing? Are there differences in editorial practices between the United States, Canada, and Australia? What kind of preparation should those hoping to become editors later in their careers obtain? What are the rewards and challenges of working as an editor or as a director of a press or poetry association? In this issue on Editing Technique of the Pennsylvania Literary Journal, interviews were conducted with four outstanding editors of critical and creative magazines to answer these questions. Interviewed Editors: Janet Brennan Croft, Editor of Mythlore; Professor Maria Mazziotti Gillan, Editor of Paterson Literary Review; Dr. Gillian Dooley, Editor of the Transnational Literature Journal; and Dr. Dina Ripsman Eylon, Editor of Women in Judaism: A Multidisciplinary Journal. ISBN: 978-1-461-16497-5. Publication date: May 8, 2011.

Interviews with Brooklyn Film Festival Winners: Pennsylvania Literary Journal: Volume III, Issue 2 ($40 – Click to Purchase, ISBN#: 978-1-937536-02-2, Hardcover ISBN: 978-1-68114-183-1, Summer 2011, 6X9”, 222pp): The Brooklyn Film Festival invites regional, national and international submissions. I conducted interview the directors, producers, script writers and other creative people, who won awards at the BFF in various categories. This issue should be very helpful for those who hope to build a filmmaking career. Antonio Piazza talks about transitioning from being a working Italian writer to creating a short film that has been shown in nearly 100 film festivals. Stephan Wassmann relates the dangers and adventures of filming bomb metal scrappers during war-time on the Mexican border. Ivaylo Getov describes how one can turn their senior NYU Tisch film school project into an award-winning venture. Massimiliano Verdesca covers special effects on a low-budget and techniques to use when working with actors. Yonah Lewis and Calvin Thomas chat about the frustrations of youth and the film industry in Canada. Damian Harper touches on the causes and ways to prevent gang-violence in Brooklyn and elsewhere. Joel Fendelman talks about theology and filming locations. Marina Mello boasts about filming in Brazil.

Creative Work: Pennsylvania Literary Journal: Volume III: Issue 3 ($10 – Click to Purchase, ISBN: 978-1-937536-22-0, Fall 2011, 6X9″, 68pp): This Fall 2011 issue of the Pennsylvania Literary Journal includes poetry, short stories, book reviews and a non-fiction story from academics and published creative writers. Among other works, the issue includes a short story by the editor, Anna Faktorovich, “Vampire Daichi.”

New Formalism of/ on the Contemporary: Volume IV, Issue 1, Spring 2012 ($10 – Click to Purchase, ISBN: 978-1937536244, Spring 2012, 6X9″, 144pp) New Formalism is no more a rebaptized deconstruction than it is a reanimated New Criticism. But in a sense one can trace the beginnings of the New Formalism to the work of the only deconstructionist to take on New Historicism directly even as it was just beginning its ascent—J. Hillis Miller. At the end of his 1986 MLA Presidential Address, “The Triumph of Theory,” Miller warns that the material base—that ground of irrefutable referentiality that historicism assumed as a platform on which it could situate its tools of critique—is not beyond questioning. In other words, form subsists even at the pith of matter; one cannot posit or predicate a material base without being aware that this positing is au fond, or at least en passant, formal.

Guest Editor for New Formalism: Nicholas Birns is co-editor of A Companion to Australian Literature Since 1900 (Camden House, 2007), which was named a CHOICE Outstanding Academic Book of the Year for 2008 and of Vargas Llosa and Latin American Politics (Palgrave, 2010).His book Theory After Theory: An Intellectual History of Literary Theory From 1950 to the Early 21^st Century appeared from Broadview in 2010. He teaches at the New School in New York.

Volume IV, Issue 2: Interviews with BFF Winners, Part II ($10 – Click to Purchase, ISBN: 978-1-937536-35-0, Hardback ISBN: 978-1-68114-159-6, 6X9″, 116pp): In this issue of the Pennsylvania Literary Journal, one of the main sections is a new set of interviews with the winners of the Brooklyn Film Festival, and the second main section is two rebellious, anti-monarchical works from the 19th century by British authors. The Brooklyn Film Festival interviews with producer-directors focus on three films, none of which were made in New York. Dara Kell talks about making Dear Mandela, a film that focuses on the shanty town housing struggles in South Africa. Daniel Long discusses Pigeon Kicker, which looks inward at the psychology of a psychopathic youth. And Tina Gharavi explains her Indian film, I Am Nasrine, about the struggles of a woman in a chauvinist world. The rebellious stories are passionate, political statements that should be of interest to students of British political fiction and rhetoric. George Cruikshank, the infamous cartoonist and satirist presents his 1820 long, illustrated poem, The Queen’s Matrimonial Ladder, which bitingly relates the various indescretions of the English Queen. In a later, 1838, unpublished essay, Jeremy Bentham makes the highly controversial at the time claim that like America, Canada should also be emancipated by the British Empire in Canada. Emancipate Your Colonies!

* Nominated for the 2013 Pushcart Prize

Interviews with Best-Selling Young Adult Writers: Volume IV, Issue 3 ($10, 6X9”, 112pp, Fall 2012, ISBN-13: 978-1-937536-38-1, Hardcover ISBN: 978-1-68114-156-5, Click to Purchase): This special issue of PLJ includes interviews with Cinda Williams Chima, James Dashner and Carrie Ryan, all New York Times best-selling young adult fiction writers. They are interviewed by Catherine W. Griffin, who has a Master’s of Science in Journalism from Columbia University. They share their experiences with writing in a popular genre, and give specific advice for both new and professional writers. Those who love reading their books should appreciate this close inside look into their minds and lives. You will also find Thomas Carlyle’s 1840 2^nd edition of Chartism and a couple of critical reviews of new academic books.

Reviews of Popular Fiction: Volume V, Issue 1 ($10, 6X9″, Spring 2013, ISBN: 978-1-937536-46-6, 66pp Click to Purchase): This issue includes eight highly critical and mostly negative reviews of popular fiction (Twilight, Wallander, Percy Jackson, The Last Boyfriend, “The Island of Doctor Moreau,” You Have to Kiss a Lot of Frogs, The Troubled Man: A Kurt Wallander Novel, The Flower and the Flame, and The Draco Tavern). Readers who have been disappointed with popular fiction before should read these. The issue is also full of the usual academic reviews, essays, fiction and poetry you’ll always find in PLJ. PLJ is focusing more on popular fiction recently to reflect the interests of the majority of the modern audience.

Interview with Larry Niven: Volume V, Issue 2 ($10, 6X9″, Summer 2013, ISBN: 978-1-937536-49-7, 68pp, Click to Purchase): This special issue of the Pennsylvania Literary Journal: Interview with Larry Niven features an interview with the best-selling science fiction author, Larry Niven, in which he discusses the writing craft, the life of a professional writer, and his unique science fiction style. Niven’s Ringworld has won many prestigious international awards, and his newly released collection of short stories, The Draco Tavern is one of the best recent examples of structured, literary science fiction.  The issue also includes a short story from the editor, Anna Faktorovich, “Coal and Rice” about a struggling Chinese rice farmer and a wealthy, corrupt Chinese businessman. In addition, the first scholarly essay in  the volume is from an NPR employee, who’s finishing his PhD at Brown. Byrd McDaniel critically evaluates the modern paintings of Kehinde Wiley, a Yale MFA graduate painter whose work has been displayed at some of the top museums around the world. Wiley’s painting is also on this issue’s cover.

Volume V, Issue 3: ($10, 6X9″, Fall 2013, ISBN:978-1-937536-60-2, 160pp, Buy on Amazon or CreateSpace): of the Pennsylvania Literary Journal marks the end of its fifth volume, its fifth year and the thirteenth issue in print. The issue includes a short fiction story from the Editor, Anna Faktorovich, “Murder on a Crab Boat”, which was inspired by a Discovery Channel show, Deadliest Catch. This issue also includes a short story about a love-struck drug addict from Louis Gallo. These two are followed by a section of critical essays, including Linda Gill’s critical essay on Jane Austen’s Northanger Abbey and the relationship between gender and religion in the work, then Will Clemens’ essay on why the TV show The Big Bang Theory has been successful, then Zachary Tavlin’s essay on the cinematic subject, and finally Natacha Guyot’s essay on the revision of Indian myths in Bollywood movies. The next section includes a few poems from four writers: James Grabill, Leonore Wilson, Sharon Lynne Joffe and Noel Sloboda. The last section is composed of two academic book reviews. The first review is by Dongho Cha, and she reviews Powers of Possibility from Oxford UP. The second review is by Laura Madeline Wiseman, who released a poetry book with Anaphora a month ago, and reviews the Hornbook from Horseless Press.

Film Theory and Modern Art, Volume VI, Issue 1: ($10, 6X9″, Spring 2014, ISBN: 978-1-937536-72-5, 136pp, Click to Purchase on: Amazon, CreateSpace, Barnes and Noble, or Kindle for $2.99): includes two interviews with the winners of the 2014 Sundance Film Festival, Nathan Zellner (Kumiko, the Treasure Hunter) and Janicza Bravo (Gregory Go Boom). It also features an essay from one of the most respected film academics in the world, Bert Cardullo, “Modish Artifice vs. Modern Art.” There are also essays from Dr. R. Joseph Rodriguez, Dr. Keith Moser, and Aaron Lee Moore. You will also find innovative poetry from Jefferson Holdridge (the Director of the Wake Forest University Press), Louis Gallo (professor at Radford University), and Mark Jones (professor at Trinity Christian College). Finally, there is a review from the Editor, Anna Faktorovich, of a television series available in-full on Netflix, Breaking Bad. It is discussed at-length, with a focus on the elements that position it somewhere between great art and disastrous pop filmmaking, and a special look at acting methodology through a study of the supporting lead, Aaron Paul.

Interviews with Novelists: Volume VI, Issue 2: ($10, 178pp, 6X9″, Summer 2014, ISBN: 978-1-937536-84-8, Purchase on CreateSpace, Amazon, or Kindle for only $2.99): Features interviews with best-selling and award winning novelists. Bob Van Laerhoven, winner of the 2007 Knack Hercule Poirot Prize, for his mystery novel, Baudelaire’s Revenge, talks about his horses, literary fiction, and about the boundaries of obscenity. John Michael Cummings, winner of The Paterson Prize for Books for Young People for his novel, The Night Freed John Brown, discusses reasons for writing young adult fiction, selling the first novel to Penguin, and other curious topics. Bestselling visionary author of The Transhumanist Wager, Zoltan Istvan, chats about the adventures he had working for National Geographic, and the philosophy behind his unique novel. The issue also includes a review of The Pizza Underground, a comedy rock band of which Mack Culkin is a minor band member. The issue is illustrated with photographs from a New York City photographer, Jeremy Freedman. The academic essays are from four widely published professors, David Comfort, Diane Todd Bucci, Robert Cardullo, and Jeffrey P. Beck, the latter is also the Dean of the Graduate College at Kean University. Fiction pieces include a short story from the Editor, Anna Faktorovich, “My Life as a Werewolf,” and stories from the Florida professor Luis Martínez-Fernández, and Tom Tolnay, the publisher of Birch Brook Press. The poets are all also very established professors, editors and writers, and include: Kika Dorsey, Diane Sahms-Guarnieri, KV Wilt, and Michael Zucaro.

Nine Reviews of Poetry: Volume VI, Issue 3: ($10, 148pp, 6X9″, Fall 2014, ISBN: 978-1-681140-06-3; Purchase on CreateSpace, Amazon or Kindle): This issue includes nine reviews from the Editor, Anna Faktorovich, of recently released poetry collections, with a special look at the recurring styles and themes and cover design. The essays focus on modern and postmodern cultural artifacts. There are two essays on drama from a well-known film critic, Bert Cardullo. Michael Denison’s essay is on the connections between the postmodern novel, Gravity’s Rainbow, and the ancient Chinese game, Go. Keith Moser finds Foucauldian elements in a 2006 film, Harkis. You’ll also find four short stories and poems from six poets.  The artwork in the issue is by Allen Forrest.

Interviews with Geraldine Brooks and Farmers: Volume VII, Issue 1: ($15, 166pp, 7X10″, Spring 2015, 84 photographs, ISBN: 978-1-512068-34-4, Purchase on CreateSpace, Amazon, or Kindle for only $2.99): This issue begins with an interview with the Pulitzer Prize winning author, Geraldine Brooks, who talks about the writing craft, her novels and her life outside of fiction. This feature is followed by four interviews with farmers from the Frankfort, Kentucky region, one of whom, Michael Spencer, is on the Kentucky state Farm Bureau board and another, Richard Jones, runs the regionally well-known Happy Jack’s Pumpkin Farm. The critical essays include one from the editor, Anna Faktorovich, on the Kentucky farm cabin myth, which is best-recognized as the Lincoln cabin myth. She developed this essay as part of her research in the Kentucky Historical Society’s Special Collections, where she did a three-week fellowship this April 2015. There are also essays, short stories and poetry from Bert Cardullo (established film critic and professor), Michael O’Connor (a successful script writer), Louis Gallo (editor and professor), Jim Davis (Harvard master’s candidate), A. Joachim Glage (attorney and Hollywood writer), Scott Gordon (fiction writer and independent filmmaker), Janet Ruth Heller (president of the Michigan College English Association), and Keith Moser (professor, editor and author of multiple titles).

Interview with Mary Jo Putney: Volume VII, Issue 2: ($10, 6X9″, 80pp, ISBN: 978-1-68114-196-1, 10 photographs, Summer 2015; Purchase on CreateSpace, Kindle or Amazon): This issue of the Pennsylvania Literary Journal features an interview with Mary Jo Putney, a best-selling romance author. A ten-time finalist for the Romance Writers of America RITA, she won RITAs for Dancing on the Wind and The Rake and the Reformer and is on the RWA Honor Roll for bestselling authors.  She has also been awarded two Romantic Times Career Achievement Awards, four NJRW Golden Leaf awards, and the Romance Writers of America Nora Roberts Lifetime Achievement Award. The issue also includes an interview with an established poet and interim director of the Creative Writing Program at the University of Connecticut, Sean Frederick Forbes, interviewed by Rodrigo Rodriguez. There are also short stories, an essay, and poetry from R. Sebastian Bennett, Dennis E. Donham, Joseph De Quattro, Fred Skolnik, and Howard Winn.

Interviews with Gene Ambaum and Corban Addison: Volume VII, Issue 3, Fall 2015: ($20, 214pp, 6X9″, ISBN: 978-1-519787-95-8, 40+ photographs; But printed book on Amazon or CreateSpace; or purchase a Kindle for $2.99): This issue of the Pennsylvania Literary Journal includes an interview with Gene Ambaum, one of the creators of the popular Unshelved cartoon about a library. The second featured interview is with Corban Addison, the author of three international bestselling novels, A Walk Across the Sun, The Garden of Burning Sand, and The Tears of Dark Water. There is also the largest selection of extensive book reviews to appear in PLJ to-date with starred reviews in all genres, in fiction and non-fiction, and from both high and low-brow literature. The essays section includes Keith Moser’s exploration of the post-Marxist philosophy of Jean Baudrillard and Michel Serres, and Marco R. S. Post’s study of monologue and dialogue in J.M. Coetzee’s Disgrace. You will also find varied short stories (comedies, absurdities, tragedies, and mysteries) from J. T. Townley, Tommy Partl, Rachel Veroff and Thomas Elson, and new poetry from re-appearing authors, Howard Winn and Louis Gallo.

Reviews of Academic Books and Journals: Volume VIII, Issue 1: Spring 2016: ($15, 192pp, 6X9”, ISBN-13: 978-1-533169-02-0; Purchase on CreateSpace or Amazon): This PLJ issue includes one essay on silenced books in the USSR by Nataliya Shpylova-Saeed. The poetry includes is written with different forms by a diverse group of poets: Roxana Cazan (English professor at Saint Francis University in Pennsylvania), Louis Gallo (professor at Radford University) and Brian Glaser (assistant professor of English at Chapman University). Dozens of detailed and honest book reviews are offered for recent releases from major publishers in both fiction and non-fiction from the Editor, Anna Faktorovich. There are several unique short fiction stories in the last section from: Joel Allegretti, Jacques Carrié, Will Lahneman, Tom Tolnay, Fred Waage and Anton Yakovlev on everything from assassinations to dinners and jobs.

Reviews of Fiction and Non-Fiction: Volume VIII, Issue 2: Summer 2016: ($10, 170pp, 6X9”, ISBN-13: 978-1-5374-1896-4, September 1, 2016; Purchase on CreateSpace or Amazon): This issue of PLJ includes many detailed critical non-fiction and fiction book reviews from the editor, together with a narration of her misadventures at the American Library Association conference. An essay by Andrea Phiana Borunda offers a critical study of cultural memory in Cabeza de Vaca’s La Relacion. Michelle Hunt’s essay considers how women might be treated as commodities in Breath, Eyes, Memory and The Bluest Eye. The poetry section offers dense and complex literary poems by Thomas Piekarski and John White.

Interview with a Marketing Guru: Volume VIII, Issue 3: Fall 2016: ($10, 134pp, 6X9”, ISBN 978-1-541242-78-4; December 21, 2016; Purchase on Amazon or CreateSpace): This issue includes a couple dozen scholarly book reviews from the editor, which cover women’s, worker’s, tax-payers, and other social rights. They also include some digressive thoughts on duels, authorship, revolutions and various other pertinent topics. The featured interview is with Mark Stevens, the CEO of MSCO and marketing guru and author of the Sucks series, who has advised world’s leading companies including Nike, IBM and GE. In the scholarly literary criticism section, D. Bruno Starrs, Australian academic, writes about Bruneian self-censorship in both literature and news publishing. Nichole DeWall, associate professor of English at McKendree University, writes about faith in George Herbert’s poetry. Then, the poetry section, includes innovative and conservative works from Kristina Nichole Brodbeck, Cecelia Burton, Louis Gallo and Gerard Sarnat. Among the stories, D. Seth Horton has contributed a series of three short fictions about U.S. presidents on the eve of a new president’s inauguration. Other stories by Susan Duke, Lynn Levin and David Pratt recall jam, travel and warfare. The spontaneous photography throughout, including the cover, is by Mark Wyatt.

Interview with Midwest Book Review’s Editor, Jim Cox: Volume IX, Issue 1: Spring 2017: ($15, 146pp, 6X9”, ISBN: 978-1-546759-21-8; Purchase on Amazon or CreateSpace): This issue includes an interview with Jim Cox, who has been editing the Midwest Book Review for over four decades, publishing thousands, if not hundreds of thousands of book reviews, with a focus on books from small presses that typically struggle with finding interested reviewers. Jim opens up about the realities of making a living from operating a review publication. His insight is essential to any author interested in self-promotion, and who is interested in how the review process looks from the other perspective. The “Introduction” features an aside from the Editor on the plague plagiarism is on American culture and society. The Editor also reviews dozens of new scholarly book releases. A critical essay by Swan Kim (Assistant Professor of English at Bronx Community College) analyzes Chinese female identity in Haling Nieh’s Mulberry and Peach. E. L. Risden (Professor of English at St. Norbert College) contributed a unique blend of brisk stories and poetic interludes. Two of PLJ’s returning poets are once again featured, Louis Gallo and Howard Winn (Professor of English at SUNY), as well as some other great poets, such as Kevin Casey, S. R. Graham, Daniel Nemo, Rikki Santer, and John Zedolik.

*Nominated for the 2017 Pushcart Prize

Interview with Carol Reardon, Battlefield Guide and Professor: Volume IX, Issue 2: Summer 2017: ($15, 130pp, 6X9”, ISBN: 978-1974698783; Purchase on Amazon or CreateSpace): This summer issue of the journal begins with an interview with Carol Reardon, who has just retired from serving as the Professor of History at the Pennsylvania State University after thirty years of service. She has also served on various government committees, advised on films, and worked as a travel guide for fun. Anna Faktorovich, the Editor, gave a five-star review to Reardon’s latest book in a previous issue, and wanted to discuss her work. In the next section, over a dozen scholarly, creative non-fiction, and non-fiction books are reviewed. Some of them are more readable, enjoyable and helpful than others. The “Essays” section includes three critical works. The first is from Sarah DeGeorge, and she studies queer rhetoric in Caryl Churchill’s Cloud 9. Next, Mark A. Doherty takes a Marxist look at Conrad’s Heart of Darkness. Finally, Heather Duerre Humann examines narrative time in Jennifer Egan’s A Visit from the Goon Squad. The poetry section includes modern works from Gary Duehr (recipient of the NEA Poetry Fellowship), Robert Fabre, Louis Gallo (professor at Radford University), J.R. Kangas (retired Kettering University professor) and Joel Schueler.

Interview with Otto Penzler, Owner of Manhattan’s Mysterious Bookshop and Press: Fall 2017: Volume IX, Issue 3: ($15: 130pp, 6X9”, 978-1-981866-36-6; Purchase on Amazon): In these pages, you will find an interview with Otto Penzler, the Owner of Manhattan’s Mysterious Bookshop and Mysterious Press. He has owned several other publishing businesses over the years, and has edited some of the most prestigious mystery anthologies. He talks about diverse topics from ebooks to the power of the Big Four publishers to marketing strategies and onto buying space for a bookstore. Everybody from writers who want to publish a mystery to publishers who want to expand will find something helpful in Penzler’s advice. The book reviews offer a dozen in-depth reviews of scholarly (collections of reviews or essays) and general interest books (Southern recipes), with reflections on where academic scholarship is heading. Then, Kathleen Murphey’s (associate professor of English at the Community College of Philadelphia) essay analyzes rape myths in modern fantasy fiction. These heavy speculations are followed by short stories from Alan Fleishman, Mark Howard, M. T. Ingoldby and Michael A. Livingston. The poetry section includes pieces from Gale Acuff, Keith Moul, Howard Winn (Professor of English at SUNY), and John Zedolik.

Interview with D.J. Butler, Lawyer and Speculative Writer: Volume X, Issue 1, Spring 2018: ($15, 210pp, 6X9”: 978-1-719439-52-7; Purchase on Amazon): This PLJ issue presents an interview with D.J. Butler, who has had a successful career in corporate law, and has published several fantasy and children’s books with top presses. It also carries over forty, detailed book reviews of fiction, scholarly, general interest and art books by the editor, Anna Faktorovich. Then, an essay by John Basourakos (Assistant Professor at Fu Jen Catholic University) about David Mamet’s (American) examination of a besieged and troubled American manhood in his plays. You will also find a longer than usual collection of innovative new poetry from John J. Brugaletta (professor emeritus at California State University, Fullerton), Millard C. Davis (entomologist), Louis Gallo (teaches at Radford University), Anna Kapungu, Simon Perchik (attorney), Timothy Robbins, Sam Robertson (served as a Visiting Fellow at the University of Notre Dame), Michael Skau (emeritus professor at the University of Nebraska at Omaha), Kim Cope Tait, William Waters (associate professor at the University of Houston Downtown) and Howard Winn (Professor of English at SUNY). Finally, the short stories section includes works by Kristin Fouquet, Phillip Parotti (taught at Sam Houston State University) and Henry Simpson.

Poetry Overload: Volume X, Issue 2: Summer 2018: (220pp, 6X9”; Softcover: $15: 978-1-68114-475-7; Hardcover: $25: 978-1-68114-476-4; Purchase on Amazon or Barnes & Noble): The content of this issue includes an extended set of detailed reviews from the editor, Anna Faktorovich, of recently released and forthcoming scholarly and general interest non-fiction books. These titles cover the history of the Americas, recent political issues and politicians, biographies of famous or applauded individuals, space exploration studies or personal narratives, and various other works (some outstanding and some nonsensical). Then follows a scholarly essay by R. Joseph Rodríguez, a professor at the California State University, Fresno, on reading and teaching poetics about the Borderlands. This season brought in an unusually heavy volume of innovative, modern and emotional poetry from Jonathan Bracker, Michael Ceraolo, Louis Gallo (a regular contributor, who offered eleven poems and all of them were too good to refuse), Susie Gharib, Rob Luke, Tom McFadden, Andrew Alexander Mobbs, Timothy Robbins, Robert Ronnow, and Kobina Wright. In the last section, you will find a set of short fictional stories on topics ranging from the sea to Eastern European fairytales from John W. Dennehy, Alan Fleishman, Kevin Harris and Kathleen Murphey.

Scholarly Reviews: Volume X, Issue 3, Fall 2018: ($10, 214pp, 6X9”: 978-1-792069-90-1; Purchase on Amazon or Barnes & Noble): Within you will find a series of over forty non-fiction book reviews that touches on science, biographies, history, politics, philosophy, as well as collections of canonical fiction and other curious new releases from academic publishers. An additional review by Valerie Smith considers Jane Hirshfield’s Nine Gates. Betinna Hansen presents an interview with Christian Moerk. Among the essays, Susie Gharib examines the tree metaphor in Virginia Woolf’s The Waves. And Kathleen Murphey reviews science fiction and fantasy takes on slavery in the works of N.K. Jemisin and Tomi Adeyemi. On the fiction front, short pieces are included by Susie Gharib, Liam O’Buachalla, Phillip Parotti and Marina Rubin. A wide variety of poetic styles are displayed in works from Christopher Barnes, Louis Gallo, Layla Lenhardt, Keith Moul, Kathleen Murphey, Fabrice Poussin, Heather Sager, Michael T. Smith, and Peter Specker.

An Avalanche of Reviews, Poetry and Stories: Volume XI, Issue 1, Spring 2019: ($15, 322pp, 6X9”; ISBN: 978-1-072098-48-5; Nonfiction—Literary Criticism—American—General; Purchase on Amazon or Barnes & Noble): This issue includes the most massive set of book reviews yet from the editor, Anna Faktorovich. Nearly a hundred titles are analyzed closely, in search for what these new releases signify for world culture, society, and scholarly knowledge. The topics covered range from history to investing to literature; the publishers represented are primarily university presses with a few mainstream trade publishers. Those who are seeking insightful books as part of their research or to enjoy in their free time, will find some great tested ideas here. The scholarly essays included are on silence in Jerzy Kosinski’s The Painted Bird by Nataliya Shpylova-Saeed and a tailoring in The Waves and Madame Bovary by Susie Gharib. The short stories presented are by Alberto Ambard (maxillofacial prosthodontist), Yona Bouskila (scientist), Alan Fleishman (corporate executive), Carolyn Geduld (clinical social worker), Kevin Harris, Ziaul Moid Khan (English teacher at the Gudha International School), Kathleen Murphey (associate professor of English at Community College of Philadelphia), and Jack Smith (fiction editor). Sets of poems are by Christopher Barnes, Lloyd A. Jacobs, M.D. (surgeon), LindaAnn LoSchiavo (dramatist), W. F. Parent, and Howard Winn (Professor of English at SUNY).

A Review of Literary Studies: Volume XI, Issue 2, Summer 2019: ($15, 274pp, 6X9”; ISBN: 978-1-689193-12-2; Nonfiction—Literary Criticism—American—General; Purchase on Amazon or Barnes & Noble): This issue offers one of the longer sets of book reviews of over seventy titles from the Editor, Anna Faktorovich. The books covered come from academic publishers. They are discussed in greater depths than most book reviews from theoretical, historical and comparative perspectives. If you are looking for a general trade book on nutrition or a great art book to put on your shelf, you will find some ideas here. If you are a researcher in the literature field (especially in the British Isles), you will find information on recent releases that most scholars should be familiar with. The essays section includes a theoretical piece from Susie Gharib on the relationship between color and theme in the texts of D. H. Lawrence and Virginia Woolf. The second essay by Kathleen Murphey (associate professor of English at Community College of Philadelphia) covers the problem of normalization of rape culture in literature. The short stories offered are by Steve Carr, D. Seth Horton (professor of literature at the University of Virginia) and Ziaul Moid Khan (teaches English at Gudha International School). The poetry section is full of strange and innovative works by Danny P. Barbare, Joseph Chopko, Philip Fried (founding editor of The Manhattan Review), Lloyd Jacobs (Professor Emeritus at the University of Michigan), Rob Luke (teaches English at Delano High School), Robin Ray, Timothy Robbins, and Howard Winn (SUNY Professor of English).

The State of Scholarship: Volume XI, Issue 3, Fall 2019: ($15, 338pp, 6X9”; ISBN: 978-1-650217840; Nonfiction—Literary Criticism—American—General; Purchase on Amazon or Barnes & Noble): This issue concludes the eleventh volume of the Pennsylvania Literary Journal. It features over sixty book reviews of scholarly and general-interest non-fiction books from the Editor, Anna Faktorovich. These reviews touch on Faktorovich’s current research in computational linguistics authorial attribution, including some pre-release details from her findings on the true authors behind texts that have been falsely attributed to “Daniel Defoe” and “William Shakespeare”. They also explore the problem of convoluted nonsense gibberish versus the useful breakthroughs that characterize the modern non-fiction publishing industry and scholarly endeavors. This information is designed for literature scholars and members of the general public seeking books to read to expand their understanding of the world. Additionally, you will find: Alan Gibbs’ essay on neo-naturalism and obesity in Shriver’s Big Brother, Joe Sarnowski’s discourse on idealism in Wendell Berry’s poems, and Sara Sass’ scathing article on the Centralia, Pennsylvania mine fire. The collected fictional short stories are by Jason Marc Harris, Hareendran Kallinkeel, Kevin Harris, Ziaul Moid Khan and Kevin Statham. The poetry section highlights creations by regular and new authors including Louis Gallo, Lloyd Jacobs, Fabrice Poussin, and John Zedolik.

Obstacles to Solving “Shakespeare” and “Defoe” Mysteries: Volume XII, Issue 1, Spring 2020: ($20, 446pp, 6X9”; ISBN: 979-8-65018-259-7; Nonfiction—Literary Criticism—American—General; Purchase on Amazon or Barnes & Noble): This issue includes the first three articles based on Anna Faktorovich’s ground-breaking new computational-linguistics authorial-attribution method that she has applied to re-attributing over two-hundred texts in and near the “William Shakespeare” and “Daniel Defoe” canons. Scholars have been pitching theories regarding the true authors behind these famous texts since they were first published hundreds of years ago, and this new approach finally presents overwhelming proof of entirely new re-attributions. These pieces of the larger study explain the pitfalls in past biographical studies and literary theory that have prevented the quantitative and unbiased precision of this method. Biographies of “Daniel Defoe” have been heavily based on the biographers’ imaginings of what his life was like from hints seemingly left in his fictions. If “Defoe” did not write the texts attributed to this byline, the biographies fall apart for lack of evidence. Then, Ian Watt’s Rise of the Novel is used as an example of the major blunders that negligent literary philosophers have been making without the due oversight. A review of the literature written by dozens of scholars since Rise’s publication demonstrates how a group of scholars have been inappropriately puffing each other’s contributions, while glazing over the unbridgeable faults in Watt’s basic conceptions of eighteenth-century novels that include those attributed to “Defoe”. And the third article explains the nature of Watt’s misunderstandings of the best and worst practices in literary composition, with a focus on the nature of authentic realism and the over-puffing of the hyper-formulaic rollercoaster novel structure. This collection also includes scholarly essays from Susie Gharib, Jason Holt and Lesly F. Massey. The book reviews from the Editor includes a section on vegan cookbooks, as well as on the latest scholarly releases. The short stories include three of Faktorovich’s fictions about romance scams, the risks faced by the community from the exaggerate methods taken to fight terrorist threats, and a retelling of Raskolnikov’s dilemma from his landlady’s perspective. There are also short stories by Marcus Berkemeier, Susie Gharib, Eric D. Goodman, Nancy Smith Harris, Hareendran Kallinkeel, and Ziaul Moid Khan, and poems by Christopher Barnes, Michael Ceraolo, John Henry Lloyd, Colin Dodds, Louis Gallo, Lloyd A. Jacobs, Douglas J. Lanzo, Rob Luke, Stan McCormick, Andy Oram, Mark Parsons, Timothy Robbins, and Howard Winn.

Canonical and Modern Poetry: Volume XII, Issue 2, Summer 2020: (186pp, 6X9”, $15: ISBN: 979-8-677674-59-4; Nonfiction—Literary Criticism—American—General; Purchase on Amazon or Barnes & Noble): This issue includes a new set of scholarly book reviews from the Editor, Anna Faktorovich, with thoughts on a few newly edited Greco-Roman classics as well as literary, historical and artistic studies. Valerie A. Smith also reviews Walter Mosley’s Elements of Fiction. The essays section includes Susie Gharib’s take on canonical poetry, and Natalie Perfetti’s analysis of poetry in relation to the mercurial American Dream. New poetic compositions are by James Fleming, Lloyd Jacobs, Rob Luke, and Rikki Santer. There are also short fiction stories by Steve Carr, Bobby Cohen, Mark Jacobs, Hareendran Kallinkeel and Hayden Moore.

Culture on Trial from the Counterrevolution of Queen Liliuokalani to the Fraudulence of Caravaggio’s Cardsharps: Volume XII, Issue 3, Fall 2020: (206pp, 6X9”, $15: ISBN: 979-8-584494-63-6; Nonfiction—Literary Criticism—American—General; Purchase on Amazon): This issue includes a set of academic book reviews from the Editor, Anna Faktorovich. The books reviewed were published by University of Chicago Press, Princeton University Press, Harvard University Press, Johns Hopkins University Press, The Burlington Press, University of Hawai‘i Press, MIT Press, Edinburgh University Press, and the National Council of Teachers of English. They cover new releases in contemporary and classical art, photography, literature, herbology, and several other general interest and specialist topics. These books include curiosities such as the first edition of Queen Liliuokalani’s journal and an account from an expert witness who testified at the Caravaggio’s Cardsharps trial. Susie Gharib’s article is on coverage of London in the work of D. H. Lawrence and Virginia Woolf. The poetry section includes new pieces by Danny P. Barbare, Louis Gallo, Vincent Green, Lloyd A. Jacobs, Rob Luke, Martina Reisz Newberry, Simon Perchik, Bob Phillips, Robert Ronnow, Leo S. Tao, James Tyler, and Howard Winn. Covid-19 is on a lot of these creative minds, as well as the social and economic inequities that are exacerbating the impact of this pandemic. The short fiction stories are by Joel Allegretti, Jeanne Farewell, Hareendran Kallinkeel, Tom Ray and Ankur Razdan.

The Power Crisis: Volume XIII, Issue 1, Spring 2021: ($20, 346pp, 6X9″: ISBN: 979-8-511415-69-7; Purchase on Amazon): This issue includes a set of close-analysis book reviews of academic titles by Anna Faktorovich and Morgan Connor. Faktorovich’s reviews dive deeply into a few of the topics covered in these university press titles, especially in cases where Faktorovich disagrees with the conclusion. One of these extended articles questions if the problem is international espionage and hacking in general, and not Russian state or independent-actor spying on or interference in US elections. She also discusses the failures of past historians to truly revise history as new data has become available. A discussion of early printing history also explains how this field was designed to be monopolistic and propagandistic. A few of the reviews mention Faktorovich’s invention of a computational-linguistics attribution method that has re-attributed the British Renaissance to a Workshop of six ghostwriters, and her current work on a modernization series that makes accessible never-before-translated texts from this period with annotations that prove the re-attribution claims. The essays section opens with Faktorovich’s personal account of precisely what it was like to have no electricity during below-zero temperatures in the 2021 Texas Power Crisis; the strategies used to avoid freezing, as well as philosophical contemplations about this problem are presented. In two of the other essays, Lesly F. Massey writes about Biblical inerrancy and confirmation bias. Susie Gharib writes about jewels in Oscar Wilde. And Keith Moser writes about family and mourning. An extensive poetry section includes works by Victor Basta, Mary Ann Dimand, Louis Gallo, Nicholas Godec, Michael Green, King Grossman, Lloyd Jacobs, Casey Killingsworth, Ned Kraft, Rob Luke, Fabrice Poussin, David Reuter, Timothy Robbins, Will Walker, and John Zedolik. There are also short fiction stories by Tamara Adelman, Tony Artuso, R. Sebastian Bennett, Brent Johnson, Mandeep Kaur, Kathleen Murphey and Peter M. Sullivan.

The Mechanics of the Arts: Volume XIII, Issue 2, Summer 2021: ($15, 200pp, 6X9″: ISBN: 979-8-463049-54-4; Purchase on Amazon): This issue includes book reviews of academic, trade, art and fiction titles by the Editor, Anna Faktorovich, and a review of The Final Yen by Z. A. Burks. The essays section features an autobiographical narrative about poverty and the difficulties of working in the restaurant industry by Iva Cvjeticanin. Susie Gharib writes about physiognomical depiction in Virginia Woolf’s The Waves. And Lesly F. Massey contributes the second part about the Old Testament of his Biblical inerrancy study.  The poetry section includes a range of different styles from Philip Fried, William Heath, Layla Lenhardt, and Rob Luke. And the stories section includes a range from mini to longer narratives that attempt to comprehend the intricacies of humanity from Steve Carr, Tanni Haas, Jim De Marse (NYC playwriter/actor), Tom McNair, Kathleen Murphey, Noelle Shoemate and Jim Speese (singer in the Cloud Party band).

Evidence-Based Scholarship: Volume XIII, Issue 3: Fall 2021: (Softcover: $20, 218pp, 6X9”: ISBN: 979-8-786588-02-7; Hardcover: $25: ISBN: 979-8-786589-63-5; Nonfiction—Literary Criticism—Books & Reading; Purchase on Amazon the Softcover, or Hardcover): This issue of PLJ includes a new set of book reviews from the Editor, Anna Faktorovich, that cover a variety of subjects between Seneca’s philosophically stoic letters, photographing the Civil War, and chaotic Elizabethan playgoing. The scholarly essays section has Susie Gharib explaining the significance of gold in Wilde and Gallienne, Julio Marzán covering Whitman’s aging poetry, and Kathleen Murphey analyzing the problematic use of pedophile pornographic elements in YA fantasy. The poetry section includes different poetic formulas and anti-formulas from Danny P. Barbare, Jonathan Bracker, Tamas Dobozy, John Drudge, Louis Gallo, Tanni Haas, Lloyd A. Jacobs, Rob Luke, and John J. Ronan. And the short stories section includes experiments in this genre from Pamela Cottam, King Grossman, Geoffrey Heptonstall, K. E. Karl, Dennis McFadden, R. F. Mechelke, James D. Reed and James Ryan.

Obstacles to Independent Investment: Volume XIV, Issue 1: Spring 2022: (Softcover: $20, 196pp, 6X9”: ISBN: 979-8-830535-91-5; Hardcover: $25: ISBN: 979-8-830544-09-2; Purchase on Amazon: Softcover or Hardcover): This Spring 2022 issue includes a special set of reviews from Editor Anna Faktorovich of financial investment textbooks. In the last six months, the American stock market has been on its first downturn in at least five years, so just investing in the stocks that have traditionally done well is risky. There have also been many recent scandals that involve financial analysts or fraudsters that consume investors’ money entirely or over-charge on fees. Thus, this is the moment when investors have to research the options for themselves, especially since there are now many tools that allow for near-fee-free trading. However, a review of the textbooks that are currently taught in graduate and undergraduate investment courses proved that these books are focusing on convoluted investment tools that appear to be designed to launder or hide where the money is going, instead of being focused on explaining how to compare available investment options to maximize results. For example, none of these books include a formula for how to use data in a company’s latest report to estimate if it is a safe investment or if its stock or bond is likely to go up in the coming year. The reviews are tailored to help individual investors, as well as professors who are teaching investing and are interested in what students would be concerned about if they are assigned these textbooks. There are also dozens of other reviews of scholarly books from different fields, such as literature, history, and cooking; many of these apply these books to the editor’s current research that re-attributes the British Renaissance. Additionally, Susie Gharib has contributed an essay on the significance of Anne Bronte’s Tenant of Wildfell Hall. And there is new poetry from Gale Acuff, Danny P. Barbare, Jonathan Bracker, Paul Brucker, Michael Ceraolo, Tanni Haas, Joseph Harms, Lloyd A. Jacobs, Douglas J. Lanzo, Rob Luke, Fabrice Poussin, Timothy Robbins, and John Zedolik. And finally, the short stories section includes works from D. M. Connolly, Edward Jackson and John Riebow.

The Map of the World Is Upside Down, and Drugs Are Not to Blame: Volume XIV, Issue 2: Summer 2022: (Softcover: $20, 138pp, 6X9”: 979-8-846015-77-7; Hardcover: $25, 979-8-846016-18-7; Purchase on Amazon: Softcover/ Hardcover): This issue includes a set of scholarly and literary book reviews from Editor Anna Faktorovich. These reviews consider modern and ancient social problems, such as the divergent representations of the world in Pliny’s ancient geography of a fragment that he believed represented the entire world, in contrast with other maps that show our changing beliefs about the universe. There are also discussions of approaches to attribution decisions and the history of dramatic education in Britain as perceived through the lens of Faktorovich’s BRRAM series. And a visit to the unique qualities of modern Mid-Ulster English in Ireland, and on the hand of the dead Native American Atakapa vocabulary and grammar. P. E. Caquet’s Opium’s Orphans stands out as a potentially history-changing work, if it succeeds in reaching the public with its entirely upturning and densely-researched perspective on the lower-case “war on drugs”. There are also many negative reviews that critique how scholars and novelists have gone awry in their pursuit of publication. You will also find the third part of the series on Biblical Inerrancy from ordained minister Lesly Massey, as well as Kathleen Murphey’s essay on the gendered sexual cliché repeated in Maas’ Throne of Glass series, and Susie Gharib’s essay on surveillance in Bronte’s Professor and Villette. Nick Young has contributed a short story, and there are sets of poems from D. Seth Horton, Rob Luke, and Leo S. Tao.

Multidisciplinary Studies of Texts: Volume XIV, Issue 3: Fall 2022: (Softcover: $20, 270pp, 6X9”: 979-8-371139-58-0; Hardcover: $25: 979-8-371216-13-7; Purchase on Amazon): This issue includes reviews from Editor Faktorovich not only of literary, linguistic and other genres of scholarly books, but also of non-fiction mainstream audiobooks accessible to the general public through library platforms, such as Libby. Many of the scholarly reviews cover books on topics connected with the Editor’s BRRAM series, and in these cases, the false assumptions in these studies are explained from BRRAM’s perspective. There is also a review of econarratology from Kathryn Sullivan. The “Contributors” notes describe the various academic and publishing achievements of the writers featured across this issue. The essays section includes an overview of the American publishing industry by the widely-published David Comfort. Paul Beehler relates a narrative of personal grief amidst the Covid-19 epidemic. Nichole DeWall dives into the smells of Dover in Shakespeare’s poetry. Gavin Herbertson compares incarcerations in Wyatt, Surrey and Heywood. Denise Y. Hill discusses mothers and maternity in Sylvia’s Lovers. Francesca Marinaro covers consent in the #MeToo era through Jane Austen’s lens. Kathleen Murphey questions the gendered sexual cliché behind Maas’ Throne of Glass series. And Lash Keith Vance considers practical and philosophical approaches to teaching rhetoric. The short stories section includes pieces from Geoffrey Heptonstall and Bob Kalkreuter. And the poetry section takes readers on abstract and reflective journeys from Laura Carter, Louis Gallo and Rob Luke.

Comparing Scholarly Books versus Mainstream Nonfiction Audiobooks: Volume XV, Issue 1: Spring 2023: (Softcover: $20, 188pp, 6X9”: ISBN: 979-8-396619-99-9; Hardcover: $25: ISBN: 979-8-396620-24-7; Purchase on Amazon): This Spring 2023 issue includes a set of scholarly and mainstream audio book review from the Editor, Anna Faktorovich. The scholarly reviews address topics such as the authenticity of the existence of a person called “William Shakespeare”, the quality of new reprint editions such as Fanu’s Uncle Silas, and the nature of the Sunnis versus Shia divide. Meanwhile, the reviews of audiobooks question if there is truth to the mainstream arguments presented, such as the authenticity of the evidence puffing “Greats” such as Agatha Christie, Robert Oppenheimer, or one of the seemingly innocent vice presidents at Lehman’s Brothers in the buildup to its collapse over the mortgage crisis. Additionally, Ben Hiskes’ academic essay addresses destructive chaos in James Thomson’s The Seasons. Kaviya Kathiresan and Narasingaram Jayashree’s essay is on the efficacy of illustrated tales in addressing climate change to children. There are sets of poems by regular and new writers, including Danny P. Barbare, Louis Gallo, William Heath, Lloyd Jacobs, Rob Luke, Scott Thomas Outlar, Fabrice Poussin, Patrick Theron Erickson, and Terry Trowbridge. And there are three short fiction stories from Rob Armstrong, Geraldine Glodek and Meg Vlaun.

Reviewing Literature from Joke Writing to Mercenary Wars: Volume XV, Issue 2: Summer 2023: (Softcover: $20, 282pp, 6X9”: ISBN: 979-8-857788-49-3; Hardcover: $25: ISBN: 979-8-857788-72-1; Books—Literature & Fiction—History & Criticism—Books & Reading—History of Books; Purchase on Amazon): This issue includes book reviews from Editor Anna Faktorovich of books from academic and trade presses, as well as of popular audiobooks. These reviews comment on topics such as the humor-gaps in Jerry Seinfeld’s collected joke-notes, revelations about mercenary warfare in Money for Mayhem, the need to de-attribute texts away from “Coleridge” and “Byron” through computational-linguistics, the portion of British texts published by the critically shunned Minerva Press Era, and the role played by A. H. Bullen and his Shakespeare Head Press in adding erroneous bylines to anonymous Renaissance texts that are still repeated today, among many others. There is also an essay by Matthew Kirby on the state of the book-length poem in modern literature. Poetry in a range of styles is contributed by Zhu Xiao Di, John Grey, Rob Luke, Timothy Robbins, James T. Stemmle, Frederick Wilbur, and Edward Ziegler. The short stories section includes works from Joel Allegretti, Pamela Cottam, Geoffrey Heptonstall, Walter B. Levis, Nicholas Litchfield, Dennis McFadden, Cora Tate, and Hillary Tiefer.

Readings for Long Road-Trips: Volume XV, Issue 3: Fall 2023: (Softcover: $20, 224pp, 6X9”: ISBN: 979-8-873571-62-8; Hardcover: $25: ISBN: 979-8-873572-06-9; Books—Literature & Fiction—History & Criticism—Books & Reading—History of Books; Purchase on Amazon): This issue includes reviews from Editor Anna Faktorovich primarily of scholarly books, but also of a few classical and recent novels, audiobooks for long road-trips, and popular non-fiction. Also included are three critical essays. Kaviya Kathiresan and Dr. Narasingaram Jayashree write about adolescent trauma in The Children’s Blizzard. Mike Marks writes personal essays about vacuums and cold December evenings. Kathleen Murphey describes troubling sex trafficking backstories behind heroines. And Loren Stephens comments on The Meyer Trilogy. The short stories section includes tales by Kevin Brown, Henry Hughes, Christopher Lessick, and Murphey. And the poetry section includes experiments in different types of poetic structure from Petra F. Bagnardi, Zhu Xiao Di, Rob Luke, and Fabrice Poussin.