Review by Tessara Dudley Holli Carrell’s debut collection, Apostasies, is the lyrical diary of an adult reckoning with the aftermath of a girlhood within the Mormon church. Though it is poetry, it draws on a variety of archives and published writings about modern and historical Mormonism, and combines them with a deeply personal and highly introspective examination of the heavily regulated existence of women and girls in the church. The book opens with a retelling of Jephthah’s sacrifice of his daughter (from Judges 11: a man who makes a rash vow to God must sacrifice his daughter as a…
Author: Mom Egg Review
Review by Mindy Kronenberg I must confess that I was intrigued by the title of this book when selecting it for review. Not for any perceived sensational contents or promise of provocative odyssey, but its implied cleverness and earnest presentation in the complex and poignant aspects of intimacy and gender identity, and how our own humanity depends on empathy and appreciation for the diverse and moving personal journeys of others. Poetry has proven to be an ideal platform for painful, pleasurable, puzzling, and revelatory discoveries in our lives. Subhaga Crystal Bacon deftly and defiantly shares private moments and memories…
MER has opened submissions for its 25th annual issue, MER 27. Submissions of poetry, fiction, creative prose, and art will be accepted from May 1 to July 15th. All submissions are taken through Submittable. Please view our Guidelines and Submission info.
Curated by Melissa Joplin Higley Chelsea Krieg, Everything Is Water, Texas Review Press, March 2026, poetry Everything Is Water is an open letter to caregivers as the speaker grapples with her partner’s life-threatening illness, pregnancy and new motherhood, and marriage. Growing up on the Virginia coast, the speaker knows the water’s danger and allure—asks, what is beneath, what has control in so much open and unknown space? The speaker continues to feel this unease in everything as she navigates fear, identity, and loss. Everything is water. Everything is the surface tension created by the unknown. The collection often returns…
Review by Lisa C. Taylor Accidental Devotions is a wonder of a poetry collection, organized in four sections: Scrolling for God, Rebel Angels, Cathedral of Clouds, and Unmistakable Prayers. The final poem is called Necessary Prayer, and it is a standalone that the poet identifies as a “devotion”. She would like the reader to take that poem with them or pass on to someone who needs it. Having reviewed her previous poetry collection with Copper Canyon, Dialogues with Rising Tides, I can say this seems in character for this poet. Kelli’s ability to dwell in a world where words…
Review by Susan Blumberg-Kason Most adults who grew up in the United States remember reading Highlights. Before the digital age, children around the country would peruse Highlights while waiting for a doctor or dentist appointment. The magazine is accessible to children of all ages, from the wordless hidden pictures to more complex short stories. Today the magazine’s foundation runs the Boyds Mills writing residencies for children’s storytellers in rural Pennsylvania. The founding of Highlights is truly an American success story, yet there’s an underlying sadness in the magazine’s history. Marty Ross-Dolen is the great-granddaughter of the founders, Caroline and…
Review by Emily Webber Susan Finch’s collection of loosely interconnected short stories, Dear Second Husband, is set entirely in Nashville. However, what stands out most are the characters—with relationships strained by grief, violence, dissatisfaction, and changing lives. Finch’s keen eye for everyday moments pulsing with emotional depth makes this collection deeply engaging. Whether a character faces a miscarriage, a family dynamic departs from expectations, or a marriage unfolds differently than imagined, the reader sees their relationships with each other shift, fracture, or strengthen. The collection opens in full force with a woman trying to escape her violent ex-husband in…
Heather Haldeman Pick up the Phone! “There you are!” Mom would say, taking a slurp of her instant coffee. It would be 8:00 am, the usual time for her morning call. I’d picture her in bed, the long powder blue coiled cord of her telephone attached to the powder blue dial phone by her side, The Los Angeles Times on the floor next to the bed cast aside like one of her tabloids. Once she’d read her horoscope and the TV line-up, she was done with the newspaper. It didn’t matter that I was getting my children ready for…
Tina Cane GOOD MOM For years I drove back and forth through traffic with a carload of children short distances like sprints during which I would curse from behind the wheel for the sheer amount of hours and my propensity towards profanity made it inevitable once my children were old enough to speak they began asking me what these words I muttered under my breath meant it was then that I resolved to choose new swears that didn’t sound so harsh as to prompt a response it was thus that I chose Jesus Christ a name which rolled off…