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Email Updates
Philly Chapbook Review is archived in four issues per year: Winter, Spring, Summer, and Fall. Journal updates are rolling, however, updated midweek, except for the Editor’s Note, which is published infrequently, as needed. Contents shown may carry over from past issues.
Editor’s Note
Notes from Managing Editor/Creator Aiden Hunt.
- July ’26: Summer Fiction & New Highs
Managing Editor Aiden Hunt shares statistics from PCR’s Spring submission period, announces a rule change, and welcomes two new members of the Philly Chapbook Review staff in this note.
Poetry
Poem Excerpts
(Chapbooks)
- Chapbook Poem: I’ll Never Look This Good Again by Douglas Piccinnini
- Chapbook Poem: Superbloom by Joyce Schmid
- Chapbook Poem: from Stray Hunter’s Bullet by Lance Le Grys
- Chapbook Poem: Slow Burn by Evan Wang
- Chapbook Poem: Found in the African Art Collection… by Rohanna Ssanyu
- Chapbook Poem: Offering by Richard Jordan
Original Poetry
- Two Poems by Irene Cunningham
- Four Poems by Joely Williams
- Two Poems by Maggie Wang
- Three Poems by Scott Weaver
- Three Poems by Kait Quinn
- Four Poems by Nivara Lune
Poem Excerpt
(Full-lengths)
- Book Excerpt: The Well by Robin Becker
- Book Excerpt: Love does not exist by Maria Giesbrecht
- Book Excerpt: She wants shimmering scales by Nicole Alston Zdeb
- Book Excerpt: Targeted by Frances Klein
- Book Excerpt: Passage by Paul Hostovsky
- Book Excerpt: The Egg of Anything by Paula Bohince
Chapbook Reviews
Our five most recent poetry chapbook reviews.
- ADHD in a Non-ADHD World: on Undersight by Alison Hurwitz
“[Hurwitz] shares moments of angst and moments of awe. More than that, there are moments of deep recognition. She sees herself in [her sons] and, in fact, receives a later-life ADHD diagnosis of her own.” Read the full chapbook review by new contributor, Nancy Murphy. - The Lines of Landscape: on Marie Scarles’ The Catastrophes
“Scarles’ choice of title points away from place, and toward the book’s deeper and more powerful offering: a changed way of seeing, one of the hallmarks of any successful poetics.” Read the full chapbook review by contributing editor, D.W. Baker. - Bodies in Transition: Sacred & Perishable by Carissa Natalia Baconguis
“There is a muscular intimacy to the ecosystem of these poems, each one of them creating as vivid a world individually as exists in the collection as a whole.” Read Gray Davidson Carroll’s full review. - Verses of Mourning: in the aftermath by Jessica Nirvana Ram
“[Ram] presents a revealing and heartbreaking collection that asks the reader to think about what they remember the most about those they have lost.” Read Alex Carrigan’s full review. - Multilingualism and Metaphor: On Desire/Halves by Jaia Hamid Bashir
“Bashir’s elegant debut collection investigates identity as the result of choices between individual appetites and cultural frames. … [It] announces an exciting addition to the global chorus of contemporary literature.” Read D.W. Baker’s full review.
Author Features
Feature articles and interviews about recent chapbooks.
- A Conversation with Abby Minor
Poet Abby Minor discusses her chapbook, Infinity Ballot, her Jewish-Appalachian heritage, and her convictions in this interview with new contributor, Julie Swarstad Johnson. - A Conversation with John deSouza
Poet John deSouza discusses his chapbook, This Rough Magic, his creative process, and the influence of John Ashbery in this interview with editor Danielle McMahon. - A Conversation with Lisa Low
Poet Lisa Low discusses her latest chapbook, Late in the Day, her relationship with her father, and the influence of Virginia Woolf in this interview with Contributor Saudamini Siegrist. - A Conversation with Chris Abani and Kwame Dawes
“We wanted something that was alive, highlighted an ever-expanding list of books by these poets, and that will hopefully survive the both of us and flourish under the curation of a fresh set of poets.” Read the full interview about the New-Generation African Poets Chapbook series.
Publishers’ Corner
Publishers’ Corner features articles about publishers, upcoming poetry chapbooks and full-length collections, and where to find them.
- New Poetry Titles (7/28/26)
Check out new poetry books for the week of 7/28 from Anvil Press, Eris, Chax Press, LSU Press & Seagull Books. - New Fiction Titles (7/28/26)
Check out new fiction books for the week of 7/28 from Set Margins, HarperVia, G.P. Putnam’s Sons, HarperCollins, Atria Books & Knopf. - New Poetry Titles (7/21/26)
Check out new poetry books for the week of 7/21 from Westbrae Literary Press, Bloodaxe Books, Orison Books, LSU Press, Knopf, Black Lawrence Press, CLASH Books & University of Utah Press. - New Fiction Titles (7/21/26)
Check out new fiction books for the week of 7/21 from New Island Books, Arcade, WTAW Press, Ballantine Books, Catalyst Collective, New Directions, 37 Ink & Doubleday.
Aiden’s Corner
Featuring posts from editor and publisher, P. Aiden Hunt, Meet Our Contributor posts, and other informal updates.
- Meet Our Contributor: Kait Quinn
Meet our contributor, Kait Quinn, check out her published books and read about her writing life in a Contributor Q&A. - Meet Our Contributor: Andrew Pelham-Burn
Meet our contributor, Andrew Pelham-Burn, check out his books and recent work, and read about her writing life in a Contributor Q&A. - Call for Summer Poetry & Fiction Submissions
PCR is calling for submissions of original poetry and fiction from May 1 and June 15 for our Summer 2026 issue and beyond. Read this post for details! - Meet Our Contributor: Sophia Naz
Meet our contributor, Sophia Naz, check out her books and recent work, and read about her writing life in a Contributor Q&A.
