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Editor’s Note: July ’25: Poetry Readers Wanted
by Aiden Hunt
“In our last call, we received 720 poems submitted by 180 North American poets. We chose 21 poems from 6 poets for publication for an acceptance rate of about 3%.” Read a note from editor Aiden Hunt about PCR’s Summer poetry and new poetry reader opportunities brought by our growing original poetry submissions.
Chapbook Poem: The Blessed Knot by Li-Young Lee
by Philly Poetry Chapbook Review
“A well-made poem is a knot, but not a tangle. The well-made knot of a poem can disentangle readers from illusion, to free them from confusion. Poetry is a form of disillusionment.” Read the featured Chapbook Poem of the Month for July 2025, “The Blessed Knot” from I Ask My Mother to Sing: Mother Poems of Li-Young Lee, along with a few words from the poet.
by Laynie Browne
“This work is an archive of my attempts to become more familiar with who I am, and why I am here, to immerse myself in these ancient spiritual questions…” Read five poems by Laynie Browne, our first of seven biweekly poets of the Summer 2025 issue, along with a few words about the poem “2 December 2024.”
Book Excerpt: Creating Space by Lisa Sewell
by Philly Poetry Chapbook Review
“Yoga, the walks, and the writing became a daily exercise in paying attention—to the world, to the bodies in the world around me and to my own body… The sequence is also a kind of faux crown of sonnets…” Read the featured Excerpt Poem of the Month for July 2025, “Creating Space” from Flood Plain by Lisa Sewell, along with a few words from the poet.
by William Doreski
“My poetry tries to examine the gap between self and environment. That is, the difference between the lives we live inside ourselves and the lives we expose to other people.” Read five poems by William Doreski, our second of seven biweekly poets of the Summer 2025 issue, along with a few words about his poetry.
by allison whittenberg
“I grew up as a film buff and I loved reading Hollywood Babylon. Over the years, I have learned to separate the truth from the myths.” Read four poems by allison whittenberg, our third of seven biweekly poets of the Summer 2025 issue, along with a few words about these poems.
Chapbook Poem: August Peaches by Winshen Liu
by Philly Poetry Chapbook Review
“I wanted to sit with a particular end-of-summer indulgence, where a host has saved specialty foods to welcome visiting friends and family–fancy chocolate, favorite sodas, a certain snack. … When the string of summer visitors comes to an end, those items left in the kitchen are no longer reserved. They’re no longer off-limits.” Read the featured Chapbook Poem of the Month for August 2025, “August Peaches” from Paper Money, along with a few words from the poet.
Book Excerpt: Cheesecake Factory by Max McDonough
by Philly Poetry Chapbook Review
“This poem lives in the weirdness of the suburban mall spaces a lot of us grew up visiting (or loitering in!), places that feel like they could be anywhere and nowhere at once. For me, it’s a landscape that brings disparate experiences into association—in this case, connection and danger.” Read the featured Excerpt Poem of the Month for August 2025, “Cheesecake Factory” from Python with a Dog Inside It by Max McDonough, along with a few words from the poet.
by Alexandra Meyer
“Love had made me stronger in a lot of ways, but also showed me the weakest parts of myself that were left crystallized for him to see. This was much like wood morphing into rock during the petrification process.” Read five poems by Alexandra Meyer, our fourth of seven biweekly poets of the Summer 2025 issue, along with a few words about his poetry.
by Kristiane Weeks-Rogers
“Anchored by sensory detail, the poem journeys between childhood safety and adult experience in a canyon town shaped by rivers and monsoons. … This poem is a meditation on time, tastes, and tenderness of memory.” Read three poems by Kristiane Weeks-Rogers, our fifth of seven biweekly poets of the Summer 2025 issue, along with a few words about “Aerating Techniques.”
Chapbook Poem: The Seventh Age of Shakespeare’s Father by Scott LaMascus
by Philly Poetry Chapbook Review
“This poem hit me hard last winter, sitting a moment near my late father, as our family was trying to absorb the meaning of his ALS diagnosis … I wondered, if ‘all the world’s a stage,’ what role had I just been assigned?” Read the featured Chapbook Poem of the Month for September 2025, “The Seventh Age of Shakespeare’s Father” from The Edited Tongue: A Family’s Year with ALS, along with a few words from the poet.
Book Excerpt: Landscape with footprints in ash by Selma Asotić
by Philly Poetry Chapbook Review
“When I want to sound smart, I say things like: a poet is one who leaves. When I accept that I’m not very smart, mostly just perplexed and a little scared, I write poems about ghosts and circle farms.” Read the featured Excerpt Poem of the Month for September 2025, “Landscape with footprints in ash” from Say Fire by Selma Asotić, along with a few words from the poet.
by Robin Arble
“All of my encounters with the U.S. healthcare system follow the protocols of the ridiculous. This poem, couched in the conventions of the contemporary sonnet, explores my latest, decisive encounter with a doctor’s office.” Read three poems by Robin Arble, our sixth of seven biweekly poets of the Summer 2025 issue, along with a few words about “The Last Time I Saw My PCP.”
Editor’s Note: September ’25: Best of the Net Nominations
by Aiden Hunt
“After much consideration, I’m proud to announce our nominations from poets Laynie Browne, Natalie Marino, and Sarena Tien.” Editor Aiden Hunt announces Philly Chapbook Review’s Best of the Net 2026 anthology nominations in this editor’s note and provides links to the nominated poems.
Review: Verses of Mourning: in the aftermath by Jessica Nirvana Ram
by Alex Carrigan
“By honing in on the parts of Emma that she wishes to keep close to her, [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.
by Makena Metz
“This poem reckons with our capitalist, product-driven society to ask people why disabled stories are only relevant if they portray the ‘other’ overcoming trauma to become abled people’s inspiration porn.” Read three poems by Makena Metz, our seventh and final biweekly poet of the Summer 2025 issue, along with a few words about “Charlatan.”
New Books
New Poetry Titles (7/1/25)
New Poetry Titles (7/8-8/4)
Poetry Chapbooks (June 2025)
New Poetry Titles (8/5/25)
New Poetry Titles (8/12/25)
Poetry Chapbooks (July 2025)
New Poetry Titles (8/19/25)
New Poetry Titles (8/26/25)
New Poetry Titles (9/2/25)
New Poetry Titles (9/9/25)
Poetry Chapbooks (August 2025)
New Poetry Titles (9/16/25)
New Poetry Titles (9/23/25)
New Poetry Titles (9/30/25)
Meet Our Contributors
Meet Our Contributor: Robin Arble
Meet Our Contributor: D.W. Baker
Meet Our Contributor: Laynie Browne
Meet Our Contributor: Alex Carrigan
Meet Our Contributor: Makena Metz
Meet Our Contributor: Alexandra Meyer
