Contributions
- Three Poems by Kait Quinn
Read three poems by Kait Quinn, our fifth biweekly poet of the Spring 2026 issue, along with a few words about “The Tomato.”
About the Contributor
Kait Quinn (she/her) was born with salt in her wounds. She flushes the sting of living by writing poetry. She is the author of five poetry collections, and her work appears in Anti-Heroin Chic, Exposition Review, Full House Literary, and elsewhere. She received first place in table//FEAST’s 2025 Nano & Micro Contest for Women Writers and Sad Girl Diaries’ 2023 Fall Poetry Contest. Kait is an Editorial Associate at Yellow Arrow Publishing. She enjoys cats, repetition, coffee shops, tattoos, and vegan breakfast. Kait lives in Minneapolis with her partner and their very polite Aussie mix.
Books
Blue Rose (Self-published, 2024)
Blue Rose lures readers into the wonderful and strange world of David Lynch’s Twin Peaks, centering around the pivotal, complex character of Laura Palmer. This unique poetry collection captures the show’s essence through surreal, innovative verse and the inventive “Diane Tapes, Redacted” blackout poems, which reimagine Agent Cooper’s recordings as covert love notes.
Poems of August (Self-published, 2021)
Summer 2020 will forever be the summer of folklore. An album that got us through months of unexpected pandemic. An album that inspired poets around the world to turn the salt, fear, and grief into poetry. An album that spun on repeat as this collection birthed into existence. And August will never be the same.
In “seven,” Taylor Swift asks, “Are there still beautiful things?”
There are. Moonlit as porch lights. Quiet as moth wings.
Clear (Self-published, 2021)
Kait Quinn’s third poetry collection, Clear, features poems written during the Covid-19 pandemic of 2020. From the seemingly bright beginnings of a short winter and a promising year to navigating isolation and social distancing to loss and grief, both as a result of the coronavirus and George Floyd’s death and resulting unrest, Clear’s poems reflect on life during an unprecedented time in our history.
I Saw Myself Alive in a Coffin (Self-published, 2021)
I Saw Myself Alive in a Coffin begins with a wish for death and ends with a hope for a life fully lived. In this collection of poetic musings on life and death, Quinn explores her personal relationship with death, or sometimes lack of: death as something that happens daily, death as a feeling, death as fascination, death as intangible, death as wish, death as an inevitability. Thus comes a respect for both life and death—one cannot exist without the other; one cannot truly live without accepting the inevitable.
A Time for Winter (Self-published, 2019)
There is a time and purpose for every season. Seasons can force us to confront the dark things inside us, to face our fears, to feel the hurt. Seasons can call on us to shed what no longer serves, to let go of dead weight, to burn so that we can rise up. Seasons can nurture us into blossoming, opening up our hearts to love, growth, and possibility. But first, there is a time for winter. A time to sit in stillness with the newly bare self. A time for sweeping away the ashes. A time to channel the wild, ancient energy of sun, moon, salt, and earth. A time for self care. A time for healing.
Contributor Q & A
Can you tell readers a little about yourself and your life?
I was born and raised in Texas and currently live in Minneapolis where I'm happy to finally experience all four seasons (yes, even winter). I live with my partner and our Aussie mix, Jesse (named after Jesse Pinkman from Breaking Bad). Current obsessions include: reading books about the ocean and marine creatures, streaming Stardew Valley on Twitch, playing Minecraft with my partner, naming every flower (that I can identify) while walking through my neighborhood, and checking on the progress of my own backyard garden multiple times a day (beginner gardener here). My pronouns are she/her, and I'm a self-proclaimed professional shower singer.
How long have you been a writer and how did you get started?
I've actually been thinking about this a lot lately, and I don't know if I ever had a moment where I thought to myself, "I want to be a writer." I think, growing up, adults in my life just pushed me in that direction—though I don't think they expected I would choose the poet's path.
I started writing poetry in high school, then studied it in college. I don't think it was until 2019 (almost ten years after graduating) that I realized I wanted to be a poet. That year, I self-published my first poetry book and started a challenge to write a poem a day for a year. I liked writing poetry before, but I fell in love with it during that time and realized that poetry was becoming more than just therapy or a way to express emotion. It became a way to connect with others and a creative challenge in imagery, sound, wordplay, and storytelling.
My first professional writing break was as a freelance writer, in which I wrote web copy for two e-commerce sites: one that sold modern furniture and one that sold drums. My first professional poetry break was getting published in Chestnut Review in 2020. That was my first paid publication, so it felt very professional."
What’s an accomplishment in your writing life of which you’re proud and what do you still hope to acheive?
Winning my first contest! I had made a goal at the beginning of that year to win a contest, and I won one in December.
A big goal is to be accepted to a residency or fellowship. I've been applying to various ones for the past two years and have been a finalist for one but have yet to receive an acceptance. Luckily, I'm persistent and not phased by rejection at this point.
What do you look for in a book?
I don't recommend books often, but when I do, it's usually because of a craft element, style/voice, or subject matter I think someone might like. For example, I'd recommend Mary Karr's memoirs to someone wanting to study detail in writing, or Prudence Brooks's SAVED for a study in vulnerability, grit, and precise, impactful lines, or Arah Ko's Brine Orchid to someone drawn to myth and ancestral lore, especially in relation to the ocean.
Some of my favorite writers are all the women I've mentioned above as well as Sylvia Plath, Emily Dickinson, Natalie Diaz, and Megan Fernandes.
Contents
Chapbook Poem: Slow Burn by Evan Wang
“The concept of personifying a slow burn deeply resonated with who I thought myself to be—a slow burn, love flickering around me.” Read the featured Chapbook Poem of the Month for April 2026, “Slow Burn” by Evan Wang, along with a few words from the poet.
Book Excerpt: She wants shimmering scales by Nicole Alston Zdeb
“The nexus of the erotic, the social, and the body felt relevant to what I was experiencing at the end of the 20th Century. There are glimmers of personal lore as well…” Read the featured Excerpt Poem of the Month for April 2026, “She wants shimmering scales” from The End of Welcome by Nicole Alston Zdeb, along with a few words from the poet.
“I wanted to explore how time was registered not only by the calendar and clock, but also in the various utilitarian tasks of my mother’s life.” Read three poems by Ron Mohring, our first biweekly poet of the Spring 2026 issue, along with a few words about “Fuse.”
Three Poems by Andrew Pelham-Burn
“Children in these circumstances are deprived of love at a formative stage and learn to immediately behave like adults without the benefit of the learning path of childhood.” Read three poems by Andrew Pelham-Burn, our second biweekly poet of the Spring 2026 issue, along with a few words about “Conkers.”
A Conversation with John deSouza
“Language is a powerful tool and can do great harm both to ourselves and to those most close to us when used cruelly or selfishly.” 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.
Chapbook Poem: from Stray Hunter’s Bullet by Lance Le Grys
“…what interested me was the idea of a character who didn’t do what he was capable of, not because of external circumstances, but because of either a lack of will or a seemingly perverse one.” Read the featured Chapbook Poem of the Month for May 2026, from Stray Hunter’s Bullet by Lance Le Grys, along with a few words from the poet.
Book Excerpt: Love does not exist by Maria Giesbrecht
“This poem was inspired by a dream… I had this strange feeling when I woke up that it meant something more and started writing a poem to see if anything would reveal itself to me.” Read the featured Excerpt Poem of the Month for May 2026, “Love does not exist” from A Little Feral by Maria Giesbrecht, along with a few words from the poet.
“After a loss in my family, I discovered one grieves for both the living who hide their pain and for the dead who sleep in silence.” Read two poems by Patricia Wallace, our third biweekly poet of the Spring 2026 issue, along with a few words about “Fox.”
May ’26: New Staff, New Calls, New(ish) Name
Editor Aiden Hunt provides information about changes to PCR’s name, format, and staff in this editor’s note, which also contains links to our Spring calls for submissions.
“I kept thinking about how easily adults learn to stop seeing what’s right in front of them, especially when they’re somewhere between one country and another, neither arriving nor leaving.” Read four poems by Nivara Lune, our fourth biweekly poet of the Spring 2026 issue, along with a few words about “Notes Toward an Elsewhere.”
The Lines of Landscape: on The Catastrophes by Marie Scarles
“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.
“Every time I plucked a few of the little orange sun sugars to take inside, their garden smell lingered on my fingers. It was almost enough to just sit with that scent…” Read three poems by Kait Quinn, our fifth biweekly poet of the Spring 2026 issue, along with a few words about “The Tomato.”
Chapbook Poem: Superbloom by Joyce Schmid
“That June, flowers bloomed everywhere in Northern California—as if to honor her, to celebrate her life. This poem is an attempt to accept the fact that she is really gone.” Read the featured Chapbook Poem of the Month for June 2026, from Superbloom by Joyce Schmid, along with a few words from the poet.
Book Excerpt: The Well by Robin Becker
“Allowing flickering sentiments and images to play against one another, I replicated one form of consciousness. A surprising aspect of the poem: the sudden appearance of figures of government.” Read the featured Excerpt Poem of the Month for June 2026, “The Well” from Midsummer Count by Robin Becker, along with a few words from the poet.
“Like a lot of my poems, this one reaches toward something impossibly out of grasp. But … maybe that’s the power of a poem, to momentarily touch something out of our reach.” Read three poems by Scott Weaver, our sixth and final biweekly poet of the Spring 2026 issue, along with a few words about “Annotating The Inferno.”