Burnside Review

@burnsidereview.bsky.social

266 Followers 67 Following

Independent literary publisher of books and chapbooks of poetry, based in Portland, Oregon. Since 2004. ➡️ www.burnsidereview.org

“What really fascinates me about Ali Black’s We Look Better Alive is how it complicates our understanding of dying. There are literal deaths scattered throughout the book: funerals for a mother, for a father-in-law, reports of a grandmother’s passing, a friend’s. And yet this collection seems most concerned about the metaphorical deaths Black women experience in their quest for beauty and acceptance. From doctor’s offices, to school classrooms, and even to the social media pages of female celebrities, Black leads us through a museum of death, demonstrates how society robs Black women of life at every turn.”
—Taylor Byas

“Black Swan Theory is a book of feral originality. In scenarios as vivid
and odd as Ovid’s, Kyle Marbut’s prose poems offer tales of eros,
abjection, and transformation through love. No scene is too strange
a sensorium for this kinky and queer and visionary poet, who continually
treads the line between apophatic vision and surrealist dream. If ecstasy
offers a way out of oneself, and paradox offers an escape from logic,
Marbut writes with abandon ‘Till the bright pours in, overflows, and I am
nothing left to see.’ I’m in awe of this singular new talent.”
—Brian Teare

A stack of books - The Threatened Everything by Paula Cisewski, 2017 - close up view of the cover.

Paula Cisewski is the author of numerous other books, including Ceremonies for No Repair (Beauty School Editions, LLC, 2024) and The Becoming Game (Hanging Loose Press, Spring 2025). She lives in Minneapolis.