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Cave Wall Number 8 cover in a repeated pattern

Interview with Rhett Iseman Trull, editor of Cave Wall

I’m not sure the Ploughshares blog is the perfect venue to feature an interview with the editor of another literary journal, but I’m 100% sure that those who read Ploughshares 1) probably know about other literary journals, and therefore could (and I’d argue should) be interested in them, and 2) read good writing, and could…

woman speaking at a stand with a microphone

“Oh, Indeed”: What The Wire Taught Me About Poem Endings

Disclaimer: For those who haven’t experienced David Simon’s HBO series The Wire, you should probably tune out now and hit up your Netflix. Same thing goes to those Wire fans who haven’t finished Season Four. I don’t want to spoil the narrative arc of the season for you. * In my vision, Michael Lee is…

The Blue Flower cover and The Beginning of Spring cover

Sh*t My Mom Says: Women, Men, and Humor

Ellen, Rosanne, Whoopi, Tina.  They’re women, they tell jokes, and we’re on a first-name basis.  These comedians have imposing brains but often focus on their thighs: they write frequently about their relationship with food, this being one theme that connects them.  On the popular NBC sitcom 30 Rock, Tina Fey’s character Liz Lemon is known…