A hush falls over the clearing. The hunter’s voice rings with a metallic clang. The bodies huddled around the fireplace feel the blade pierce the beast’s hide as if it were their own. Before writing, there was word of mouth. Our humble literary blog, and the larger literature scene as…
Graduating as an English Major: An Open Letter to Myself Right Now By Therese Masotta
To The Current Me, This morning I woke up with you, like I always do, and it was early and you were just as confused as you were the night before you went to sleep, and everything seemed surreal as it always does. It’s the last week of classes and…
An Interview with Dr. William Jelani Cobb by Sten Spinella (2016)
This is the unedited transcript of Dr. Cobb’s interview. The edited version is printed in the Long River Review’s physical copy. Dr. William Jelani Cobb is a nationally-known intellectual who has written books, essays, and anthologies on everything from the history of hip-hop to the Cold War to racism and…
An Interview with Carl Phillips, Poet and Professor by Sten Spinella (2016)
I only had 30 minutes to speak to poet Carl Phillips, which was just enough time to access his worldview, yet a woefully insufficient amount of time to truly get at the thickness of his poetry. It was by far the friendliest interview I have ever conducted. Phillips was flexible…
Summer Reading List for People Who Love to be Sad by Kate Monica
“’I don’t like happy people,’ Andrew said.” —Tao Lin, Eeeee Eee Eeeee Are you looking for a light summer read to perfectly complement a languorous afternoon on the beach working on your tan? Then this list probably isn’t a great fit. Just kidding. Sort of. You can read these books…
On Letting Go of Favorite Books by Rebecca Nelson
I have a bad habit of latching on to books that have had a great impact on me. There are shelves of books in my bedroom that I’ve read at least once, most of them three times or more. I also have a bookcase full of books I’ve never read,…
Make It A Big Deal: An Interview with Matvei Yankelevich by Carleton Whaley (2016)
Matvei Yankelevich is the Co-Founder and Co-Executive Director of Ugly Duckling Presse, which he started in the late 1990’s with a group of friends. He designs and edits books for UDP, curates the Eastern European Poets Series (since 2002), and co-edits 6×6 magazine (since 2000). He shares duties as UDP’s Co-Executive Director with…
An Interview with Novelist and Short Story Writer Laura van den Berg by Carleton Whaley (2016)
Laura van den Berg is a short story writer and novelist known for her collections What the World Will Look Like When All the Water Leaves Us and The Isle of Youth, as well as her debut novel Find Me, which was listed as a “Best of 2015” by NPR,…
Exigency in Writing: CAConrad in Providence by Nicholas DiBenedetto
“A security guard asked, ‘What the fuck are YOU DOING?’ I replied, ‘I’M A POLLINATOR, I’M A POLLINATOR!!’” — CAConrad “Security Cameras and Flowers Dreaming the Elevation Allegiance” On the evening of Friday, April 22, I found myself driving a car full of undergraduates to Ada Books in Providence, Rhode…
On writing the teenage character by Asiya Haouchine
People give J.D. Salinger too much flak about his ability to write when it comes to Holden Caulfield of Salinger’s most famous novel, The Catcher in the Rye. When adults (and students) complain about Holden and discuss how annoying he is, I get why they might think that—Holden is whiny…
