Chapbooks and other small and micro-press publications are, I believe, an important part of the written culture.  Reading is always a one-on-one experience and the number of copies printed or the number of readers reached doesn’t alter that intimate experience.  While this online journal is meant to be a critical review, it is also a celebration of the dedication and creativity of the publishers who make chapbooks and the authors who find them the right form for their works.

Most of the reviews will be of recent publications but occasionally reviews of older works will be posted as well.  If you notice that the reviews tend to be quite positive, that isn’t because I’m taking bribes.  I’m only interested in reviewing work that I like or where I might have something interesting to say .  The chapbooks (far more) that I don’t care for go quietly by the wayside.  (There are also chapbooks I like but don’t get a chance to review.) Most of the work is poetry because that is what is most often published, but I am keen to see other kinds of work–memoir, essay, fiction, and the unclassifiable–make use of this modest but strangely potent form.

While I love to buy chapbooks, broadsides, and other publications I can’t shell out for them all and publishers are encouraged to send in copies for review.  Just send me an email first.

To see espresso, the chapbook press I’m involved in, please visit
http://espresso-chapbooks.com

To see my work: http://caryfagan.com

Thanks for reading.

Cary Fagan