jeffhall's review
5.0
These sort of theme anthologies can be a mixed bag, where some contributors follow the game plan, and others simply present a random piece from their pile of rejected submissions. To their great credit, editors Sharma Shields and Maya Jewell Zeller have defied the odds, and have published a collection that really steps up and delivers "Grim Tales & Verses from the Gloomy Northwest." Evergreen is consistently good throughout, and features several pieces that are quite a bit more than just good.
Having read the entire volume, the story that continues to haunt me is Alexis M. Smith's "Wormholes", a melancholy rumination on the female power of reproduction. But there are many other wonderful pieces in these pages, including several that feature strong indigenous voices and viewpoints. The mix of poetry and prose is very effective, such that each piece ends up reflecting and commenting on those that bookend it, gradually constructing an authentic portrait of the grim and gloomy Northwest. All of this is enhancend by the sparing yet magical graphic design work of Keely Honeywell.
Such a great collection overall, and one must give the last word to Tess Gallagher, who manages to hit the nail on the head in her "Instructions to the Double":
Go
To the temple of the poets, not
the one like a run-down country club
but the one on fire
with so much it wants
to be done with.
Having read the entire volume, the story that continues to haunt me is Alexis M. Smith's "Wormholes", a melancholy rumination on the female power of reproduction. But there are many other wonderful pieces in these pages, including several that feature strong indigenous voices and viewpoints. The mix of poetry and prose is very effective, such that each piece ends up reflecting and commenting on those that bookend it, gradually constructing an authentic portrait of the grim and gloomy Northwest. All of this is enhancend by the sparing yet magical graphic design work of Keely Honeywell.
Such a great collection overall, and one must give the last word to Tess Gallagher, who manages to hit the nail on the head in her "Instructions to the Double":
Go
To the temple of the poets, not
the one like a run-down country club
but the one on fire
with so much it wants
to be done with.
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