Reviews | Erica Mena

Canyon in the Body by Lan Lan translated by Fiona Sze-Lorrain

February 9, 2015 by Erica Mena

In many ways this book is exactly what I expected. It is a collection of beautiful, light, lyric poems, in a very traditional translation that is beautiful, light, lyric and focused on image and meaning and very occasionally sound. If this appeals to you, you will love this book. For me, though, there wasn’t much beyond a few occasional moments that really grabbed me about it. Lan Lan is clearly a finely attenuated poet, one who puts great care into the […]

Categories: Poetry, Reviews • Tags: canyon in the body, chines poetry, contemporary poetry, fiona sze-lorrain, lan lan, literary translation, poetry, translation, zephyr press

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Why Have Children? The Ethical Debate by Christine Overall

January 26, 2015 by Erica Mena

Why Have Children? The Ethical Debate by Christine Overall is a phenomenal philosophical exploration of one of the few questions that everyone at some point, consciously or not, confronts. The decision to procreate, as Overall argues, is one of the most fundamental and important decisions that a person makes in their life. And it’s so rarely treated as anything more than an individual and highly personal preference that this very thorough, rational, moral analysis of the question is simultaneously shocking and […]

Categories: Reviews • Tags: bioethics, childbearing, childrearing, children, ethics, philosophy, why have children

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Diana's Tree by Alejandra Pizarnik, translated by Yvette Siegert

January 10, 2015 by Erica Mena

After reading Diana’s Tree by Alejandra Pizarnik, in Yvette Siegert’s translation, all the way through in one sitting, I wanted immediately to read it again. It’s a slim volume of equally slim poems, but they’re the kind of sparing that is deceptive. I hadn’t read much Pizarnik before, I’d seen her pop up in anthologies and translation workshops, I can’t tell you how many emerging translators I know who’ve started with her work. But, I think mostly because of estate issues and […]

Categories: Poetry, Reviews, Translation • Tags: alejandra pizarnik, diana's tree, literary translation, poetry, translation, ugly duckling, yvette siegert

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The End of Night by Paul Bogard

April 22, 2014 by Erica Mena

I’ve never really been afraid of the dark, which is odd because I’m an anxious person in general and the dark is a primal fear. I’m clinically phobic of spiders, and of heights, and it turns out thanks to a good friend one summer I was able to prioritize those fears. I am more afraid of spiders than of heights. We were on a bus day-trip into Albania, to see the spectacular ruins at Butrint, curving along narrow dirt roads. […]

Categories: Reviews • Tags: dark, dark sky week, darkness, light, light pollution, light tresspass, paul bogard, review, the end of night

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Boston Ballet's The Nutcracker, Undone

December 29, 2013 by Erica Mena

Tonight Matt and I went to go see the Boston Ballet’s new Nutcracker at The Boston Opera House, closing night of the season. We’d been in 2010 to see the last staging of the old set and costumes, which were being updated with great fanfare for the following season. I wanted to see what had changed, and (I hoped) improved from the 30-year-old version I grew up with. I’m not a huge ballet aficionado, but I know my way around. I […]

Categories: Reviews • Tags: 2013 nutcracker, boston ballet, boston opera house, nutcracker, the nutcracker, the opera house

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Vanity Presses, Self-Publishing & The Antigone Poems by Marie Slaight

August 26, 2013 by Erica Mena

I just received an advance review copy of The Antigone Poems by Marie Slaight, forthcoming in January from Altaire Productions & Publications. I wasn’t surprised that I hadn’t heard of the poet or the press, they are in Australia and it’s a sad reality that very few books published outside the US gain any real attention here. There are a handful of UK presses I know and love, because I lived there briefly, and I’ve worked hard to gain expertise in […]

Categories: Poetry, Publishing, Reading Journal, Reviews • Tags: altaire productions, marie slaight, poetry, self publishing, self-published, terrance hasker, the antigone poems, vanity press

Critical vs. Criticism (And Misogyny in SF)

August 10, 2013 by Erica Mena

Not all reviews have to be critical. Of course they have to be critical, but they don’t have to criticize. And it’s too bad that so many reviewers out there seem to think that in order to demonstrate their own intelligence they have to tear apart the work they’re reviewing as much as possible. I’ve seen this over and over as a trend in reviewing – surprising because just a few years ago I remember a number of people ’round […]

Categories: Reviews • Tags: criticism, feminism, feminist, guardian books, literature, misogyny, reviews, science fiction, sexism, sf mistressworks, women

Darkness at Night by Edward Harrison

August 1, 2013 by Erica Mena

A few months ago I used the word “dark” in a poem, and brought it into my workshop. I knew it was a risk, there are a number of words that are more or less off limits to ‘serious’ poets. In fact, there are so many words that are off limits to poets that it’s hard to categorize them, or say generally what makes them off limits. For the most part it’s overuse – which gives an easiness to the […]

Categories: Reviews • Tags: astronomy, darkness, math, olber's paradox, poetry, science

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Review of False Friends on Iowa Review

August 23, 2011 by Erica Mena

“The project of the book is to toy with language and meaning, with things that sound similar and even the same across languages but mean strange, funny, unusual, and odd things. This is the joy of cognates, as any language learner will tell you—the surprise they can bring to the familiar. By defamiliarizing these phrases, Bernofsky brilliantly constructs an unfamiliar reading experience in English.” Read the rest of my review of False Friends by Uljana Wolf, translated by Susan Bernofsky (Ugly […]

Categories: Poetry, Reviews, Translation • Tags: chapbook, cognates, experimental translation, False Friends, poetry, review, Susan Bernofsky, translation, Ugly Duckling Presse, Uljana Wolf

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Seeking Reviewer

July 15, 2011 by Erica Mena

Human Architecture is seeking a reviewer for Lisa Suhair Majar’s latest book of poems, Geographies of Light. If you’re interested drop me a line and I’ll put you in touch with the editor.

Categories: Reviews

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Erica Mena

Poet | Book Artist | Translator

Category Archives: Reviews

Canyon in the Body by Lan Lan translated by Fiona Sze-Lorrain

Why Have Children? The Ethical Debate by Christine Overall

Diana's Tree by Alejandra Pizarnik, translated by Yvette Siegert

The End of Night by Paul Bogard

Boston Ballet's The Nutcracker, Undone

Vanity Presses, Self-Publishing & The Antigone Poems by Marie Slaight

Critical vs. Criticism (And Misogyny in SF)

Darkness at Night by Edward Harrison

Review of False Friends on Iowa Review

Seeking Reviewer