Jasper Magazine January/February 2016

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Concerto no. 7: Condoleezza {working out} At the Watergate

Concerto no. 7: Condoleezza {working out} At the Watergate from Head Off & Split by Nikky Finney Condoleezza rises at four, stepping on the treadmill. Her long fingers brace the two slim handles of accommodating steel. She steadies her sleepy legs for the long day ahead. She doesn’t get very far. Her knees buckle wanting back Last night’s dream. [dream #9] She is fifteen and leaning forward from the bench, playing Mozart’s piano concerto... Read More

Candace Wiley

By Ed Madden Candace Wiley is just back from Pencil Shout, a small workshop in Kentucky with National Book Award poet Nikky Finney, and later this summer she leaves for Colombia, South America, as the recipient of a Fulbright creative writing fellowship.  Jasper first noticed Wiley at last fall’s Bookin’ It on Main, a celebration of black writers at the Columbia Museum of Art.  Wiley read poems included in Home Is Where, an anthology of African-American... Read More

A Review of Head off & Split by Ray McManus

Nikki Finney’s latest book of poetry, Head Off & Split, is the winner of the 2011 National Book Award. To anyone who is familiar with Finney’s work, this should not come as a surprise. In addition to Head Off & Split (of which I’ll talk about later), Finney’s books of poetry include The World is Round (2003), Heartwood (1997), Rice (1995), and On Wings Made of Gauze (1985) – all strong collections, with an undeniable voice... Read More