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The Road From Breslau by Andrew Peiser is an evocative and important biography about the author’s mother, Marianne, who witnessed the rise of Nazi Germany, the rise of democracy in India, and the ascendence of post-war America, chronicling her resilience and fortitude through some of history’s darkest moments. The book also takes a close look at their family’s ancestors, giving an intimate look at history through the portrait of one family, as Peiser brings to life his family tree with a wealth of pictures, newspaper clippings, archival evidence, and personal anecdotes. Marianne and her family’s epic story is one that […]

An enigmatic thriller oozing with cool, Iris: A Fleeting Tale of Love, Murder and Betrayal offers what it promises in the title, and then some. Chand Svare Ghei’s compelling protagonist, Kenneth Johansen, travels across the globe and into foreign lands, tackling multinational corporations, bent police, and chased by the powers of TIGR who ask questions only a gun can answer – all while saving the lives of those around him. Told with a voice steeped in mysticism and delivered at times with notes of wisdom and at others with soaring and often hilarious rants on life’s vices, this thriller is […]

A fast-paced, boiling pot of a one-act play, Red-Handed by Alan David Pritchard showcases the playwright’s talents by pitting three schoolboys against each other, as they’re locked in a storage room by a classmate. The room also happens to be where the exam papers are stored, a great device and catalytic for the characters to overcome their individual problems and work together to escape. The play is clearly well-realized by Pritchard, who vividly stages the play with inventive demonstrations of flashbacks and a minimal use of props. Short yet tense, Red-Handed is a rare play that performs itself well through […]

A contemporary novelization of the COVID-19 saga, Dieter Gartelmann’s Pandemic is an audacious and wholly original novel that is part apocalyptic thriller, and part literary investigation. Following the lives of six people from August 2020 into the near future, the reader experiences the pandemic through myriad lenses – each character a representative point of view of the pandemic, referenced with news articles and opinion pieces. An ambitious attempt at understanding the pandemic’s impact, the book acts like a diary of humanity in the current moment. The result is alternately eye-opening and frustrating, as the reader is put in the position […]

Echoes is the stunning new collection of poetry by Steffan Williams, who shows great poetic skill along with an original storytelling voice. The first third of the collection is colored with a fresh, bright palette, from subject matter to imagery, displaying the down-to-earth wisdom of Williams’ Trinidadian roots. The last two-thirds is comprised of darker and more emotional poems, which don’t always live up to the earlier works. However, Williams’ imagination is on full display throughout the collection, with the perspectives of pilots and vigilantes, or ruminating on artwork and monsters in the streets. A truly refreshing collection of poems […]