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mary_soon_lee's review
3.0
This brief anthology contains the contenders for this year's Dwarf Stars award for best short-short speculative poem (10 lines or fewer). There are seventeen pages of tiny poems of many flavors: horror, humor, science, science fiction, though almost none that I would classify as fantasy (other than dark fantasy pieces from the borderlands of horror). Inevitably, not all the poems were to my taste, but the anthology is packed with interesting ideas compressed into a scant few lines.
A few of my favorites: I liked the evocative way that Robert Borski's "Cenotaph Moon" suggested a larger story. I liked the succinct humor of Herb Kauderer's "epitaph for an ogre" and John Reinhart's "knitting for nieces." Of the science-flavored poems, I especially liked Ann K. Schwader's "no shore" and Shelly Bryant's "Pluto." Christina Sng's "pandemonium" had a bright playfulness that appealed to me. Weighing in at a comparatively hefty eight lines, I thought Shannon Connor Winward's "Craving" had a lovely haunting quality that matched its subject matter.
A few of my favorites: I liked the evocative way that Robert Borski's "Cenotaph Moon" suggested a larger story. I liked the succinct humor of Herb Kauderer's "epitaph for an ogre" and John Reinhart's "knitting for nieces." Of the science-flavored poems, I especially liked Ann K. Schwader's "no shore" and Shelly Bryant's "Pluto." Christina Sng's "pandemonium" had a bright playfulness that appealed to me. Weighing in at a comparatively hefty eight lines, I thought Shannon Connor Winward's "Craving" had a lovely haunting quality that matched its subject matter.
richardleis's review
4.0
I knew that poems could be really short, but how did I not know that poems could be about science fiction, fantasy, and horror and be effective and exciting, thrilling, or chilling at under ten lines!?
I feel so fortunate to have finally found the Science Fiction & Fantasy Poetry Association. They bring together in their various publications genre poetry of any size, but with the Dwarf Stars Awards and annual anthology they focus on these shortest wonders. I was surprised to find that even single line poems can pack a huge wallop! As selected by Robin Mayhall out of the wealth of "very short speculative poetry" that's available out there, the poems this year are an eclectic mix of styles, subjects, themes, and elements of craft.
I was also surprised by how quickly I read this anthology of sixty plus poems in less than thirty pages; I didn't want it to end! Among my favorites were poems that captured something horrifying or elegiac in just a few words and lines, like "abandoned farm ..." by C. William Hinderliter, "Cenotaph Moon" by Robert Borski, and "First to Draw" by Bruce Boston. I also really enjoyed two poems about drones, "alighting" by C. R. Harper and "spring migration" by LeRoy Gorman. I'm much less interested in subjects like werewolves that many contemporary genre poets seem to have gravitated toward, if this anthology is any indication, but their craft is as a rule excellent, and there are many other subjects contained within.
Now I have to choose three of my favorites and vote!
I feel so fortunate to have finally found the Science Fiction & Fantasy Poetry Association. They bring together in their various publications genre poetry of any size, but with the Dwarf Stars Awards and annual anthology they focus on these shortest wonders. I was surprised to find that even single line poems can pack a huge wallop! As selected by Robin Mayhall out of the wealth of "very short speculative poetry" that's available out there, the poems this year are an eclectic mix of styles, subjects, themes, and elements of craft.
I was also surprised by how quickly I read this anthology of sixty plus poems in less than thirty pages; I didn't want it to end! Among my favorites were poems that captured something horrifying or elegiac in just a few words and lines, like "abandoned farm ..." by C. William Hinderliter, "Cenotaph Moon" by Robert Borski, and "First to Draw" by Bruce Boston. I also really enjoyed two poems about drones, "alighting" by C. R. Harper and "spring migration" by LeRoy Gorman. I'm much less interested in subjects like werewolves that many contemporary genre poets seem to have gravitated toward, if this anthology is any indication, but their craft is as a rule excellent, and there are many other subjects contained within.
Now I have to choose three of my favorites and vote!
divadiane's review
4.0
Finished my first pass. Now I have to go through again to choose my 3 favorites.
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