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weekend rumpus roundup

  • Max Gray

    Weekend Rumpus Roundup

    First, Brandon Hicks applies his irreverent sense of humor to an illustrated story of three child innovators. Next, in the Saturday Essay, Megan Burbank offers a funny, tender recollection of a difficult summer in New England following a breakup. She reads…

  • Max Gray

    Weekend Rumpus Roundup

    Poet Kamden Hilliard is the subject of this week’s Saturday Interview. Jellyfish Magazine editor Gale Thompson talks to Hilliard about sexual violence, the “colonized” body, and his love for James Baldwin. Hilliard’s chapbook, Distress Tolerance, looks at these ideas closely. He…

  • Max Gray

    Weekend Rumpus Roundup

    First, Brandon Hicks shares a short series that he failed to place at a newspaper, “Burger Butler,” along with hilarious notes from the editors who rejected the series, and his own commentary on those notes. Then, in the Saturday Essay, Yvonne…

  • Max Gray

    Weekend Rumpus Roundup

    First, in the Saturday Interview, Deesha Philyaw talks to celebrated writer Darryl Pinckney about his latest novel, Black Deutschland, and drawing inspiration from Christopher Isherwood’s The Berlin Stories. Pinckney describes Berlin as “a somewhere not everyone wanted to bother with.” Racism in American…

  • Max Gray

    Weekend Rumpus Roundup

    First, we close out National Poetry Month with Sophie Klahr breaking down literary conventions in “Slant,” and Sandra Simonds offering two powerful poems about sexuality and shame. Meanwhile, Brandon Hicks illustrates what he has learned from famous author’s photos. Then, in the Saturday Interview with…

  • Max Gray

    Weekend Rumpus Roundup

    First, for Day 23 of National Poetry Month, Valerie Wetlaufer’s “Method” uses third person to describe a victim of mysterious migraines, and for Day 24, Tyehimba Jess calls for the curtain to rise “to show the face that is known” in…

  • Max Gray

    Weekend Rumpus Roundup

    To kick things off, Brandon Hicks offers us the hilarious illustrated life story of a “Born Failure.” Then, National Poetry Month continues at The Rumpus. First, Amanda Deutch’s “Island Factory” uses couplets to tell a tragic story of immigrant labor in…

  • Max Gray

    Weekend Rumpus Roundup

    First, National Poetry Month at The Rumpus continues with Carrie Murphy’s “Beauty Work” and two poems from Amaud Johnson. Next, a harrowing tale of addiction and related heart disease from Paul Vega in the Saturday Essay. Vega’s innovative form helps…

  • Max Gray

    Weekend Rumpus Roundup

    First, in the Saturday Essay, Tyrese L. Coleman unearths the history behind her surname and the results of a DNA test. The results say she is 69% African, 33% originating from Benin, 29% European, and less than 2% Asian. Coleman digs deeper and considers the likelihood of…

  • Max Gray

    Weekend Rumpus Roundup

    First, in “Empowerment Inc.,” Brandon Hicks satirizes those who whitewash the legitimate challenges of women, people of color, and the LGBTQ community. Then, in the Saturday Essay, Haley Swanson reaches for solace in the face of her mother’s drinking problem and…

  • The Rumpus

    Weekend Rumpus Roundup

    First, in the Saturday Essay, Cindy Lamothe writes about Central American street gangs, folklore, and how “more than a decade’s worth of war [has] left El Salvador in an aggressive tailspin of poverty and violence.” Then, Ryan Werner reviews poet Katie…

  • Max Gray

    Weekend Rumpus Roundup

    First, Brandon Hicks exercises his satirical muscle in “The Cartoonists: Profiles.” Then, in the Saturday Essay, Steven D. Howe bravely exposes his relationship with his father to the light, a relationship bruised by alcoholism and Howe’s own fear of perpetuating the cycle of…