The Cat Haiku Book For Every Season
By Ghia Vitale
Remember Neko Atsume, the mobile game app that where the goal is to take pictures of animated cats? Well, the brand has released an official poetry book called Neko Atsume: Kitty Collector Haiku―Seasons of the Kitty that advertises itself as “Haiku For Cat Lovers.”
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Long-Time Contributor Included in New Short Story Anthology
By The Editors
Image Courtesy of Guts Publishing
Our very own Alex Carrigan, resident reviewer and all-around kickass person, makes an appearance in Guts Publishing's debut anthology Stories About Penises: An anthology of short stories and poetry.
Endless CycleBy Alex Carrigan CW: This review discusses sexual and violent material that may be uncomfortable for some readers.  Confucius once said "Before you embark on a journey of revenge, dig two graves." This is generally said to mean that revenge will often hurt the person seeking revenge in the process, either resulting in their literal death or their figurative death, where the pursuit of revenge cost them everything in the process to the point where revenge itself is ultimately hollow. While it is difficult to say if every act of revenge is as destructive as Confucius intoned, there is the question of what would happen if such a quest for revenge doesn't result in just two graves, but an entire new cemetery's worth of them.
Understanding the Threat of the Mountain Valley Pipeline By Joanna Patzig  A photo of an excavator on an easement in Elliston Virginia. As the year and decade comes to a close, I’ve been reflecting on a project that has been changing the landscape since it was approved in 2014: The Mountain Valley Pipeline (abbreviated as MVP.) This project is one of two pipelines planned to carry natural gas through Virginia, but since its inception it has been fraught with mismanagement and disregard for local citizens and the environment.
The community has widely rejected and protested the pipeline, making amazing efforts to protect an area that I’m proud to have grown up in. There have been protests, tree sitters, and inspiring legal action that give me hope that Virginia will turn towards clean energy despite the corrupt forces that be. Unfortunately, a lot of people seem to be unaware of the harm caused by these projects, and equally of our power as citizens to fight them. Dr. Emily Satterwhite is a professor of Appalachian Studies at Virginia Tech who has been involved with protesting the pipeline since 2017. She graciously agreed to speak to me about the Mountain Valley Pipeline, and to shed light on the issues surrounding it for fellow concerned citizens. You can read the interview below: Fart Anime For The SoulBy Ghia Vitale  Onara Gorou (also called Onara Goro) is a short-form anime series that focuses on farts. In other words, fart anime is a thing. "Onara" means "fart” in Japanese and Gorou is the name of the main character/fart. Warning: This anime isn’t compatible with Smell-O-Vision of any kind!
Manga Review: My Solo Exchange Diary Vol. 1 By Kabi Nagata is a Queer Manga Dream Come True11/25/2019 The Manga That's Here, Queer, and Dear To LGBTQ+ Folks
By Ghia Vitale
Kabi Nagata (or Nagata Kabi) is a mangaka who creates autobiographical manga. She’s the ultimate TMI queen becaue she’s known and loved for including intimate details about her actual life in her manga. Warning: This review mentions mental illness, self-harm, and ED recovery, so proceed with caution!
A Primer On AutosexualityBy Ghia Vitale  Photo Credit: Pexels.com Interested in learning about autosexuality? Here’s a cheat sheet full of definitions, clarifications, and more important information about autosexuality.
QueerBFF Is The LGBTQ+ App We've Been Waiting ForBy Ghia Vitale  QueerBFF is the only app that’s designed to help you find queer friends. Check out this exclusive interview with Ruben Jauregui Jr. (the founder and CEO of QueerBFF) to learn more about this groundbreaking social networking app.
The Struggle and Emotional Labor of the Teenage Immigrant Showcased in New YA Novel
Penguin Random House
As an educator, I'm always on the lookout for fresh and exciting voices in YA. I've also made it a personal mission to find more diverse books to better understand students from all cultural backgrounds. The publishing industry as a whole still has a lot of work to do in order to bring more exclusivity to the reading experience, but a recently published addition has me optimistic about the future of YA.
Before you call her those names...
By Alex Carrigan
Oftentimes, it's difficult to explain just why poetry affects us the way it does. It's easy to say it sounds or reads nicely, or that there's a line or phrase that resonates with the reader, but it's another thing to truly understand the complexity and detail that goes into writing a poem. The same can be said for trying to understand a person from a different background. While it may be easy to assume certain things about the person in general, it's easy to miss the elements that brought them to their current state and to their identity. And the best way to truly understand is to let them reveal themselves to you in their own unique voice.
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