Diagram 6.3

The new issue of Diagram features work by Amy Blache, S. Burgess, Naomi Clewett, Stephanie DeHaven, Josh Hanson, Matthew Hittinger, Anna Journey, Dawn Cunningham Luebke, Mark McKain, Peter Orner, Dan Pinkerton, Claudia Ryan, Morgan Lucas Schuldt, M. B. Seigel & Abraham Smith, as well as reviews of new books by Danielle Pafunda, Misty Harper & Sam Savage.

On Pafunda's Pretty Young Thing*:

Like doctor's offices, certain dogs, human relationships, and words themselves, the poems in Danielle Pafunda's debut collection Pretty Young Thing look innocent enough from a distance. It's an illusion easily shattered by sticking your nose in.

From first blush to last, these blunt, racy, sometimes alienating lines wipe that little-boy smirk off the book's title and assume a kind of intimacy that's not always comfortable, and frequently cutting.

Check out the whole issue here.

* Full disclosure: Why yes, I did happen to edit this book for Soft Skull. & I think you would like it.