Barrelhouse Reviews: Driftwood 2023 Anthology

Reviewed by Esther Fishman and David Lewis

Driftwood Press / March 2023 / 308 pp

Welcome in to the Driftwood 2023 Anthology, in which editors James McNulty and Jerrod Schwarz have collected a year’s worth of happenings at Driftwood Press. This big-tent collection, replacing Driftwood’s biannual print magazine, is nothing if not diverse. Between the covers you’ll find twin sisters in the French Resistance, brothers robbing their father’s grave, reflections on fertility and banana bowls, a vomitorium of one’s own, anti-colonialist slams, the visually arresting artwork of subways, pensioners, music, and much more. The range is amazing, the excitement palpable.

In Driftwood’s traditional format, an author interview follows each piece, providing lessons in craft and criticism that are as unique and varied as the authors in this volume. These aren’t dry discussions on writing techniques; enthusiasm and warmth among the editors and writers practically glows off the page. In the interview between editor Claire Agnes and “Reburial” author Victor McConnell, Agnes asks “Was the scope limited to corpse science, or did you flesh out the story with other supporting materials or information?” “No pun intended, right?” McConnell replies.

Everything published here has obviously been crafted with care. There is no sloppy work. The interviews bring craft elements into sharp focus, as each author gets quite a bit of space to talk about their process and the ideas behind their work. Many recount details that point to the time and thought poured into the published versions presented. These addenda create depth in the collection and give the reader a rare opportunity to get to know the person behind the writing.

Indeed, the editors have taken deliberate steps to give this book a sense of community. McNulty and Schwarz invite us not only to read new writing, but also to form a connection with the artist that can teach us new ways of reading. Following “Mōdor,” a brilliant revisitation of Beowulf from the perspective of Grendel’s mother, author Izzy Buck explains how living with chronic illness and brain fog forced her to adapt her writing schedule in a way that, counterintuitively, resulted in more focused writing and vivid imagery. Marcie Roman explains how her protagonist in “Thelma vs. Time” started as a few lines of a writing exercise that the author assumed would go no further. Then, Roman’s thoughts kept returning to Thelma, who slowly revealed her last day of work at a chocolate factory, creating this powerful story about personal dignity and humanity.

The anthology contains artists with impressive credits like the writer/illustrator duo Yaron Regev and Dave Youkovich, whose comic “Johannes Brahms: Piano Trio No. 2 in C Major, Op. 87” tells a beautiful story about love, secrecy, and repression in Israel. Alongside them are budding authors with promising futures, like the poet Bader Al Awadhi, whose “Scorched Earth Tapestry” is such a gritty and elegant portrayal of war, human suffering, and resistance that it’s hard to believe he was an undergraduate when writing it. Finally, there are artists with their fingers in multiple pies, like poet/playwright/prose writer Bazeed. His poem, “abgdhwzarian,” as if written by an Egyptian Larry Kramer, would be happy to give any of your colonialist, heteronormative thoughts a solid smack across their privileged jowls.

By the end of the book, common themes emerge, and questions about self-definition and how to overcome trauma share the stage with more writerly concerns such as character creation and plotting. All contributors share a fascination with language. Yet they are not in thrall to tricks or tropes, but use language to create a personal voice. So many of the author interviews start with the editor saying “welcome to the pages of Driftwood.” New readers will feel the warmth of that welcome as well.

Further, this anthology invites slow, delicious, and even repeated reading. It encourages a nonlinear approach, even rewarding a random skip through its contents. Sometimes we feel like a poem, sometimes a comic, and this anthology can provide for all moods.

Whatever the reader enjoys, Driftwood has attempted to represent it here. The rewards of this risk are great, as the collection avoids cacophony and creates its own symphony. Each artist plays their own instrument and yet contributes to a unified whole. The sound is beautiful.

Esther Fishman's reviews have appeared online at The Review Review and Rain Taxi. Her poetry has been featured on Poetry Super Highway and Nude Bruce Review. She is a longtime resident of San Francisco.

David Lewis’ fiction and essays have appeared or are forthcoming in Joyland, The Weird Fiction Review, Chelsea Station, The Fish Anthology, Liars’ League London, Willesden Herald: New Short Stories 9, Fairlight Books, Paris Lit Up, 21st Century Ghost Stories Volume II, Wicked Horror, and others. Originally from Oklahoma, he now lives in France with his husband and dog.