The Hudson Review
@hudsonreview.bsky.social
Quarterly magazine of literature and the arts, founded in 1948. Poetry, fiction, essays, and more.
If they are elegy,
they make a garish show of it,
cascadingly penultimate:
a tablecloth’s lace tracery,
a coronet of frozen waves,
or speckled plumage which a few
glittery stamens straightened through.
Nothing stays long. Nothing behaves.
—From “Day Lilies” by Dylan Carpenter
they make a garish show of it,
cascadingly penultimate:
a tablecloth’s lace tracery,
a coronet of frozen waves,
or speckled plumage which a few
glittery stamens straightened through.
Nothing stays long. Nothing behaves.
—From “Day Lilies” by Dylan Carpenter
Day Lilies; Sonnet | The Hudson Review
hudsonreview.com
November 14, 2025 at 3:34 PM
If they are elegy,
they make a garish show of it,
cascadingly penultimate:
a tablecloth’s lace tracery,
a coronet of frozen waves,
or speckled plumage which a few
glittery stamens straightened through.
Nothing stays long. Nothing behaves.
—From “Day Lilies” by Dylan Carpenter
they make a garish show of it,
cascadingly penultimate:
a tablecloth’s lace tracery,
a coronet of frozen waves,
or speckled plumage which a few
glittery stamens straightened through.
Nothing stays long. Nothing behaves.
—From “Day Lilies” by Dylan Carpenter
Mark Jarman reviews Young Woman with a Cane by Reginald Gibbons @lsupress.bsky.social
1/2
His political stake is with younger generations and those yet to be born: “If only we could ask children now for future forgiveness. But it’s not fair to do so. Or even think so.”
1/2
His political stake is with younger generations and those yet to be born: “If only we could ask children now for future forgiveness. But it’s not fair to do so. Or even think so.”
November 13, 2025 at 2:41 PM
Mark Jarman reviews Young Woman with a Cane by Reginald Gibbons @lsupress.bsky.social
1/2
His political stake is with younger generations and those yet to be born: “If only we could ask children now for future forgiveness. But it’s not fair to do so. Or even think so.”
1/2
His political stake is with younger generations and those yet to be born: “If only we could ask children now for future forgiveness. But it’s not fair to do so. Or even think so.”
Cody did not know Wade played the harp. It was not the sort of thing one soldier shared with another...
—From “The Only Real Thing,” a short story by Elizabeth Hamilton hudsonreview.com/2025/10/the-...
—From “The Only Real Thing,” a short story by Elizabeth Hamilton hudsonreview.com/2025/10/the-...
November 12, 2025 at 2:45 PM
Cody did not know Wade played the harp. It was not the sort of thing one soldier shared with another...
—From “The Only Real Thing,” a short story by Elizabeth Hamilton hudsonreview.com/2025/10/the-...
—From “The Only Real Thing,” a short story by Elizabeth Hamilton hudsonreview.com/2025/10/the-...
Brooke Allen reviews Don’t Let’s Go to the Dogs Tonight, dir. Embeth Davidtz:
1/6
Bobo’s world will probably look as strange to a modern-day American audience as it does to her. How to make sense of this weird society and its contradictions?
1/6
Bobo’s world will probably look as strange to a modern-day American audience as it does to her. How to make sense of this weird society and its contradictions?
November 11, 2025 at 3:54 PM
Brooke Allen reviews Don’t Let’s Go to the Dogs Tonight, dir. Embeth Davidtz:
1/6
Bobo’s world will probably look as strange to a modern-day American audience as it does to her. How to make sense of this weird society and its contradictions?
1/6
Bobo’s world will probably look as strange to a modern-day American audience as it does to her. How to make sense of this weird society and its contradictions?
Poorer than a mouse, here I am, writing
and writing—but to whom? To myself at that crossroads.
The key is offered once, fortune does not insist.
Decipher it fast, the code that’s proffered to the flame.
—From “I Would Have Left Behind” by Maria Luisa Spaziani, tr. Andrew Frisardi
and writing—but to whom? To myself at that crossroads.
The key is offered once, fortune does not insist.
Decipher it fast, the code that’s proffered to the flame.
—From “I Would Have Left Behind” by Maria Luisa Spaziani, tr. Andrew Frisardi
I Would Have Left Behind; The garden was dense . . . | The Hudson Review
hudsonreview.com
November 10, 2025 at 3:54 PM
Poorer than a mouse, here I am, writing
and writing—but to whom? To myself at that crossroads.
The key is offered once, fortune does not insist.
Decipher it fast, the code that’s proffered to the flame.
—From “I Would Have Left Behind” by Maria Luisa Spaziani, tr. Andrew Frisardi
and writing—but to whom? To myself at that crossroads.
The key is offered once, fortune does not insist.
Decipher it fast, the code that’s proffered to the flame.
—From “I Would Have Left Behind” by Maria Luisa Spaziani, tr. Andrew Frisardi
That Leonora should find her love for James unrequited and his loss a deep blow seems particularly ironic because a twenty-five-year-old Leonora would never have been interested in him in the first place.
—Susan Balée reviews The Sweet Dove Died by Barbara Pym @nyrb-imprints.bsky.social
—Susan Balée reviews The Sweet Dove Died by Barbara Pym @nyrb-imprints.bsky.social
November 7, 2025 at 3:04 PM
That Leonora should find her love for James unrequited and his loss a deep blow seems particularly ironic because a twenty-five-year-old Leonora would never have been interested in him in the first place.
—Susan Balée reviews The Sweet Dove Died by Barbara Pym @nyrb-imprints.bsky.social
—Susan Balée reviews The Sweet Dove Died by Barbara Pym @nyrb-imprints.bsky.social
Erick Neher reviews Twelfth Night and the reopening of the Delacorte Theater:
1/4
To see Shakespeare in the Park is not simply to watch a play; it is to participate in an urban rite of endurance and reward and to belong, however briefly, to a commons that cuts across class and borough lines.
1/4
To see Shakespeare in the Park is not simply to watch a play; it is to participate in an urban rite of endurance and reward and to belong, however briefly, to a commons that cuts across class and borough lines.
November 6, 2025 at 3:26 PM
Erick Neher reviews Twelfth Night and the reopening of the Delacorte Theater:
1/4
To see Shakespeare in the Park is not simply to watch a play; it is to participate in an urban rite of endurance and reward and to belong, however briefly, to a commons that cuts across class and borough lines.
1/4
To see Shakespeare in the Park is not simply to watch a play; it is to participate in an urban rite of endurance and reward and to belong, however briefly, to a commons that cuts across class and borough lines.
When the red-tailed hawk
swoops low,
its eye a whirlpool
of greed,
should I bet all of me
on the limping squirrel?
—From “Poem Ending with Four Lines by Seneca” by Maria Terrone hudsonreview.com/2025/10/poem...
swoops low,
its eye a whirlpool
of greed,
should I bet all of me
on the limping squirrel?
—From “Poem Ending with Four Lines by Seneca” by Maria Terrone hudsonreview.com/2025/10/poem...
November 5, 2025 at 3:29 PM
When the red-tailed hawk
swoops low,
its eye a whirlpool
of greed,
should I bet all of me
on the limping squirrel?
—From “Poem Ending with Four Lines by Seneca” by Maria Terrone hudsonreview.com/2025/10/poem...
swoops low,
its eye a whirlpool
of greed,
should I bet all of me
on the limping squirrel?
—From “Poem Ending with Four Lines by Seneca” by Maria Terrone hudsonreview.com/2025/10/poem...
Alexandra Mullen reviews Dickens the Enchanter by Peter Conrad @bloomsburybooksus.bsky.social:
1/3
Dickens the Enchanter has no pretensions to scholarship….And I can’t find fault with [Conrad’s] argument, because this book doesn’t have one beyond the claim that Dickens is terrific.
1/3
Dickens the Enchanter has no pretensions to scholarship….And I can’t find fault with [Conrad’s] argument, because this book doesn’t have one beyond the claim that Dickens is terrific.
November 4, 2025 at 3:32 PM
Alexandra Mullen reviews Dickens the Enchanter by Peter Conrad @bloomsburybooksus.bsky.social:
1/3
Dickens the Enchanter has no pretensions to scholarship….And I can’t find fault with [Conrad’s] argument, because this book doesn’t have one beyond the claim that Dickens is terrific.
1/3
Dickens the Enchanter has no pretensions to scholarship….And I can’t find fault with [Conrad’s] argument, because this book doesn’t have one beyond the claim that Dickens is terrific.
There was an old-world grandeur in the way the steps were presented for the audience’s enjoyment, and yet, the ballet felt fresh, generous, big-hearted.…At moments like this, ballet seems as alive as ever.
—Marina Harss reviews Alexei Ratmansky’s Paquita, New York City Ballet
—Marina Harss reviews Alexei Ratmansky’s Paquita, New York City Ballet
November 3, 2025 at 3:34 PM
There was an old-world grandeur in the way the steps were presented for the audience’s enjoyment, and yet, the ballet felt fresh, generous, big-hearted.…At moments like this, ballet seems as alive as ever.
—Marina Harss reviews Alexei Ratmansky’s Paquita, New York City Ballet
—Marina Harss reviews Alexei Ratmansky’s Paquita, New York City Ballet
From “I Listen to April” by Sydney Lea:
Oh Lord,
what a musical world! For now at least,
I feel greatly blessed to exist within it.
Some lingering pine siskins hiss
as one from conifers close by.
I’m all alone, no reason to speak,
and I’m too keen for sounds anyhow.
Oh Lord,
what a musical world! For now at least,
I feel greatly blessed to exist within it.
Some lingering pine siskins hiss
as one from conifers close by.
I’m all alone, no reason to speak,
and I’m too keen for sounds anyhow.
I Listen to April; A Bog in Late March | The Hudson Review
hudsonreview.com
October 31, 2025 at 2:07 PM
From “I Listen to April” by Sydney Lea:
Oh Lord,
what a musical world! For now at least,
I feel greatly blessed to exist within it.
Some lingering pine siskins hiss
as one from conifers close by.
I’m all alone, no reason to speak,
and I’m too keen for sounds anyhow.
Oh Lord,
what a musical world! For now at least,
I feel greatly blessed to exist within it.
Some lingering pine siskins hiss
as one from conifers close by.
I’m all alone, no reason to speak,
and I’m too keen for sounds anyhow.
Winterbottom...has been able to make an emotionally subtle and understated film…Shoshana takes its audience dramatically into a place and time that continue to mold world historical events.
—Brooke Allen reviews Shoshana, dir. by Michael Winterbottom
—Brooke Allen reviews Shoshana, dir. by Michael Winterbottom
October 30, 2025 at 5:23 PM
Winterbottom...has been able to make an emotionally subtle and understated film…Shoshana takes its audience dramatically into a place and time that continue to mold world historical events.
—Brooke Allen reviews Shoshana, dir. by Michael Winterbottom
—Brooke Allen reviews Shoshana, dir. by Michael Winterbottom
From Judson Mitcham's satirical poem "Corrections":
1/3
Come on, who could be sorrier than we are? In our
profile, “Unarmed Youth Planned to Be Doctor,”
a bizarre auto-correct kicked in, so the word dead
1/3
Come on, who could be sorrier than we are? In our
profile, “Unarmed Youth Planned to Be Doctor,”
a bizarre auto-correct kicked in, so the word dead
October 29, 2025 at 3:07 PM
From Judson Mitcham's satirical poem "Corrections":
1/3
Come on, who could be sorrier than we are? In our
profile, “Unarmed Youth Planned to Be Doctor,”
a bizarre auto-correct kicked in, so the word dead
1/3
Come on, who could be sorrier than we are? In our
profile, “Unarmed Youth Planned to Be Doctor,”
a bizarre auto-correct kicked in, so the word dead
One great thing about writing a fiction chronicle and getting all the books of a season is that you’re bound to discover a great writer you’ve never read before. Last summer, for me, that writer was Emily Itami.
—Susan Balée on Kakigori Summer by Emily Itami @marinerbooks.bsky.social
—Susan Balée on Kakigori Summer by Emily Itami @marinerbooks.bsky.social
October 28, 2025 at 8:21 PM
One great thing about writing a fiction chronicle and getting all the books of a season is that you’re bound to discover a great writer you’ve never read before. Last summer, for me, that writer was Emily Itami.
—Susan Balée on Kakigori Summer by Emily Itami @marinerbooks.bsky.social
—Susan Balée on Kakigori Summer by Emily Itami @marinerbooks.bsky.social
The old cliché of never being at a loss for words is evident on every page of these letters, and they match perfectly with the behavior of Updike the novelist.
—William H. Pritchard reviews the Selected Letters of John Updike, ed. James Schiff @aaknopf.bsky.social hudsonreview.com/2025/10/john...
—William H. Pritchard reviews the Selected Letters of John Updike, ed. James Schiff @aaknopf.bsky.social hudsonreview.com/2025/10/john...
October 27, 2025 at 2:27 PM
The old cliché of never being at a loss for words is evident on every page of these letters, and they match perfectly with the behavior of Updike the novelist.
—William H. Pritchard reviews the Selected Letters of John Updike, ed. James Schiff @aaknopf.bsky.social hudsonreview.com/2025/10/john...
—William H. Pritchard reviews the Selected Letters of John Updike, ed. James Schiff @aaknopf.bsky.social hudsonreview.com/2025/10/john...
Karen Wilkin on “Ben Shahn: On Nonconformity” at the Jewish Museum:
1/3
Shahn was a brilliant illustrator, able to distill the essential elements of narratives into simplified, sensitively composed images. Witness Liberation (1945), a meditation on Europe in the aftermath of the Second World War,
1/3
Shahn was a brilliant illustrator, able to distill the essential elements of narratives into simplified, sensitively composed images. Witness Liberation (1945), a meditation on Europe in the aftermath of the Second World War,
October 24, 2025 at 2:39 PM
Karen Wilkin on “Ben Shahn: On Nonconformity” at the Jewish Museum:
1/3
Shahn was a brilliant illustrator, able to distill the essential elements of narratives into simplified, sensitively composed images. Witness Liberation (1945), a meditation on Europe in the aftermath of the Second World War,
1/3
Shahn was a brilliant illustrator, able to distill the essential elements of narratives into simplified, sensitively composed images. Witness Liberation (1945), a meditation on Europe in the aftermath of the Second World War,
1. So Busy
I wonder what my left brain has been up to
During all these years of virtual silence,
While my me-brain was so busy daydreaming.
—From “Eleven Lebens” by Marilyn Nelson
I wonder what my left brain has been up to
During all these years of virtual silence,
While my me-brain was so busy daydreaming.
—From “Eleven Lebens” by Marilyn Nelson
Eleven Lebens | The Hudson Review
hudsonreview.com
October 23, 2025 at 2:42 PM
1. So Busy
I wonder what my left brain has been up to
During all these years of virtual silence,
While my me-brain was so busy daydreaming.
—From “Eleven Lebens” by Marilyn Nelson
I wonder what my left brain has been up to
During all these years of virtual silence,
While my me-brain was so busy daydreaming.
—From “Eleven Lebens” by Marilyn Nelson
In revising, draft after draft, I think of a sculptor freeing that character from the dense wooden block of existing from day to day and hour to hour, what Virginia Woolf called “getting on from tea to dinner.”
—Lyndall Gordon, a prizewinning biographer, reflects on her craft
—Lyndall Gordon, a prizewinning biographer, reflects on her craft
Lessons of the Masters | The Hudson Review
hudsonreview.com
October 22, 2025 at 2:07 PM
In revising, draft after draft, I think of a sculptor freeing that character from the dense wooden block of existing from day to day and hour to hour, what Virginia Woolf called “getting on from tea to dinner.”
—Lyndall Gordon, a prizewinning biographer, reflects on her craft
—Lyndall Gordon, a prizewinning biographer, reflects on her craft
Our autumn issue is now online! Featuring essays by Lyndall Gordon & Robert Archambeau; poems by Marilyn Nelson & Judson Mitcham; reviews by David Mason of a Robert Louis Stevenson biography & Michael Thurston of T. S. Eliot’s Collected Prose; and more! Browse the issue at hudsonreview.com
October 21, 2025 at 3:07 PM
Our autumn issue is now online! Featuring essays by Lyndall Gordon & Robert Archambeau; poems by Marilyn Nelson & Judson Mitcham; reviews by David Mason of a Robert Louis Stevenson biography & Michael Thurston of T. S. Eliot’s Collected Prose; and more! Browse the issue at hudsonreview.com
Every Sound Is Not a Wolf is a generous, optimistic book….One feels in [Ríos'] vernacular diction and narrative pacing the patience of a storyteller, the morality of a fabulist.
—Lorna Knowles Blake reviews Every Sound Is Not a Wolf, by Alberto Ríos @coppercanyonpress.bsky.social
—Lorna Knowles Blake reviews Every Sound Is Not a Wolf, by Alberto Ríos @coppercanyonpress.bsky.social
October 17, 2025 at 2:02 PM
Every Sound Is Not a Wolf is a generous, optimistic book….One feels in [Ríos'] vernacular diction and narrative pacing the patience of a storyteller, the morality of a fabulist.
—Lorna Knowles Blake reviews Every Sound Is Not a Wolf, by Alberto Ríos @coppercanyonpress.bsky.social
—Lorna Knowles Blake reviews Every Sound Is Not a Wolf, by Alberto Ríos @coppercanyonpress.bsky.social
It’s a psychic landscape, both personal and public, an adjunct to his other books and an experiment on its own. But not quite on its own. I doubt anyone not already interested in Pamuk could make much of its text.
—David Mason on Memories of Distant Mountains, by Orhan Pamuk, tr. Ekin Oklap, Knopf
—David Mason on Memories of Distant Mountains, by Orhan Pamuk, tr. Ekin Oklap, Knopf
October 16, 2025 at 2:35 PM
It’s a psychic landscape, both personal and public, an adjunct to his other books and an experiment on its own. But not quite on its own. I doubt anyone not already interested in Pamuk could make much of its text.
—David Mason on Memories of Distant Mountains, by Orhan Pamuk, tr. Ekin Oklap, Knopf
—David Mason on Memories of Distant Mountains, by Orhan Pamuk, tr. Ekin Oklap, Knopf
From “Isles of the Blest” by W. J. Herbert:
1/2
If only the pit-digging machine
had spit out a dark
opening to the underworld:
a man sweating over levers,
his machine a boat and he,
1/2
If only the pit-digging machine
had spit out a dark
opening to the underworld:
a man sweating over levers,
his machine a boat and he,
October 15, 2025 at 2:48 PM
From “Isles of the Blest” by W. J. Herbert:
1/2
If only the pit-digging machine
had spit out a dark
opening to the underworld:
a man sweating over levers,
his machine a boat and he,
1/2
If only the pit-digging machine
had spit out a dark
opening to the underworld:
a man sweating over levers,
his machine a boat and he,
Lorna Knowles Blake reviews Regaining Unconsciousness by Harryette Mullen @graywolfpress.bsky.social:
1/2
Mullen’s work is characterized by a mix of social commentary and serious wordplay. Her love of the lexicon, of paradox, of nonsense recalls Emily Dickinson, Lewis Carroll and Edward Lear....
1/2
Mullen’s work is characterized by a mix of social commentary and serious wordplay. Her love of the lexicon, of paradox, of nonsense recalls Emily Dickinson, Lewis Carroll and Edward Lear....
October 10, 2025 at 2:58 PM
Lorna Knowles Blake reviews Regaining Unconsciousness by Harryette Mullen @graywolfpress.bsky.social:
1/2
Mullen’s work is characterized by a mix of social commentary and serious wordplay. Her love of the lexicon, of paradox, of nonsense recalls Emily Dickinson, Lewis Carroll and Edward Lear....
1/2
Mullen’s work is characterized by a mix of social commentary and serious wordplay. Her love of the lexicon, of paradox, of nonsense recalls Emily Dickinson, Lewis Carroll and Edward Lear....
From “Rose Petals” by Rachel Hadas :
1/2
Publishing a poem or a book of poems
and releasing it expectantly into the world
is like dropping a rose petal
into the Grand Canyon
1/2
Publishing a poem or a book of poems
and releasing it expectantly into the world
is like dropping a rose petal
into the Grand Canyon
October 9, 2025 at 2:32 PM
From “Rose Petals” by Rachel Hadas :
1/2
Publishing a poem or a book of poems
and releasing it expectantly into the world
is like dropping a rose petal
into the Grand Canyon
1/2
Publishing a poem or a book of poems
and releasing it expectantly into the world
is like dropping a rose petal
into the Grand Canyon
Erick Neher reviews Pirates! The Penzance Musical revival:
1/3
In general, the show was best when it found fresh ways to celebrate the genius of the original but foundered when it fell back on cliché and camp.…The production half worked, coasting on general high spirits.
1/3
In general, the show was best when it found fresh ways to celebrate the genius of the original but foundered when it fell back on cliché and camp.…The production half worked, coasting on general high spirits.
October 8, 2025 at 3:03 PM
Erick Neher reviews Pirates! The Penzance Musical revival:
1/3
In general, the show was best when it found fresh ways to celebrate the genius of the original but foundered when it fell back on cliché and camp.…The production half worked, coasting on general high spirits.
1/3
In general, the show was best when it found fresh ways to celebrate the genius of the original but foundered when it fell back on cliché and camp.…The production half worked, coasting on general high spirits.