#john mccarthy

William Tell - The Elixir

Brief scene of Brother Jules (John McCarthy) with his wrists shackled.

Over at Chicago Review of Books, I pick Kelly Schirmann’s Popular Music as one of the best poetry books of 2016 (the best book, poetry or otherwise, I read all year, for the record). It’s an incredible and surprising collection of poetry and essays, and you can read my praise (read: plea for you to read the book I can’t stop thinking about) at CHIRB.

Also worth noting and celebrating, the inclusion of Abigail Zimmer’s child in a winter house brighteningandJohn McCarthy’s Ghost County. This is the second year-end nod for Abigail, who took home the 2016 Chicago Review of Books Award for Best Poetry earlier this month. I interviewed John earlier this year to talk about Ghost County, his debut collection and the only book this year I finished in one sitting.

Congrats to all the amazing books that made the cut at CHIRB. What a year!