gallery of heartache by Michael Russell

Russell opens his latest chapbook with epigraphs from Fiona Apple and WandaVision, both of which are things I love. So I was ready to explore these poems, delving into the sadness behind the snappy lines, and the references that break my heart. Not to mention that conflict of desire: wanting, and not wanting, wanting and feeling ashamed, or trying to sort out desire and what might be desire brought on from loss in other areas of life—gallery of heartache is a collection about the loss of a father, and how that ripples out from every moment since that death. gallery of heartache is also about trying to find healing, however that can look on any particular day, often ugly and unappealing, or messy, but still, trying to make sense.

And that’s really the underlying theme: sense-making, through exploring what’s left, whether that’s desire or healing, or both, or neither. In “dancing with a stranger, sam smith & normani,” which is also a song that makes me sad in the best way, Russell writes:

i want to whisk us to where we clink our glasses

cheer dance sing we’re alive

And so we are. What do we do with that, Russell asks us.

The longest poem in this chapbook, “sitcom delirium,” was one that took me, not just because I could spend more time with it, but because of the way it was laid out in episodes, playing with sitcom tropes in poem form. The sadness of this poem is heavy throughout, but plays out in such a strange, comic way. I really enjoyed the way Russell created these scenes and the different tones of each “episode.”

A good chapbook feels like so much more than a short collection of poems, and spans beyond the few pages you spend with it. To me, gallery of heartache met that, and I only wish it had been a longer collection.

Michael Russell (he/they) is the queer, mad mother monster behind two chapbooks, gallery of heartache (forthcoming from 845 Press) and Grindr Opera (Frog Hollow Press). They are the coauthor of chapbook Split Jawed with Elena Bentley (forthcoming from Collusion Books). He has a heart full of rainbows, unicorns and chocolate chip pancakes and they want the best for you.

Publisher: 845 Press (August 2025)
Chapbook

Alison Manley

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Alison Manley has ricocheted between New Brunswick and Nova Scotia for most of her life. Now in Halifax, Nova Scotia, she is the Cataloguing and Metadata Librarian at Saint Mary's University. Her past life includes a long stint as a hospital librarian on the banks of the mighty Miramichi River. She has an honours BA in political science and English from St. Francis Xavier University, and a Master of Library and Information Studies from Dalhousie University. While she's adamant that her love of reading has nothing to do with her work, her ability to consume large amounts of information very quickly sure is helpful. She is often identified by her very red lipstick, and lives with her partner Brett and cat, Toasted Marshmallow.