BlazeVOX Books Celebrated in Tupelo Quarterly 36
The new issue of Tupelo Quarterly (Issue 36) features two in-depth reviews by Aarik Danielsen in the section A Celebration of Literary Criticism, highlighting recent BlazeVOX Books titles by Cassandra Manzolillo and William Huhn.
Read the full issue here ›
Aarik Danielsen on the Poetry of Cassandra Manzolillo
In his review of Cassandra Manzolillo’s I Want to Take You Everywhere (BlazeVOX, 2024), Danielsen explores the collection’s layered interplay of devotion, desire, and identity. He describes Manzolillo’s work as “kinky hymns of devotion,” noting how her poems merge the sacred and the sensual through a language that is both precise and unpredictable.
Danielsen emphasizes the poet’s control of form and emotion, calling attention to how fragmented syntax and fluid voice reveal the tensions of care, vulnerability, and longing. Manzolillo’s debut collection is presented as a bold meditation on intimacy, a body of work that reimagines the relationship between tenderness and power.
Aarik Danielsen on William Huhn’s Bachelor Holiday
Danielsen also reviews William Huhn’s Bachelor Holiday (BlazeVOX, 2024), describing it as a “restless journey between the sacred and the everyday.” His essay traces how Huhn’s poetry balances introspection and distraction, allowing moments of domestic detail and spiritual reflection to exist side by side.
Through poems that explore faith, solitude, and the search for meaning, Danielsen observes how Huhn’s formal precision and use of white space invite readers to linger within uncertainty. The review positions Bachelor Holiday as a work of quiet depth, one that transforms ordinary experience into a meditation on presence and transcendence.
A Celebration of Independent Publishing
Both reviews underscore BlazeVOX Books’ ongoing commitment to publishing distinctive and innovative voices in contemporary poetry. We extend our warmest congratulations to Cassandra Manzolillo, William Huhn, and Aarik Danielsen for their outstanding contributions to the literary conversation, and to Tupelo Quarterly for its continued support of independent literary art.
