The Sea in Me or The Riddle We Heard by Popahna Brandes
What a beautiful object! I purchased it and two other chapbooks at a release event put on by The Corresponding Society (mostly Pratt writing program graduates) at Unnameable Books, and I couldn’t be happier to own it. The preparations for this chapbook were made by my friend Adrian, and the story itself was written by the teacher who guided us through our fiction theses last year. I’m really taken by the cover design— check out a scan of the back, as well. This was my first exposure to Popahna’s prose. It’s labyrinthine, and I don’t throw that word around lightly (other things I consider labyrinthine: labyrinths; Labyrinths; Labyrinth). A concise mix of fairy tale and desperate sadness, and something worth hearing spoken, if you ever get the chance.
