Lev Lazinskiy

Suisun Valley Review

When I was at Beers Books in Sacramento, I picked up a small book called the Suisun Valley Review. This is a literary magazine of Solano Community College that celebrates emerging literary voices. The majority of the work inside is poetry, but there are also a couple of short stories and some wonderful artwork throughout.

One of my favorite stories was called “Honor Book 1” by Marc Concepcion. Its a tragic tale about life, family, and hope. Another highlight was a heartwarming story about friendship and illness called “Gentle Skin” by Natalie Francel-Stone. My favorite poem was the raw and provocative “July in Fresno” by Patrick Fontes.

In addition to the young and emerging voices, this issue highlighted a seasoned poem named Dennis Schmitz. Schmitz has many years of experience in teaching and writing. He served as the first poet laureate of Sacramento. There was an interview with him where he gave some wonderful advice to aspiring writers. Specifically, writers of poetry. He encourages poets to remember that unlike many other types of writing poems are less about ideas and more about words.

My favorite of his poems that was published in this issue was called “Perdition”.

At 77, I have computer problems and I have prostate problems. Some days I confuse the two and type urgently.

Images used in this text

Cover Photo By Mikesclark (Own work) [CC BY-SA 3.0], via Wikimedia Commons