Literature

No Frigate Like a Book Stephen O’Connor There was only one thing I hated about my new job at Worcester Associates, a wholesale fashion retailing distributor. They always began the work week with a 7:30 am meeting. And so, there I was, the recently hired Director of the Graphic Arts…

Catch of the Day By David Daniel They were sitting a few seats away at the lunch counter, three of them, sun-browned, white-walled, wearing civvies. I pegged them as Coast Guardsmen, newly assigned to the station out on the point. I picked up a couple of the accents. One was…

Boarding School Blues: Ch. 60 By Louise Peloquin Ch. 60: Back? Editor’s Note: With this installment, Boarding School Blues comes to an end. Many thanks to Louise Peloquin for sharing her writing with us. Beginning on December 16, 2020, with Chapter 1, she regularly contributed a new chapter every two…

When Paul Marion and I launched The Lowell Review three years ago, we wanted to create a print product that contained original prose and poetry from writers from or connected to the Merrimack Valley. We were partly inspired by a two-part article called “In the Valley of the Poets” that…

Boarding School Blues: Ch. 59 By Louise Peloquin Ch. 59: Wilted Balloons Madeleine’s report on the headmistress’s telephone exchanges with Docteur and Madame Rejean discomfited Andy, Titi and Blanche. “So you’ll be able to go home every single weekend from now on PF” Madeleine announced. “Your father woulda pulled out…

Boarding School Blues: Ch. 58 By Louise Peloquin Ch. 58: Peeps & Twinkies “Spit it out PF, not your teeth, but what happened at home. We missed ya. Weird past couple of days around here. Got extra recreation time, got to blab in study hall and, to top it all…

Butterscotch Caviar By David Daniel In his younger days my cousin Curt traveled widely and he’d tell amusing stories of his adventures. He always had fond names for people and things. Like his high school girlfriend, for whom he carried a torch for years. Apparently (this was before they split…

The third annual issue of The Lowell Review is available for purchase. It contains 200 pages with 55 devoted to climate and nature, and contains stories, essays, and poems by area writers and from contributors from across the United States. Also included are photographs and brilliant cover art by Nancy…

Living Madly: Blessings By Emilie-Noelle Provost My husband, Rob, and I moved to Lowell nearly twenty-four years ago with our then eleven-month-old daughter. For the previous four years, we’d been living in a rural area of western Massachusetts. The nearest grocery store was fifteen miles away. We liked it there,…

Boarding School Blues: Ch. 57 By Louise Peloquin Ch. 57: We can work it out  During the days leading up to the weekend, Blanche was confined to the infirmary. The slightest noise prompted her to pretend sleep.  She didn’t feel like talking or praying out loud with Sister Marie-Ange. And…