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Borrowing her title from the old carnival ride that loops its riders round and round, Nicole Callihan’s SuperLoop is as familiar and as thrilling as another go on a long loved ride. Paired with artwork from fellow Brooklyn-ite Re Jin, Callihan’s poems—sometimes wild, sometimes quiet, always unassuming—take us to a place we’ve been before, but through her eyes that dusty place becomes a bit more magical. Here, the waitress always brings extra whipped cream; divorced parents fall into each other’s arms; orchids grow; and, in spite of themselves and the world around them, people find love and walk, albeit reluctantly, into the sunset. Fierce, funny, at times, downright sweet—for Callihan, just making it is a miracle, and it’s a miracle she’s not afraid to name.
“Precise, graceful, and generous, the poems in Super Loop, seem to be born out of a deep, careful attention
and a profound compassion. Sometimes the quiet observer, sometimes the kid in the center of the messed-up
carnival, these poems are the fireflies you’ve missed all winter, the longed-for return of the bees. Unaffected
and inherently hopeful, Callihan’s work is as merciful as it is moving.”–Ada Limón
“These poems dig deep into the ragged nature of what it means to be alive, unveiling in bristling clarity, the
cracks, quirks, “thorny edges,” and great beauty of being. A master in the language of blush and bruise, Nicole
Callihan tells stories that rub the mind like a fever in a cool wind.” –Dawn Lundy Martin
“So unpretentious and alive and interesting.”–Jean Valentine
ihan, formerly Nicole Hefner, writes poems, stories and essays. Her work has appeared in, among others, Painted Bride Quarterly, Salt Hill, New York Quarterly, North American Review and cream city review and has been translated into German and Spanish. A finalist for the Iowa Review’s Award for Literary Nonfiction, she was named as Notable Reading for Best American Non-required Reading and awarded Best of the Net 2010 for fiction. In addition, Nicole was a contributor to Playing with Poems, an educational textbook published by Heinemann, and is a frequent contributor to Teachers & Writers Magazine. She has received grants from the Ludwig Vogelstein Foundation and from the Rockefeller Institute and is a founding member of the Brooklyn Writers Collaborative. Her nonfiction book, Henry River Mill Village, which she co-authored with Ruby Young Keller was published by Arcadia Press in July 2012. Her collection of poetry SuperLoop was released by Sock Monkey Press in February 2014.A 1995 graduate of the University of Oklahoma, summa cum laude, with additional study at Oxford University, Nicole also holds two advanced writing degrees from New York University (MA Poetry–1998; MFA Fiction–2005). Currently a full-time Senior Language Lecturer at New York University where she has received an Excellence in Teaching Award every year since she began in 2002, she lives in Brooklyn with her husband and daughters.
ole Callihan, formerly Nicole Hefner, writes poems, stories and essays. Her work has appeared in, among others, Painted Bride Quarterly, Salt Hill, New York Quarterly, North American Review and cream city review and has been translated into German and Spanish. A finalist for the Iowa Review’s Award for Literary Nonfiction, she was named as Notable Reading for Best American Non-required Reading and awarded Best of the Net 2010 for fiction. In addition, Nicole was a contributor to Playing with Poems, an educational textbook published by Heinemann, and is a frequent contributor to Teachers & Writers Magazine. She has received grants from the Ludwig Vogelstein Foundation and from the Rockefeller Institute and is a founding member of the Brooklyn Writers Collaborative. Her nonfiction book, Henry River Mill Village, which she co-authored with Ruby Young Keller was published by Arcadia Press in July 2012. Her collection of poetry SuperLoop was released by Sock Monkey Press in February 2014.
A 1995 graduate of the University of Oklahoma, summa cum laude, with additional study at Oxford University, Nicole also holds two advanced writing degrees from New York University (MA Poetry–1998; MFA Fiction–2005). Currently a full-time Senior Language Lecturer at New York University where she has received an Excellence in Teaching Award every year since she began in 2002, she lives in Brooklyn with her husband and daughters.
