Essential Oil: Things You Ought To Know
Essential Oil is the brand new Nova Scotian lit-zines that fires “an electric arrow at the train from terminal boredom.” Michael’s got a knack for this kind of thing. His creation is tongue-in-cheek, high-quality, cliché-free, and spotted throughout with sparse little graphics. It’s not, by any means, overloaded with design fireworks or snazzy illos. It’s really quite plain, almost overly plain (think one-font-typewriter-madness). But that plainness seems to live comfortably with the text, he lets the words speak for themselves. I loved “Joe” by Beverly R. Elkins, and Claire Batler’s “A Song For Myself.” I even liked Michael’s own pieces a lot. Well worth the $2.25. I just hope issue two is even thicker. (EPW)
literary almanac, #1, Fall 1999, $2.25, Michael McLeod, PO Box 652, Sydney, NS, B1P 6H7,