The Brooklyn Rail

Although I’d heard his name and knew about various of his books, I first read John Domini’s work in the Brooklyn Rail. While John and I are very different writers, I always learned from (and often argued silently) with his take on various books. We only met in person a few times at writerly events but we often saw each other on Zoom—particularly in National Book Critics Circle meetings. His friendliness and unwavering acknowledgement and respect for me and for my writing helped me to see myself as a serious critic—not just an upstart punk rock feminist writer. In a field that is often dominated by cisgender straight white males who have no time for feminist criticism or those of us whose focus is lifting up BIPOC, women, and Queer writers, John was truly one of the good ones. I will miss his open friendliness, his collegiality, and his humor. I will also miss his writing. We lost a major voice in criticism when we lost John. And while he and I were never close, I valued his input, and his support of my own writing meant so very much to me. He will be missed.