Thomas Hardy and the Urbanization of China. Letter from Suzhou by Glenn Arnold
So you were probably expecting a clever treatise linking Victorian literature and modern Asian economic theory? Sorry to disappoint you, but I have nothing to say about either of … Continue reading
Postcards from Rachel, Abroad. essay by David Shields
Hi, David. Here I am in Geneva. The Swiss have the second-largest standing army in the world. They can mobilize their entire force in less than 30 minutes. All men … Continue reading
Poem by Mark Rudman
ELEGY FOR RACHEL WETZSTEON 1 I just read that a woman, poet, and friend, younger than I, had committed an impossible act. Something to do with that old standard, unrequited … Continue reading
Dudu Politics. Letter from Rome by Anna Maria Cossiga
Stories and anecdotes on Berlusconi are countless; and they are said to be true or false depending on who’s telling them. The last one goes that he went to the … Continue reading
Two poems by Matthew Putman
Synaptic Melody Microscopic divisions bringing unity In morning of strange serenity. Bitterness sweet, same of the cold As a warmness flows. A reassuring spa through veins, our soul? Unsure. Cerebral … Continue reading
I [Can[t] Count the B’s. poem by Mark Rudman
I [Can[t] Count the B’s Bond waits for Dent to empty his gun into the dummy, pumping superfluous bullets just to make sure. Scientists can’t be bothered to count bullets, … Continue reading
Two stories by Corrado Premuda, translated from the Italian by Natasha Senjanović, with illustrations by Andrea Guerzoni
Beauty after the Beast Once upon a time there was a distinguished salon of noblewomen who to pass the time in a pleasing and creative manner invented stories and tales … Continue reading
Three poems by Mario Luzi, translated by Nicholas Benson
First Night of Spring Something dies, something is born the moment a rumble of thunder splits open the upper reaches of night, sudden announcement of spring, rupturing sleep… Generations on … Continue reading
Time Suite. poem by Robert Margolis
Time Suite 1. Cadenza I have seen the incipient membrane of cities The weltered contagion The wending of shadows The black night of stars Shimmying indelicately Memory lisping its sorry … Continue reading
Matthew 5:13-19. poem by John Alter
Matthew 5:13-19 Jesus said, “You are the salt of the earth… * yesterday in the early hours my mother died her saltiness restored all that had through the months of … Continue reading
Four poems by Luca Visentini, translated from the Italian by Natasha Senjanović
The Queen From the wreckage of the last war an ancient queen appeared before me wrapped in her fragrant shawl an infant magician in hand The queen slid through the … Continue reading
Five poems by Robert Margolis
Myopia When the two boys dragged danny posner naked out of the cabin onto and past a gravel walkway toward a grassy area so that the three girls walking along … Continue reading
