November: THREE broadsides for our annual translation feature, guest edited by CMarie Fuhrman, who writes "What great comfort to know that some of those sleeping languages [Tlingit, Igbo, and Chamorro] are awakening. I chose the work of these three poets as proof of the power of language and culture and the perseverance of these men who keep it alive in their bodies and poems." We also have a new "Broadsides to Books" review.
Collaborators’ Q&A: Why this poem? Poet Ishmael Hope: CMarie Fuhrman… asked me to write a poem in both my heritage language, Tlingit (the other would be Inupiaq), and in translation. It could have been something previously published, but I wanted to make a whole new piece. It was fruitful. I really saw how you can write a poem in Tlingit—that thoughts form wholly in the language if you learn it well…. Artist David Bernardy: I was attracted by all the physicality of the poem: the coffee, the cottonwood, the mud, the bones. I found all these, paired with the title, irresistible.
Poet Ishmael Hope, an Inupiaq and Tlingit poet, actor and Indigenous scholar, served as the lead writer for the video game, Never Alone (Upper One Games); has published two poetry collections. Artist David Bernardy is an artist, a writer and a dad.
Collaborators’ Q&A: What surprised you about this collaborative piece?
Poet Akpa Arinzechukwu: Spirituality is a thing!!! I wrote a poem inspired by looking at an article of clothing a brother once wore alive, and an artist who works with fabrics ran with the feelings/emotion. The “othering” done by grief is a race one can’t afford to run or face but here Amy tells the reader/viewer: “here, see my pain, did I not survive?” Artist Amy Meissner: My artistic interest lies at the intersection of textiles, craft practice, and grieving. While I strive to portray this visually in my work, I’m always moved to see it beautifully meld with the written word.
Poet Akpa Arinzechukwu is a Nigerian writer and translator dealing with their numerous identities. Artist Amy Meissner is an artist, writer and mother living in Anchorage, Alaska.
Rain Scald Tacey M. Atsitty University of New Mexico Press, 2018 ISBN 978-0-8263-5867-7 The silence surrounding trauma lies at the heart of Rain Scald, the shattering first collection by poet Tacey M. Atsitty. The first section, “Tséyi’,” draws on the…
Ode to a Heart Smaller than a Pencil Eraser Luisa A. Igloria, Foreword by Mark Doty Utah State University Press $19.95 Hardcover; ISBN: 978-0-87421-952-4 70 pages Luisa A. Igloria’s parents taught her to read when she was three and also…
Pelvis with Distance Jessica Jacobs White Pine Press, 2015 $16; ISBN: 978-1-935210-66-5 135 pages Reviewed by Kali Lightfoot Pelvis with Distance: A Biography-in-Poems / Self Portrait by Proxy To read Jessica Jacobs’s 2015 debut collection Pelvis with Distance is to…
