Search the Site

Volume 43, Issue 2

IN THIS ISSUE MR raises memories, memories of people and ideas alive and awake in the labyrinth of our hundred-and seventy-odd issues. We remember the poet Agha Shahid Ali, colleague and contributor, with Christine Benvenuto's inspiring interview, and a poem by Yehudit Ben-Zvi Heller in whose translation Shahid participated. Through the generosity of Daniel Hales (who also contributes a ghazal of his own), and the Agha Shahid Ali Literary Trust, we have some pages from Shahid s manuscript of "The Floating Post Office," including the colorful one on the back cover. And by courtesy of W.W. Norton & Company, we reprint the poem itself from Shahid s 1997 volume The Country Without a Post Office.

We renew our interest in African-American issues, recollecting our WE.B. Dubois special issue of 1994 with a magisterial new examination of the idea of double consciousness by Ernest Allen, Jr; and with Jennifer Jensen Wallach s essay on Fawn Brodie, the historian who first chronicled the relationship between Thomas Jefferson and his slave Sally Hemings; and then with Gail Hall Howards memoir of interracial marriage in the Chicago 1960s.

Among these rich memories bright new things walk, led by Valerie Martin through "The Open Door."

—David Lenson, Editor


Entries

art

The Open Door

By Valerie Martin

nonfiction

Where Do I Crawl; Grace; Peace to the People of the Earth

By Tomaz Salamun

poetry

Last Day

By Timothy Liu

nonfiction

Du Boisian Double Consciousness: The Unsustainable Argument

By Ernest Allen Jr.

poetry

There Be Phantasies

By Eva Hooker

nonfiction

Good, Brothers

By Peter Markus

nonfiction

The Woman in a Purple Coat

By Yehudit Ben-Zvi Heller

nonfiction

Conversation with Agha Shahid Ali

By Christine Benvenuto

poetry

The Floating Post Office: Reproductions selected from Agha Shahid Ali's manuscript

By Agha Shahid Ali

poetry

The Floating Post Office

By Agha Shahid Ali

poetry

Dear Shahid

By Daniel Hales

fiction

The Vindication of Fawn Brodie

By Jennifer Jensen Wallach

poetry

Flag Etiquette

By Chris Kingsley

poetry

The Agonist

By Ogaga Ifowodo

fiction

Landscape with Abandoned Trash

By Kate Northrop

poetry

The Price

By E.M. Beekman

fiction

Deer

By Steven Lapinsky

poetry

Crucifixion

By Therese Svoboda

nonfiction

Father

By Joel Brouwer

nonfiction

Chicago Spring

By Gail Hall Howard

poetry

Wake Up Call

By Nanny Vonnegut

Table of Contents

The Open Door, Fiction by Valerie Martin

Where Do I Crawl; Grace; Peace to the People
of the Earth, Poetry by Tomaz Salamun,
Translated by Joshua Beckman and the poet

Last Day, Poetry by Timothy Liu

Du Boisian Double Consciousness:
The Unsustainable Argument,
Non-Fiction by Ernest Allen Jr.

There Be Phantasies, Poetry by Eva Hooker

Good, Brothers, Fiction by Peter Markus

The Woman in a Purple Coat,
Poetry by Yehudit Ben-Zvi Heller
Translated by Agha Shahid Ali
with Stephen Clingman and the poet

Conversation with Agha Shahid Ali,
Non-Fiction by Christine Benvenuto

The Floating Post Office: Reproductions selected
from Agha Shahid Ali's manuscript,
Poetry by Agha Shahid Ali

The Floating Post Office,
Poetry by Agha Shahid Ali

Dear Shahid, Poetry by Daniel Hales

The Vindication of Fawn Brodie,
Non-Fiction by Jennifer Jensen Wallach

Flag Etiquette, Poetry by Chris Kingsley

The Agonist, Poetry by Ogaga Ifowodo

Landscape with Abandoned Trash,
Poetry by Kate Northrop

The Price, Fiction by E.M. Beekman

Deer, Poetry by Steven Lapinsky

Crucifixion, Poetry by Therese Svoboda

Father, Poetry by Joel Brouwer

Chicago Spring, Fiction by Gail Hall Howard

Wake Up Call, Cover Art by Nanny Vonnegut

Contributors

Join the email list for our latest news