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10 Questions for Stephanie Papa

February 2, 2023 - By Edward Clifford

Pebble tossed, ricochets, sinks
The sea mounts, thrashes
I shake from my body
The wave's vengeance
—from "The Pebble" by Levent Beskardes, Translated by Stephanie Papa, Volume 63, Issue 4 (Winter 2022)

Tell us about one of the first pieces you translated.
I think the first poems I translated were actually in Portuguese, rather than French. I went to Brazil in 2013 for a few months, and had the incredible luck of going to FLIP, an international literary festival in Paraty. I will never forget the atmosphere—papier mâché puppet parades, children reading books that dangled from trees by strings, crowds singing on the street, and rooms packed for poetry readings. There, my friend introduced me to Laura...

December/January MR Contributor Publications

February 1, 2023 - By Staff

Bettina Judd's poetry collection, “Feelin,” is out now from Northwestern University Press. Betina was featured in MR Vol. 62, Issue 2, "A Gathering of Poets."

Judas Goat from Gabrielle Bates has a new poetry collection out with Tin House Books. Her poem appears in MR Vol. 63, Issue 1.

...

10 Questions for Jodie Noel Vinson

January 24, 2023 - By Edward Clifford

Six months before your trip, you begin the search. Scrolling through headshots, you note several eligible prospects. One after the other, you dial the numner below each photo.

The first seven receptionists inform you that, contrary to the green check mark on your insurance's provider list, the doctor isn't taking new clients. A few seem upset that you would ask.
—from "Patient, Heal Thyself," Volume 63, Issue 4 (Winter 2022)

Tell us about one of the first pieces you wrote.
Not the first I wrote, but one of the first I published, “To Know A Bean,” comes to mind because a reader recently reached out to let me know they’d come across it in The Concord Saunterer. The essay is about a literary...

10 Questions for Rosebud Ben-Oni

January 19, 2023 - By Edward Clifford

Only death::orse is real. Only forward is unhorse

            & the little graces & galactic undeeds—& you

                         can't slick     nor kick to spur(n)

                                         a :: direhorse ::can never own a force
—from "\DEAT {H :: O R S E} \\\," Vol. 63, Issue 4 (Winter 2022)...

10 Questions for Salma Harland

January 17, 2023 - By Edward Clifford

If only I could refrain from eating,
the route to corruption and folly.
I never deprive a mother of her sucklings
or have a share of a calf's milk
—from "If Only I Could Refrain from Eating" by Abū Al-'Alā' al-Ma'arrī, Translated by Salma Harland, Volume 63, Issue 4 (Winter 2022)

Tell us about one of the first pieces you translated.
I probably first attempted to translate poetry around the age of 15, when I was in high school. I fell under the spell of Mahmoud Darwish’s poetry, how the existential meets the sublime in his writings and how he reads both as a Palestinian and international poet. So I tried to translate parts of his Mural (Jidārīyah) into English. A few years...