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10 Questions for Ally Zlatar

January 6, 2023 - By Edward Clifford

when the tigers break free
there is an unrestricted view of salvation

but i fear this feeling of fullness
—from “We Want Your Art but We Will Not Pay,” Volume 64, Issue 4 (Winter 2022)

Tell us about one of the first pieces you wrote:
One of the first pieces I ever worked on was The Starving Artist, that explores our understanding of eating disorders and body image within contemporary art, and features the works of 25+ international artists who each shared their own and very diverse experiences of living in an unwell body.

What writer(s) or works have influenced the way you write now?
Alain de Botton for sure. I love the casual but intimate approach to understanding our daily...

10 Questions for Torsa Ghosal

January 4, 2023 - By Edward Clifford

Ma speaks with her eyes focused on some faint mark on the table's oilcloth. Hasnahena or Pāẏarā listens to the history of her naming again, after a long time. She has known it since her childhood. But, somehow, it is as though a festival celebrating her inconsequential human birth is still going on in this house.
—from "an Artist's Ego," by Shagufta Sharmeen Tania, translated by Torsa Ghosal, Volum 63, Issue 3 (Fall 2022)

Tell us about one of the first pieces you translated.
Growing up in the multilingual culture of India, I feel like I have been translating bits and pieces of literature pretty much all my life. I remember translating lines of Bengali poetry for Hindi-speaking friends on my school bus when I was in the...

Resurrection

January 2, 2023 - By Erri De Luca

“I would like to open a door”—the sentence was uttered by a prisoner on death row for decades now, in San Quentin. For decades now he has not touched the handle of a door.

California has repudiated capital punishment, but when Jarvis Masters was sentenced to death the gas chambers were still working.

I’ve read his life story, recorded by the journalist, David Sheff: A Buddhist on Death Row (Simon & Schuster, 2020, Italian translation, Emanuela Alverà, Uniliber). Masters began practicing controlled breathing and meditation...

Zen and the Art of Actualizing Fiction

December 23, 2022 - By Ruth Ozeki and Michael Thurston

Editor’s note: On Wednesday, December 7, in the Paradise Room of the Smith College Conference Center, Ruth Ozeki gave a lecture titled “The Book of Form and Emptiness: Zen and the Art of Actualizing Fiction.” Provost Michael Thurston introduced the speaker, and his remarks follow here, as does Ruth Ozeki’s sabbatical report, mentioned in the intro.
 

Good afternoon.

For the last few years, I’ve begun introductions of speakers by introducing myself as “Michael Thurston, Provost and Dean of Faculty at Smith.” I am still provost and dean of faculty, but today I think it’s important that I introduce myself as a faculty member in the Department of English. This is because it is my great honor to introduce my...

Double-Digit 6-Pack: A Holiday Brew Review

December 21, 2022 - By MARSHA BRYANT

Why settle for a beer cocktail when you can enjoy a boozy beer?
 

As the holidays come round again
And you gather with family and friends,
Boozy beers make us merry
With malt, chocolate, cherry,
And spice. Here are six I commend.

1.
For a booze-infused brew you’ll repeat,
Try this toffee-hued ale for a treat.
From oak barrels it comes
To dispel the doldrums,
Dragon’s Milk: strong, yet caramel-sweet.

2.
From Left Hand, this Imperial Stout
Is what blissfully boozy’s about.
Though it’s called Wake Up Dead,
You’ll feel festive instead
And start toasting in sweet roasty bouts.

3.
Dessert in a glass? Well, why...