Blog / Interviews

10 Questions for Ashley Kunsa

December 6, 2022 - By Edward Clifford

In California, in a dumpster, a rattler lay
half-coiled atop a grease-soaked pizza box,

            half-cloaked by yesterday’s news.
It was no friend of mine, the snake, though,

to tell the truth, in such repose, no enemy
either.
—From “It’s Never Just a Snake,” Vol. 63, Issue 3 (Fall 2022)

Tell us about one of the first pieces you wrote.
I wrote a pretty epic break-up note to my second-grade boyfriend that, by some twist of fate or good fortune (his or mine?), I never delivered, and so I’ve still got access to high literary phrases like “I know we both tried our hardest to make things work but they just didn’t...

10 Questions for Allison M. Charette

November 15, 2022 - By Edward Clifford

"Ambahy—konantitra, I cannot comprehend this power that you wield. . . The power of death's morbid attraction, of the will to turn toward anarchy, toward a world where nothing is sacred anymore, where nothing has more power than its own form . . . I do not know. Intense desire for emancipation from the colonial authority, understanding that returning to a sovereign state would only be returning to royal servitude."
—From "Nour, 1947: Third Night" by Raharimanana, Translated by Allison M. Charette, Volume 63, Issue 3 (Fall 2022)

Tell us about one of the first pieces you translated.
Long before I knew I wanted to be a translator, I took a translation course for my undergrad French degree. One day, we worked in...

10 Questions for Mary Ann McGuigan

November 8, 2022 - By Edward Clifford

She's sure she can't be dreaming, becuase she can feel Nora's hand on hers. The touch is light, barely there, but the cold bracelt is enough to bring her into the morning, back into the colorless room.
"Aunt Peggy," Nora whispers. "You're having a bad dream." The tops of Nora's fingersgraze her forearm, but she pretends she's still asleep, because she wants it so badly, this contact."
—from "Because Her Hour Is Come," Volume 63, Issue 3 (Fall 2022)

Tell us about one of the first pieces you wrote.
The first piece I wrote predates the moon landing; it still needs a lot of work. But one of the first stories I submitted anywhere appeared in The Sun and much later became...

10 Questions for G.C. Waldrep

November 1, 2022 - By Edward Clifford

It is not insistent. It is not desperately clinging
                                       to the is, the are.
           It is familiar with the dusk.
(I write, "It is familiar with the dusk," words.)
    It does not call
                Do you believe, do you believe.
—from "A Meadowlark in Arrow Rock, Mo." Volume 63, Issue 3 (Fall 2022)

Tell us about one of the first...

The Legacy of Jules Chametzky

October 28, 2022 - By Jim Hicks

In this full-day event, the morning session focused on collective commemoration of the life of Jules Chametzky--the teacher, mentor, scholar, family man, and activist. The proceedings open with a poem written for the occasion, read by its author, Martín Espada. Memories from family members follow, and then those of friends. The morning concludes with a talk on "Black Reparations, Present and Future," by William A. Darity--a subject that Jules spoke about often.

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