We’ve only Just Begun…
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I would say that I’m ready to lay down my sword and shield, except that I own neither. I also could serve up a cliché about pens and swords, but it seems totally irrelevant. There has been plenty of dissent in the press and elsewhere regarding the pending war in Iraq, but in the end it doesn’t matter. The president is ready to take on Saddam, Congress is quite willing to back him up, and the only real question is whether General Tommy Franks will be an able occupation ruler of Iraq.
And so, reluctantly, I must refrain from saying that “I ain’t gonna study war no more.” That’s because we are being given very little choice other than to do so. Last fall, Donald Rumsfeld promised a forty-year war on terrorism, and by my count, that means we’ve got 39 more years to go. That the richest, most powerful nation in human history can devise no better means for ruling the world other than through military aggression seems rather primitive. But perhaps I’m the one who’s being naïve.
The good news is that very few pages in this issue actually pertain to Iraq. In fact, this issue is dedicated to the proposition that there is more to life than war. Peace.
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MERCEDES ROFFÉ
with Anna Deeny Morales
SEPT 2018 | Poetry
Mercedes Roffé is one of Argentina’s leading poets. Widely published in the Spanish-speaking world, several of her books have been published in translation in Italy, Quebec, Romania, France, England, and the United States. She is the editorial director of Ediciones Pen Press,specialized in contemporary poetry from around the world. Roffé was awarded a John Simon Guggenheim (2001) and a Civitella Ranieri fellowship (2012).
Anna Deeny Morales has edited and translated works by Raúl Zurita, Mercedes Roffé, Malú Urriola, Alejandra Pizarnik, Amanda Berenguer,and Gabriela Mistral, among other Latin America poets. Deeny’s recent work in theater includes adaptations of Gonzalo Roig’s Cecilia Valdés and Tomás Bretón’s La verbena de la Paloma. She received a PhD from UC, Berkeley, and teaches at Georgetown University. Deeny is currently writing a book on poetry and consciousness. She was recently awarded an NEA Fellowship to translate Tala [Fells] by Gabriela Mistral.
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