Navah was born second daughter to her house, a disappointment to her mother and father, who had expected another son. Her mother died of shame when she realized she had birthed a second girl child and her father named her Navah, which means “regrettable.” The only one who was kind to Navah was her brother [...]
The Burning Bush: Fiction by Laura Robinson
God came to Moses, I believe the story goes, in the form of a burning bush to tell him that he must lead the Jewish people. Moses didn't want to be the leader. I'm fascinated by the hero's reluctance to be the hero. Why not? Don't we all want to be leaders? Superheroes? The one [...]
35 Years of Living: Poetry by Jameela Nishat
35 years of living with only five fingers to help out with my closed fist I have confined all time and space Cabbage potatoe egg plant Fish chicken a chicken feast All life's luxury drips like ghee From my cook's fingers All the world*#039s knowledge Roams scot free since gods knows when Dehradun to jaffana [...]
No Regrets: Poetry by Jing Xing
distance measured by silence stretching oceans away no bridge. love letter red lipstick kiss perfumed words inside no reply. costumed leading lady pale white mask red curtains open no audience. mother of too many bearing dream children kitchen withering hopes no love. Poet breathing under heavy ocean. Star fish thrive, suckling in life; no regrets. [...]
Chad: An Essay by Gretchen Wallace
In the Southern stretches of the Sahara, the water only flows at night. Almost as infrequently as the appearance of fresh vegetables at market, dry pipes come to life sputtering and coughing wet exhaust like a tired tailpipe. It is 10pm. Our five-man team is gathered in the courtyard of the tiny compound hidden around [...]
Strange Big Moon, The Japan and India Journals: 1960-1964 by Joanne Kyger
North Atlantic Books, Berkeley c.2000 Anne Waldman’s introduction to Strange Big Moon describes Joann Kyger’s journal, part travelogue, part poetic and personal introspection, as a “surprisingly, surreptitiously, feminist tract as well.” Living and writing as she did, however, with and among the greatest male writers of both the San Francisco Renaissance and the Beat movement, [...]
Redemption by Kay Langdale
Transita. Oxford November 2006 Kay Langdale’s debut novel is, in the simplest of terms, an account of love and marriage. Avoiding entirely the clichés of romance or “chick-lit” genres, however, Langdale’s approach in crafting Redemption is refreshingly, compellingly alternative. Six women—wives, daughters, a grandmother still a virgin, an unwed mother of sixteen, an aging mistress—inextricably [...]
Haweswater by Sarah Hall
Harper Collins. New York October 2006 First impressions of both the setting and synopsis of Haweswater promises the reader an English historical romance soaked in social and geographical commentary, reminiscent of Elizabeth Gaskell or, according to The Independent, Hardy and Lawrence. Despite the clear applicability of these comparisons, however, Sarah Hall’s debut novel, together with [...]
Collected Sonnets of Edna St. Vincent Millay
HarperPerennial. New York, 1988 Not long after making her debut upon the world of American literary modernism, Edna St. Vincent Millay’s frank voice and deft talent earned her work canonical status, while delineating herself as a “national symbol of the modern woman.” In both her poetic and personal life, however, Millay’s modern womanhood is clearly [...]
Marilyn French on her new novel, In the Name of Friendship
In 1977 The Women’s Room sparked controversy and forever altered the consciousness of a generation of women. Now, almost thirty years later, Marilyn French brings us In the Name of Friendship. Her Circle Ezine talks with the author about feminism, politics, and friendship in the new millenium. Q: The book is set in the year [...]
