For this issue, I am delighted to be interviewing Lisa Pasold, a peripatetic powerhouse of a writer who defies definition! Lisa, you are a very well travelled writer and I know you are based in both Paris and New Orleans as well as having grown up in Canada. So firstly, how did you become aContinue reading “Literary Spotlight. Lisa Pasold in Conversation with Sue Burge.”
Author Archives: darcie friesen hossack
Winter’s Reward of Words. A Review of Books by Gordon Phinn
Books Referenced: Dirty Money, Financial Crime in Canada, Christian Leuprecht & Jamie Ferrill, (McGill/Queens 2023)The Scent of Flowers at Night, Leila Slimani (Coronet, 2023)Stray Dogs, Rawi Hage (Knopf Canada 2023)The Syrian Ladies Benevolent Society, Christine Estima (Anansi 2023)Imagining Imagining, Gary Barwin (Wolsak & Wynn 2023)We Could Have Been Friends, My Father and I, Raja ShehadehContinue reading “Winter’s Reward of Words. A Review of Books by Gordon Phinn”
A Review of Diana Manole’s Praying to a Landed-Immigrant God. By Adriana Oniță
“Stubbornly I keep writing poems in Romanian”: Review of Diana Manole’s New Dual-Language Collection Diana Manole immigrated to Canada in 2000, but she never stopped writing in her mother tongue. After twenty-three years in the country, her seventh poetry book, Praying to a Landed-Immigrant God / Rugându-mă la un Dumnezeu emigrant (2023), found a homeContinue reading “A Review of Diana Manole’s Praying to a Landed-Immigrant God. By Adriana Oniță”
A moment of silence. A poem by Alexia Kalogeropoulou
A moment of silenceA moment of silencefor the human massesthat boarded onceon the trainswith etched skinand then they disappearedfrom visibleand invisible death machines.A moment of silencefor the innocentwho are buried todayin holy lands.For the childrenof Palestinewho are looking for their motheramong the ruinswith crimson woundsin the soul and the body.A lifetime of silencefor the humanContinue reading “A moment of silence. A poem by Alexia Kalogeropoulou”
One Malignant Spirit. A poem by Jennifer Wenn
One Malignant SpiritLike waves on the oceanthey crest and roll past,always another in their wake,tragic echoes of a timeless truth:just one malignant spirit in power is needed, lusting to warp the world around hallucination, each name a poisonous desecration that will not be written here,just one clawing at all and sundry to draw in andContinue reading “One Malignant Spirit. A poem by Jennifer Wenn”
3 poems by Antony Di Nardo
Among the Trees What kind of times are these when a conversation about trees is almost a crime because it implies silence about so many atrocities. —Bertolt BrechtYou add a teaspoon of honey, amber and gold, to the headlines you read and stir until you have an opinionYou pick sides like I pick a trailContinue reading “3 poems by Antony Di Nardo”
These Hands. A poem by Lisa Reynolds
These Hands These hands have touched the deadMothers, fathersLittle ones I can’t bear To speak of – but carryLife should not be like thisNot end like thisCries echoCan you hear themHear their disbelief Return to Journal Lisa Reynolds is an internationally published Canadian Poet who advocates for social justice through her writing. In 2023, herContinue reading “These Hands. A poem by Lisa Reynolds”
3 poems by Adrienne Stevenson
Target Practicewhen as children we played gameswe could always touch homeand be freehome the lodestone of our livessanctuary and comfortwelcoming, securenow, engage empathy, considerhomes not all that far awayturned upside downno longer shelter, warmth, restpinpoint-shattered peaceonly rubble remainslest we feel complacencythose same places turned unawaresinto a rapid-fire future Contrastmust peace imply a war?surely there is aContinue reading “3 poems by Adrienne Stevenson”
2 poems by Mona Mehas
Report Tyrant’s forces left country a shamblesworld court demanded he payhe scoffed at arrest warrantflew through the dark to conceal damagesturned a deaf earto mothers’ pleasempty armshardened heartsHow many more must sufferas hawks and doves argue?Like MagicLike magicshe finds inner strength to overcome illnessLike magiche rises above shouts of ignorance and greedLike magicthey march togetherContinue reading “2 poems by Mona Mehas”
3 poems by Marsha Barber
RawWhat use is poetryexcept to sayour hearts hidein safe houses—burned alive,in kibbutzim—babies slaughtered, fed to fire,in the desert—girls raped near corpsestortured and defiled.What use is poetryas captives liein their blood,no light, no warmth, no balm.We stumble throughthis darkness,ruined, rawour only hope—to clutchour bloodied pens.First published in Am Yisrael Chai anthology, ed. Rabbi Menachem Creditor, 2023SuicideContinue reading “3 poems by Marsha Barber”
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