Public Republic

Kenneth Pobo Photo: pinksherbet “Poets these days are so narcissistic.” I like staring into a still pond—even when a bird toilets my head, I think this message is from the universe, from God. But God is busy staring at a pond in another county and has to face grumpy angels who claim they dust Heaven’s […]

Joy Ladin A variation on “Ein Leben,” by Dan Pagis Photo: amyrod1 I’m standing at the window, a young woman, I can’t remember what age or so my slumping shoulders say

Vladimir Levchev Photo: selvig On the beach before dark the herring gulls, old men in white with long shadows, strut and chat with each other. We don’t know their language. But we listen.

Linda Cruise Photo: =ChevalieR= Since the late 1940s, thousands of published books have been written on the subject of World War II—a seemingly infinite number of stories could be told about this one finite historical event. Most of these works are nonfiction, but a significant body of that war’s literature exists in fiction form as […]

Brian Russell Photo: jesse.millan Maybe it’s just as well, she says, though I don’t really believe her. The birch are all gone now, I say, missing their papery white.

Reviewed by Charlotte Pence Marilyn Kallet, author of fourteen books, opens her anticipated selected poems with “Jonah on Oprah,” a dramatic monologue that epitomizes how through wit, rhythm, and imaginative metaphors her poems arrive at insight: “I’ve lived through gut-wrenching / remorse, got swallowed up by it. // Now I understand I can’t run / […]

Barry George Photo: The Wandering Angel cold train station – I’m bundled up like FDR at Yalta

Vanya Nikolaeva’s interview with Vanya Mitova (Vanchella) Translated from Bulgarian by Velina Vateva Vanya Mitova (Vanchella) works as a scriptwriter and photographer for TV MAD. She has also studied Visual Art, and is a self-taught photographer, doing mostly ad work. Vanchella has also been exposed to the strict lens of the camera as a model: […]

Julie Farkas Photo: howieluvzus Adele stood on the front porch in the dark and watched as car headlights cast yellow shafts of light on Audubon Park Boulevard. When the car turned onto the white shell road in front of their house, Adele opened the front door and yelled inside, “Bubba’s here,” then slammed it behind […]

An invitation for sharing fantasy Vanya Nikolaeva’s interview with the photographer Ivaylo Hristov Photography enchanted Ivaylo Hristov a year ago. For him, photography is freedom and energy; it fascinates and challenges him. In my photos I have always tried to reach perfection; by that I mean expressing a simple and pure shape, without any needless […]

Claudia Bierschenk Photo: roomiccube she watched his cigarette consume itself as he mumbled explanations about economic circumstances

Suzanne Nielsen Photo: frenkieb/ Neil Young Ellen Alphabe lost all their stock in GM when the bailout was denied, however they still believed in air bags, tune-ups and tinted glass, standards that made American cars so special.

Cathy Nickola Photo: helmet13 Because in my bed we must linger Because it is night, or afternoon but a hiccup Because we cocoon, we feign Because the power will fail, but I have a candle Because the cats sleep

Michael Todd Burns Photo: jacob botter Have you ever noticed how people’s philosophies tend to mimic their vices? I didn’t want to think about what I was doing. I didn’t think anymore about God and I certainly wasn’t thinking about the starving children back in Valle Aristo. I wanted to think about Gitana and the […]

Brian Russell Photo: m o d e In his deeply moving novel, “Body & Soul,” Frank Conroy employs the fictive technique of compression in both traditional and exciting, less traditional ways that I might dub: hyper-compression. The traditional use of compression often moves a story ahead in time or condenses what would otherwise be a […]

Zdravka Evtimova Photo: darkpatator The men from Dono’s clan, broad-shouldered and surly, squashed the words between their teeth and the mere hissing sound left others guessing what had to be obeyed. But they all obeyed Dono. His wish was law. Everyone was shattered under it. At the age of twenty-five, he became the chieftain of […]

Maggie Creshkoff Pat Valdata is a poet and uses her words as a poet would, deftly weaving the story of a Hungarian immigrant family in the early decades of 19th century America. Their triumphs and tragedies over three generations are mirrored by events on the world stage; and their personal loves and losses are echoed […]

Elayne Clift Photo: peregrineblue As a writer, I commit the cardinal sin: I don’t keep a journal. But I journal constantly. Although I didn’t have a secret diary as an adolescent, I wrote poetry. Now my “journal” is comprised of commentaries I write compulsively. As Edna O’Brien once said, “I’m a tuning fork, and twanging […]

Katia Delavequia There are three seasons of the year in Brazil, they say: before the Carnival, during the Carnival and after the Carnival. The first season is full of anticipation and eagerness to welcome the festivities. Then comes the Carnival itself, the season of revelry, merriment and beauty. And after the Carnival, it’s the season […]

Vanya Nikolaeva’s interview with Elitsa Todorova Translated from Bulgarian by Velina Vateva Earth and sky meet, and water embraces fire – this is the music of Elitsa Todorova and Stoyan Yankoulov, music that fascinates your senses. You feel as if you are in some other dimension, and the experience is gorgeous! Elitsa, what is the […]