Ever since I stumbled on Sonnet Mondal’s poems, I have been captivated by their stunning simplicity and words evoking a magical experience. That he achieves this consistently is breath-taking. In this occasional series, our aim is to connect you with some of these exceptional beauties I come across. These are rare, as they don’t…

The Father Jan Twardowski Monument in Warsaw, Poland. Photograph Mateusz Opasiński Here is a small selection from three Polish poets, as promised. Two are presented in a historical context: early poems by Miłosz that resonate to the conflagration of war. The first is the last of twenty poems in the ‘World’ cycle, which needs to be seen…

David Yip at the Queens Head with one of the locals. Photo credit, David Yip by David Yip In 2017, after leaving my previous employer, I was once again looking for work. Having no savings, my younger sister paid for everything until I could find a job. At home, I kept up my house…

Raghu Rai with Sudeep Sen March 5th 2024. Photographs Sudeep Sen I was privileged to know Raghu Rai. He was a very kind, generous and spiritual human being. In his memory, here is an ekphrastic poem I wrote in 2013 responding to one of haunting signature photographs. The poem was published in my book, Fractals: New…

Protesting about Henry Ford’s links with the Nazis in the 1930s Capitalism is first and foremost a mindfuck! by Richard Steinhardt Through the historical lens, the core argument is that the fundamental causes of the current war in Central Asia, the Gulf, the war conducted against the Russian Federation, and the potential war over…

She sat in the sand of the Sinai desert, her back against the cool stone wall of the Al Huda Mosque. Photograph Tina Bexson by Tina Bexson It was two weeks since she ran away from England. It was 4 am and hot. She sat in the sand of the Sinai desert, her back…

Les Branson. Screenshot from the prizewinning documentary Guerrilla Filmmaker Les Branson’s interview with Paul Halas, with additional questions from Phil Hall and James McGuire. Les Branson is a filmmaker, poet, playwright, novelist, newspaper columnist and erstwhile business person, one of those people who’s annoyingly talented in multiple areas, and breathes fresh air into everything…

In the light of Sudeep Sen’s forthcoming participation in the International Colloquium of Poetry and Philosophy organised by Ulises Paniagua Olivares, Ars Notoria (The Art of the Noteworthy) is republishing Sudeep Sen’s essay Rabindranath Tagore as the Intimate Other. In this essay, “Tagore as the Intimate Other,” Sudeep Sen (labelled by the BBC Radio as one of…

Hugo Giovanetti Viola. Photograph Guillermo Wood. Hugo Giovanetti Viola (Uruguay, 1948) is a multifaceted artist who has worked in poetry, narrative, popular song, essays, theater, film, journalism, and cultural production. A guitar teacher since 1967 and director of the Taller Literario Universo since 1990, he co-founded the magazine Universo in 1970. During Uruguay’s de…

Credit, Lego ANIMASI, Screen Capture, Public Domain It is close to Easter 2026 and I learn that Pete Hegseth, the current Secretary of War for the United States, opened the Pentagon Chapel for Good Friday services. Oddly, his note inviting 3,500 employees indicated services were for Protestants only. While Catholics do not celebrate Good…

                       1819 was a miraculous year for English poetry. John Keats wrote six odes, the first five were written in the Spring, the sixth, in the Autumn. These six poems (On a Grecian Urn, On Indolence, On Melancholy, to a Nightingale, to Pscyhe and To Autumn) have become a foundation stone of English Literature.…