Dear friends, I’ve said before that we want ONLY POEMS to be of the world, not just of the English-speaking corner of it. Our readers write to us from everywhere, our poets live everywhere, and yet this is the first time we’re featuring a Poet of the Week who writes primarily in a language that is not English. Daniela Danz writes in German, and she’s our first featured poet in translation. I’ve been working on a book of prayers for almost two years and have been looking for poems like hers...

Dear friends, This Thursday we were invited to a Substack bestsellers event, and though we have our qualms with Substack, we think it eventually does more good than harm to many artists we know. We were unsure of going as we’re not particularly social people but they lured us with a $50 gift card each to spend on books. The space was wonderful (Book Bar Toronto), and the people were super interesting too. I got Dione Brand’s New & Collected Poems, and Shannan got Robert Jackson Bennett’s A...

Dear friends, I was in India for a month to see my parents and extended family for the first time since I moved to the West three and a half years ago. It was quite an experience adjusting to the heat, noise, and all the people everywhere. I felt like a posh queen too pristine for everything around her even though it was my day to day reality for over two decades not too long ago. I felt deeply lucky, and sad for everyone’s struggles. It wasn’t a new feeling, but certainly one that had been...