THE OCCUPATION ...

So honored to be in the current TALISMAN, with its section, “The Occupation: The First of Three Major Selections of Works by and about Women Writers Around the World” edited by Lisa Bourbeau.  I’m touched that Lisa sought me out – I’m not active on social media so I’ve never forgotten her email query to me calling me some sort of throwback for not being on Facebook (grin).  Anyway, it’s magnificent – look at the Table of Contents of this first Occupation below.

I’m also happy over the inclusion of my two poems (“(NOBILITY” and “How Cyberspace Lost Midnight”) because they are two of the poems in my forthcoming poetry collection, SUN STIGMATAS (Sculpture Poems) to be released in the Fall by Marsh HawkPress.  Last but not least, I believe this is the first time I’ll appear in the same literary issue as one of my top three poetic influences from my newbie poet stage: Mei-mei Berssenbrugge.  The other two, if you must know, are Arthur Sze and John Yau (do check out these poets’ works – their poems are worth pursuing).

Having said all that, it is certainly worth pausing to consider the implications of this Talisman issue.  Why are the women writers grouped into a section (“The Occupation”) and in all the other sections the writers are men?  One always hopes that the women writer need not be “ghettoized,” and can just be presented in the usual way as the men writer.  Susan Schultz writes intelligently on this issue HERE. Despite one’s hopes on the issues of women writers and inclusivity, I do appreciate, though, this treatment by Talisman.  Because numbers (and lists) do show that most literary journals’ offerings are still dominated by male writers.  Talisman’s in-your-face acknowledgment (and challenge) to this is highlighted by the use of “Occupation”—here is the Table of Contents:

 Essay: Alice Notley

Poetry in English:
Mei-mei Berssenbrugge, Laynie Browne, Maxine Chernoff, Adina Dajiba, Shira Dentz, Deborah Diemon, tSharon Dolin, Rachel Blau DuPlessis, Denise Duhamel, Elaine Equi, Carmen Firan, Carol Frost, Joanna Fuhrman and Toni Simon, Barbara Henning, Fanny Howe, Laura Jaramillo, Ann Lauterbach, Camille Martin, Medbh McGuckian, Wanda Phipps, Patricia Pruitt, Tara Rebele, Judith Roitman, Susan M. Schultz, Suzanne Simmons, Laura Sims, Stephanie Strickland, Eileen Tabios, Anne Tardos 

 Fiction: Kate Farris, Andrea Clark Libin, Susan Nash Smith 

 Poetry in Translation:  Aase Berg (trans. Johannes Göransson)
Jeannette L. Clariond (trans. Keith Ekiss)
Zhang Er (trans. Martine Bellen)
Elke Erb (trans. Rosmarie Waldrop)
Galina Eroshima (trans. Gerald J. Janecek)
Xiao Hong (trans. Zhang Er and Martine Bellen)
Julia Kunina (trans. BetsyHulick and Richard Sieburth)
Marta López-Luaces (trans. Alexandra van de Kamp and Juan Manuel López Ramos)
Kristina Lugn (trans. Malena Mörling and Jonas Ellerström)
Gabriela Mistral (trans. Mariela Griffor)
Alicia García Núñez (Corrections: Ricardo Hernando Carratalá)
Helga Olshvang (trans. Alexandra Landauer)
Anzhelina Polonskaya (trans. Andrew Wachtel)
Sofía Rhei (trans. Lawrence Schimel)
Monika Rinck (trans. Rosmarie Waldrop)
Mercedes Roffé (trans. Judith Filc)
Gali-Dana Singer (trans. Lisa Katz)

Context aside, I hope you enjoy the content of the poems themselves.  They are some of the most marvelous I've seen from several of these talented writers.  Click HERE for the Occupation at Talisman!