NEW NEWS!
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*** Of continuing interest, JALADA is a Pan African journal in which Ngugi wa Thiong'o has been featured, along with many important African writers. (You can hear him read in both his mother tongue, Gikuyu, and in English, his "Why Human Beings Walk Upright." We have reviewed Ngugi's modern epic, The Perfect Nine, in Issue 14's Remarkable Reads.
*** Francesca Gargallo (México), whose poems in translation appeared in Witty Partition Issue #12, has published a new book of Italian translations of her poetry. Se posso partecipo (Si puedo participo) is a bilingual edition of Gargallo’s recent poems of migration and activism viewed through a feminist lens. Three of the poems in the book were among the poems that Witty published.
Francesca Gargallo. Se posso partecipo. Translated by Valeria Manca. Rome: Aracne Editrice, 2020; ISBN: 978-88-255-3590-7. Ebook available free. *** 
In the spirit of the launch of Witty Issue 13, we have spread the word that Martha King, whose book was reviewed in Issue 6, is having a free online reading with Margaret Randall, celebrating their respective memoirs.
READING: Wednesday APRIL 7 at 8 PM Eastern Daylight time Presented by The Poetry Project. To join via ZOOM, register via the link below. The event is free. https://www.eventbrite.com/e/martha-king-margaret-randall-tickets-138093153339 ***
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FREE CITY POLITICAL HISTORICAL FANTASY Free City reissued by Dalkey Archive First published in 1996 to international acclaim, Eric Darton’s Free City is the fictional journal of L., a seventeenth-century inventor caught in a precarious love triangle, even as his beloved northern European port town teeters on the brink of catastrophe. In a tale laced with bawdy humor and flights of the fantastical, L. must balance the demands of his patron – a rapacious entrepreneur – against those of his sorceress lover. As L. attempts to avert calamity, he finds himself joined, literally out of the blue, by the most unlikely of allies. Weaving together historical, political and absurdist elements, Free City resonates more profoundly today than ever. Order at Bookshop.org * * *
Please raise your voice in solidarity with City Lights author Aslı Erdoğan who is being persecuted by the Turkish government.
Aslı Erdoğan’s life-threatening situation is emblematic of the human rights crisis that has transformed civic life in Turkey. Carrying out an unrelenting "purge," since 2016, the government has persecuted and imprisoned hundreds of journalists, artists, writers, academics and civic workers on baseless charges, often calling for life sentences. As Aslı has said, "The government has crossed all barriers of ethics, and even shame." Aslı currently lives in what will probably become permanent exile from her home, friends and family, but even abroad she is not free from death threats, harassment, and ongoing State torment. She has suffered a series of debilitating physical consequences as a result of the Turkish government’s ongoing psychological torture, and this sudden push to sentence her in absentia is meant to further threaten those who would speak out. Please add your voice to the international protest against Turkey’s treatment of Aslı Erdoğan, and of all who attempt to speak truth to power. City Lights proudly published Aslı Erdoğan’s most recent book, The Stone Building and Other Places (translated by Sevinç Türkkan), in 2018. Please join us and add your voice to the international campaign of support. - Elaine Katzenberger, Publisher and Executive Director, City Lights Books TAKE ACTION Please publish articles and opinion in your national or local press highlighting the case of Aslı Erdoğan and freedom of expression in Turkey. Share information about the case and your activities on social media; please use the hashtag #FreeTurkeyMedia. See PEN International And, as per our Issue #8 colophon, 
Only 120 Florida Panthers are left. Photo: Wikipedia |
