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Hope Dissidents

Mona Kareem, translated by Sara Elkamel

Inside the Afghan Resistance

By Salar Abdoh, Abolfazl Shakiba, and Mostafa Saeidi

On Metaphors and Snow Boots

By Annie Sand

Yellow Summer Rain

By Na Zhong

Ben Purkert

Ben Purkert is the author of For the Love of Endings. His work appears or is forthcoming in The New Yorker, The Nation, Tin House Online, Poetry, Kenyon Review, AGNI, Ploughshares, and elsewhere. He teaches at Rutgers University.
http://benpurkert.com
Follow @@BenPurkert
Portrait of author Meghan O'Rourke
Back Draft Interview Bodies & Nature

Back Draft: Meghan O’Rourke

By Meghan O’Rourke and Ben Purkert March 1, 2022
The memoirist talks about the limitations of “the traditional illness narrative” and what healing really means.
Back Draft Interview Lit World

Back Draft: Hala Alyan

By Ben Purkert and Hala Alyan January 31, 2022
The novelist discusses the strain of translating herself to others, and explains why she enjoys brainstorming more than editing.
Back Draft Interview Lit World

Back Draft: Sterling HolyWhiteMountain

By Sterling HolyWhiteMountain and Ben Purkert July 23, 2021
The fiction writer discusses Native art, breakup phone calls, and the line between politics and propaganda.
Back Draft Interview Lit World

Back Draft: Bianca Stone and Ruth Stone

By Bianca Stone, Ruth Stone, and Ben Purkert June 22, 2021
The poet discusses Emily Dickinson, strip clubs, and grieving over the loss of her grandmother.
Back Draft Interview Arts & CultureLit WorldRace

Back Draft: Clint Smith

By Clint Smith and Ben Purkert May 3, 2021
The writer and poet talks about novelistic nonfiction and why he thinks of his grandparents as monuments.
Back Draft Interview Arts & CultureLit World

Back Draft: Lisa Dillman

By Ben Purkert and Lisa Dillman January 13, 2021
The translator on selecting her subjects, discovering the work of Andrés Barba, and the dangers of cultural hegemony.
Back Draft Interview Arts & CultureLit World

Back Draft: Danez Smith

By Danez Smith and Ben Purkert December 3, 2020
The poet on a hard year for books, getting a rise out of an audience, and “Frankensteining” your archives.
Back Draft Interview Lit World

Back Draft: Rachel Eliza Griffiths

By Ben Purkert and Rachel Eliza Griffiths August 3, 2020
The poet on radical revision, our reflections, and photographing poets.
Back Draft Interview Arts & CultureLit World

Back Draft: Emily Wilson

By Ben Purkert and Emily Wilson February 24, 2020
The translator on being drawn to Homer, and the timelessness of toxic masculinity.
Back Draft Interview Lit World

Back Draft: John Murillo

By Ben Purkert and John Murillo October 21, 2019
The poet discusses chasing butterflies, and the perpetual relevance of political verse.
Photo by David González
Back Draft Interview Lit World

Back Draft: Martín Espada

By Ben Purkert, Martín Espada, and Donald Hall August 12, 2019
The poet discusses his relationship with the late Donald Hall and the power of art, incarnate.
Back Draft Interview Lit World

Back Draft: Edward Hirsch

By Ben Purkert and Edward Hirsch April 5, 2019
The poet discusses insomnia, civility (or the lack thereof) in cities, and losing his sight.
Back Draft Interview Arts & CultureLit World

Back Draft: Natasha Trethewey

By Ben Purkert and Natasha Trethewey February 26, 2019
The acclaimed poet discusses a devastating fire, and the painterly in poetry.
Photograph by Jacqueline Mia Foster
Back Draft Interview Lit World

Back Draft: Catherine Barnett

By Ben Purkert and Catherine Barnett November 27, 2018
The poet discusses the separation of mind and body—literally and figuratively—the transformation of influence, and imagining an audience.
Back Draft Interview Lit World

Back Draft: Cedar Sigo

By Cedar Sigo and Ben Purkert September 28, 2018
The poet on escaping the confines of academia, striving for imperfection, and moving back home.
Back Draft Interview Lit World

Back Draft: Cynthia Cruz

By Ben Purkert and Cynthia Cruz August 23, 2018
The poet on perfectionism, surrendering control, and a poetry that reflects the practical realities of American life today.
Back Draft Interview Lit World

Back Draft: Heather Christle

By Ben Purkert and Heather Christle July 11, 2018
The poet discusses the spark of life in a poem and the intersection of the imaginative and the political.
Back Draft Interview Lit World

Back Draft: Victoria Chang

By Victoria Chang and Ben Purkert June 6, 2018
The poet on her revision process and coping with grief.
Back Draft Interview Arts & CultureLit World

Back Draft: Carl Phillips

By Carl Phillips and Ben Purkert May 3, 2018
The inaugural installment of a new series about the revision process in poetry. First up: Carl Phillips.
Back Draft Interview Lit World

Back Draft

By Ben Purkert March 2, 2018
An exploration of how poets, writers, and artists revise.
Review Arts & CultureLit World

An Inspired Time for American Poetry

By Ben Purkert October 19, 2017
Fifteen debut poetry collections that define the cultural moment.
Commentary

Raising the Dead

By Ben Purkert September 27, 2017
An author’s visitation seems, in my students' eyes, a resurrection.
Essay Family & RelationshipsReligionUSA

Being Jewy

By Ben Purkert March 9, 2017
What was "Jewy"? Was it me?
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Guernica

Guernica is a non-profit magazine dedicated to global art and politics, published online since 2004. With contributors from every continent and at every stage of their careers, we are a home for singular voices, incisive ideas, and critical questions.

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