Margutte is closing for the holidays. Best greetings. (Artwork: Nadia Martynenko, Ukraine)
Platonic Diversions
Seasons’ Greetings
Clio's Kingdom, Fiction
The MinDimBit
SILVANO GREGOLI Canberra, April 1995 It’s almost time to leave. Four years in Australia and the chapter is already closing. At this point it is customary to put together a few souvenirs. The first one is ready. It is a…
The suitcase of Hermes, The Showcase of Margutte, Essays
Water Poems by Emily Dickinson
EMILY DICKINSON In the Italian page Gabriella Mongardi analyzes Emily Dickinson’s poems focusing on the element ‘water’. Here are the poems quoted in her article. 107 ‘Twas such a little – little boat That toddled down the bay! ‘Twas such…
Calliope's Voice, Poetry, The Albero Project
Another New Colossus
JOHN IRVING CLARKE The sycamore sapling sited on the curve of the carefully chosen soft grass verges route in the park. Twice the scene of a near-hit as the cycle wobbled the bend, foreshadowing a cartoon image of a man chasing…
The Showcase of Margutte, Calliope's Voice, Poetry
Poems for Rising Ten
ROGAN WOLF A new collection of 25 English poems for children has just gone online. It is new in more ways than one. Each poem is carefully matched with an original abstract painting by an artist called Rachel Stevens, who…
The suitcase of Hermes
A petition to defend the work of literary translators from Artificial Intelligence
Literary translators are already experiencing how the automation of intellectual work and human language affects their field and society as a whole: both art and democracy are under threat. We, the literary translators’ associations of Germany, Austria and Switzerland, along…
Calliope's Voice, Poetry
Germain Droogenbroodt’s The Road of Being
GERMAIN DROOGENBROODT SMART PHONE In the waiting room sits a large number of travelers. With one notable exception, all of them are busy with a little thing called smart phone that fascinates them all the time. With two thumbs at…
Clio's Kingdom, Fiction
Land of Dreams, John Irving Clarke’s New Captivating Novel
JOHN IRVING CLARKE Chapter One Cassandra Jackson I love him to bits. Of course, I do. He’s absolutely gorgeous. Sometimes when he’s asleep I look at those lovely long eyelashes curling up and I watch his gentle breathing, the soft…
Calliope's Voice, Poetry
The death of children
RICHARD BERENGARTEN It is the death of children most offends nature and justice. No use asking why. What justice is, nobody comprehends. What punishment can ever make amends? There’s no pretext, excuse or alibi. It is the death of children…
Platonic Diversions, The rooms of Chronos, Real Stories
Hibernating Margutte, a month without articles
Calliope's Voice, Poetry
The Blue House – Five more unpublished poems by Max Mazzoli
MAX MAZZOLI 6 Winter is back And it reminds me of myself Before I met you. 7 The house where we had lived for years it was now empty and deserted without a piece of furniture. We walked on the…
The Showcase of Margutte, The rooms of Chronos, History
Speak Out Against the War
Fifty years ago, 9 November 1965 at 5 a.m., Roger LaPorte set himself on fire in front of the UN building in New York City to protest against the American involvement in the Vietnam war. Margutte wants to celebrate…
Platonic Diversions
Religion
JONATHAN SWIFT We have just enough religion to make us hate, but not enough to make us love one another. (from “Thoughts on Various Subjects”)
Calliope's Voice, Poetry
Follow the Anxiety of the Wind – Five unpublished poems by Max Mazzoli
MAX MAZZOLI 1 …therefore let’s go back to the shadow of the branch Or let’s follow the sharp scent of drunken flowers Next to the stone, an improvised altar, To cross the talkative time of silences To forget the gossip…
Platonic Diversions
Is Bringing Melancholy On Ourselves Useful?
FRANCES FAHY I was writing a piece when I realised that the song ‘The Parting Glass’ had started pecking at my brain like a robin at the window. For those who don’t know this song, it’s said to be of…