Today’s featured writer |
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Read fiction by these authors |
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Ali Jimale Ahmed | Rolf Jacobsen (1907-1994) | |
| Jacob M. Appel | Tor Jonsson (1916-1951) | ||
| Jefferson Carter | Joshua Kwesi Knowlife | ||
| Padma Devkota | Angel Uriel Perales | ||
| Nordahl Grieg (1902-1943) | Michael Wynn | ||
| Knut Hamsun (1859-1952) | |||
Jacob M. Appel has published over 200 works. He is best known for his short stories, but in 2012 one of novels won the Dundee International Book Prize. In 2018, he published a collection of poetry. Read the title poem of that collection, 
The Cynic in Extremis
by Jacob M. Appel You could never put one over on my uncle. He whiffed the treachery in Girl Scouts, Scoured his returned change for Canadian pennies, Steered clear of con games like synagogue And life insurance. His college education he invested in a tire shop, Listed in his wife’s name: Who would send A […]
RMS Lusitania Departs for Liverpool
by Jacob M. Appel Through a sea of bowlers and boaters and crinoline Glide the notables—stoop-shouldered Vanderbilt; Saurian, moon-crowned Frohman, drawing cheers. Reflected funnels ghost-dance in the uneasy surf. Brine steams off the jetty. Whistles like bayonets Saw passage for a neckless matron atop a sedan chair. Vendors in newsboy caps hawk forty-eight star flags, Cigars, […]
DISTORTIA
by Joshua Kwesi Knowlife Jumbled up unto one board All reality in a collage Thoughts hanging in doubt Feelings semi-deep inside The mind a walking John Doe The music like pills for pro-headache My vision blurred The future still untroubled…or so I want to believe Yet like a piece of cake where all should be […]
The State Of the Mind
by Joshua Kwesi Knowlife The mind can be a whole world Bigger the than universe Infinite in space It can be liquid It can be stone It can change into any state of matter Aurora borriellos? it could be alive anywhere as long as you crave it The mind can satisfy desires Just as it […]
Wadham College Chapel, Oxford
by Nordahl Grieg (1902-1943), a Norwegian poet during WWII, translated by John Irons. Pain fills the roar of the organ, and all the young wills are bowing low in fear and ache to realms that we know not of. Candles fl icker in darkness like daffodils cold is cowing, a hymn rises up to the […]
Skerry
by Knut Hamsun (1859-1952), translated by John Irons The boat’s now gliding towards the skerry, a sea-set island its shores green banding. Wild flowers grow here for no eyes intended stand unfamiliar and watch me landing. My heart becomes like a fabled garden with flowers the same as the ones I’m greeting. They talk together […]
Chaplin’s Hat
A children’s rhyme by Michael Wynn (the author’s own translation from Norwegian) With hat and frock, Chaplin wandered broke to the cafe where his lover drank and smoked Then the husband came, furiously provoked, and threw Chaplin’s hat on the ground quite stoked. Startled, Chaplin kicked before he spoke the old pig lost his stick, […]
Then rise up in me, loneness
by Tor Jonsson (1916-1951), translated by John Irons. Then rise up in me, loneness, storm my earth-life’s last entrenchment and spill my wasting-dream of human bliss. You chasm-dizzy earth, be other world than this tell all your secrets in this transluscent dawn where light abounds in this brief hour before death’s mighty day when loneness’ […]
Cultural Excursion
by Michael Wynn (the author’s own translation from Norwegian) Ulanbator-Bahamas there and back a stupor, a hangover and we’re back on track Noisy little brats, but still you smile, into the johns to vomit quite a while. “What are you doing in there so long? You shit! You filth! You washed out beer-bong!” Thanks I’m […]
Sand
Buy the full volume from Amazon. A free Reading Guide is also available: http://www.rogergreenwald.org/North-in-the-World-reading-guide.pdf
Guardian Angel
Buy the full volume from Amazon. A free Reading Guide is also available: http://www.rogergreenwald.org/North-in-the-World-reading-guide.pdf
London
by Nordahl Grieg (1902-1943), a Norwegian poet during WWII, translated by G.M. Gathorne-Hardy. I We lie in the dark and listen to the bombers passing by, To the song of their droning engines, like factories in the sky. High in the Milky Way great mills are busy-and then Down drops a load through the void, […]
Once upon a time
by Michael Wynn (the author’s own translation from Norwegian) The demon rises Loathsome spawn Spreading its sinewed arms like wings Razor tongue, you whispering creature alone in a crescent landscape till dawn. On the rainy plains Far from sooty licks of fire Step by step in slush and mud Icy gusts from storms subdued And […]
Do Not Disturb My Circles
by Angel Uriel Perales What do I care if the peacocks strut proud amongst the ruins of Syracuse? The maggots nestling in the stale bread taste the same to them as they do to me and if not consumed then the flies alight on the same tired eyes annoyed with the same lack of sleep. […]
Acute deafness
by Michael Wynn (the author’s own translation from Norwegian) When an old woman dies, her face is washed in the sand where naked children play, the clocks fall silent. Ding dang dong, the bells say gone. Flowers wither like regular paces over linoleum, divine choreography, our sincere condolences. Hysterical laughter in chaotic measure Ha ha […]
The Salesman
by Michael Wynn (the author’s own translation from Norwegian) A man takes a sip of water and moves from the bed to the kitchen counter. The hands of the clock turn while sun and moon rise and fall ten thousand times. When the doorbell rings, he is startled. A stranger enters the room “Who are […]
I
by Padma Devkota I am the dust raised by the rolling wheels of sun and stars as they cruise across the not-too-empty interstellar space. They beam me bright and cool me down to just the point where comfort feels like life and desires rise apace. Barely visible, I rise and fall and float around the […]
New Nepalese Rats
Two rats met outside the drain hole. One rat said to the other, “Ratty, do you know something?” “What?” asked Ratty. “People of Nepal have decided to change everything old into something new. Isn’t that wonderful?” “Why, that’s great!” said Ratty. “I too was getting tired of the same old things to eat and the […]
Children of the World Unite!
The best thing about critical journalism is that you get to shed light on all the world issues without solving a single one. A cynical attitude towards life will come in handy in this respect. These were thoughts that went through my mind the other day when I understood that my four year old nephew […]
A Political Fairytale
A Political Fairy Tale Two politicians hit each on the head with a hammer and became mutually dependent on each other in order to maintain their ideologies. From that moment on their fate was sealed. Any statement that challenged this perception would now count as a betrayal in which a whole world view with its […]
The Grand Concourse
by Jacob M. Appel To celebrate her sixtieth birthday—she is now older than her parents when they died—my mother asks to take a daytrip. She has okayed it with the shrinks, she says. Dr. Fradkin agrees a twelve-hour pass will do her good. “His first name’s Monty. Monty Fradkin. He’s quite a good looking young […]
Deception
Imagine traveling through space at lightening speed, exploring the deep recesses of the universe to unveil her deepest secrets. “Are we really alone?” is one of the most fundamental questions that future generations must explore. The questions really makes my heart beat. Somehow the notion of that grand future, of all those limitless possibilities makes […]