Starting September 5, 2013, and running through Halloween, The Monitor printed a nine-part series entitled “Creature Feature.” Published each Thursday, this column featured my retellings of creepy tales of ghosts, ghouls and cucuys from deep South Texas, with illustrations by a variety of local artists. On December 10, 2013, an…
This project is based on the first true novel ever composed, Genji Monogatari (The Tale of Genji). Written in the 11th century by a woman we know as Murasaki Shikibu, the novel follows the life of Genji, son of the Japanese emperor by one of his low-ranking concubines. -SG1-Shining Prince…
Under construction. I have been fascinated for more than a decade by the Indian epic Ramayana, reading it in several translations and adaptations and pondering the lessons of the ancient poem. Over the course of four years I crafted musical interpretations of scenes/themes in the text. Below you’ll find a…
I’m thrilled to announce that my poem “Keeping It Real” and my translation of the 16th Nahuatl song from the Aztec codex Songs of Mexico, “Where All Debts Are Paid,” have been accepted for publication in the journal Huizache.
Lee van Laer, poetry editor at Parabola, has posted my translation of “Flower Song Convocation,” the 17th poem of the Aztec codex Songs of Mexico, on the magazine’s page. The 1700-word poem is considered the most complete exploration of Nahua esthetic philosophy to survive the Conquest. Check the poem out…
Lady Ise was one of the most important Japanese poets in history, the woman with the most pieces collected in the imperial anthology Kokin Wakashū (Kokinshū). Named one of the Sanjūrokkasen or 36 Immortals of Poetry, Ise was born in the late 9th century CE and became involved in relationships…
Ukon was a Japanese poet of the Heian period, active toward the end of the 10th century, named one of the Nyōbō Sanjūrokkasen or 36 Female Immortals of Poetry. She was a lady-in-waiting of Empress Onshi. The following poem is number 38 in the Ogura Hyakunin Isshu, a classical Japanese…
O ship, a new wave thrusts you back To the sea. What are you doing? Rush hard Into port! Can you not see that You are stripped of oars, Mast shivered by fast African winds, Yardarm groaning? Without rigging Your hull cannot withstand The imperious sea! Your sails are torn,…
Castro Alves was a Brazilian poet and playwright. His abolitionist writing won him the epithet of “O Poeta dos Escravos” (“The Poet of the Slaves”). How lovely the shores of this powerful river, Which flows away frothy, unrivaled, supreme: There in bromeliads, among golden blossoms, Sylphs and fairies establish their…
Castro Alves was a Brazilian poet and playwright. His abolitionist writing won him the epithet of “O Poeta dos Escravos” (“The Poet of the Slaves”). Coming through the fearful shadows Where is it bound, that canoe? Is it sailing manned or is it lost? Does it travel true or float…
