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Issue #6

Issue Date: April, 1968
Editors: John Peter & Robin Skelton
Pages: 136
Number of Contributors: 33

Cover of issue #6

Issue #6 includes a refreshing section entitled “An Atlas of Poetry,” featuring fifteen poets from around the world whose homelands range from Canada to Nigeria, from Sweden to Brazil, and beyond.  Daryl Hine, a well-known Canadian poet and translator is featured in this section with his poem “Point Grey.” U.S. author, May Sarton contributes her poem “After Anger,” and the emotion communicated here is palpable. “All day I have held a letter in my hand, / While anger shook me to shapeless distress.”

The word “atlas” can be applied to more than just one section of this issue.  Many of the surrounding pages are also filled with translations of poetry and short stories from across the globe.  Carl Sesar translates Komparu Zanchiku’s short play “Yokihi,” based on an ancient Chinese myth, but adapted with Japanese names, about the highest degree of beauty in Japanese culture.  Another translation is the short story “Shorty Kim,” written by Song Pyong-Su and translated by Yu E. Sang.  This piece looks at a “Yankee” camp in Korea through the eyes of a young Korean boy.  Yet another stop on this worldwide adventure is an essay entitled “The Modern Poetry of Japan” by Harold P. Wright.  The essay explores how modern Japanese poets explore forms beyond the traditional haiku.

In the midst of this excellent issue we find “Anne Sexton: Worksheets.” Here, the Pulitzer Prize-winning poet shares ten facsimile earlier versions of her poem “Wallflower,” including the final version as published in her 1962 book All My Pretty Ones. Issue #6 is truly unique in the diversity of works included among its pages.

—Karyn Wisselink