AGNI 59
Contents
Editor's Note
Fiction
My Father, the Perfect Man
from The Tardigrade: 8. Permafrost; 9. Pirogi; 15. The Formal Personal Pronoun
by Paul West
Essays
Language in Myth, Religion, Saga, and Tale
Tomaz Salamun and His “Tribe”
Domains
by Donald Hall
Poetry
Geography on a Grapefruit
by James Arthur
The Dissection
by James Arthur
Window on a Projectionist Rewinding
by James Arthur
The Prisoner’s Visitation
by John Bensko
Besides Sappho
by Simeon Berry
The Fly
The Other
Prism
by Louise Glück
Dis Pater
by Brian Swann
from Yucca Mountain Sequence: i and iii
On Recalling Joel Peter Witkin’s “The Kiss” on a Woodland Walk in Autumn
The hand-breadth of the unknown. Fiction by Vivek Narayanan, Paul West, Martha Cooley, Keith Gessen, Jacob Appel (his “The Frying Finn” coincidentally convergent with the photographs of Finnish-American artist Arno Minkkinen), Chris Abouzeid and Joan Wickersham. A boyhood memoir by Donald Hall. Poetry by Wesley McNair, James Arthur, Edip Cansever, Brian Swann, Judith Vollmer, Jeffrey Harrison, David Hernandez, and others. Louise Glück’s “Prism” essayed by Dan Chiasson, and Tomaž Šalamun celebrated by Aleš Debeljak. Musings on the real and the fabulous by William Pierce. Much more.
Editor
Sven Birkerts
Sven Birkerts
Founding Editor
Askold Melnyczuk
Askold Melnyczuk
Managing Editor
Eric Grunwald
Eric Grunwald
Associate Fiction Editor
William Giraldi
Jenna Blum
William Giraldi, Jenna Blum
Associate Poetry Editor
Ellen Wehle
Rachel DeWoskin
Ellen Wehle, Rachel DeWoskin
Advisory Board
Leslie Epstein
Robert Pinsky
Derek Walcott
Leslie Epstein, Robert Pinsky, Derek Walcott
Editor Emerita
Sharon Dunn
Sharon Dunn
Editorial Assistants
Ian Breen
Patrick Frank
Agnes Gyorfi
Tracey Knapp
Jessica Lott
Moana Minton
Thu Nguyen
Katie Sigelman
Jennifer Stroup (Jennifer Alise Drew)
Ian Breen, Patrick Frank, Agnes Gyorfi, Tracey Knapp, Jessica Lott, Moana Minton, Thu Nguyen, Katie Sigelman, Jennifer Stroup (Jennifer Alise Drew)
Contributing Editors
Thomas Bahr
Erin Belieu
Lucie Brock-Broido
John J. Clayton
William Corbett
Stuart Dischell
Sharon Dunn
Thomas Sayers Ellis
Marie Howe
Diana Der-Hovanessian
Ha Jin
Alex Johnson
Susan Johnson
Fred Marchant
Fiona McCrae
Gail Mazur
Joe Osterhaus
Dzvinia Orlowsky
George Packer
Solomea Pavlychko
Liam Rector
Scott Ruescher
George Scialabba
Tom Sleigh
Sue Standing
Rosanna Warren
Oksana Zabuzhko
Thomas Bahr, Erin Belieu, Lucie Brock-Broido, John J. Clayton, William Corbett, Stuart Dischell, Sharon Dunn, Thomas Sayers Ellis, Marie Howe, Diana Der-Hovanessian, Ha Jin, Alex Johnson, Susan Johnson, Fred Marchant, Fiona McCrae, Gail Mazur, Joe Osterhaus, Dzvinia Orlowsky, George Packer, Solomea Pavlychko, Liam Rector, Scott Ruescher, George Scialabba, Tom Sleigh, Sue Standing, Rosanna Warren, Oksana Zabuzhko