AGNI 80
Contents
Editor's Note
The Nightcrawler, Joan Miró
Fiction
What Makes the Dawn Breathable
by E. C. Belli
Forgiveness
The Assam Incident
City of Words
by Tony Eprile
Other Bodies
Eudaimonia
Thinking in Third Person
What Could’ve Been?
Drip, Drop, Drippity-Drop
Translated from the Italian by Martha Cooley and Antonio Romani
Beautiful Ground
by Josh Weil
Poetry
Burial Instructions—Abject & Fuming
Slum Drummers, Nairobi
Nests I
by Tara Bray
Desire
by Colin Cheney
Ghazal for Finally Leaving What Has Already Left
by Meg Day
Beads of Sweat
by Nick Flynn
Circling
Shooting a Slingshot With My Father
The Same Father
Forensics of Wheatbelt Silo Design
Pier Pug
Flowering Bitterroot
Matinee
Blessing in Disguise
To an Ash on a Crackling Log
Offices
Snow Drones
Community Pool / Love Poem
The Field the Drive-In Was In
“You loved the tragedy factory of me. . .”
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Poem for the Unknown
by Martin Rock
Portrait of a Sixteenth-Century Etching of the Body
by Martin Rock
Natural Disaster
Contrapunctus (#1)
The Narrows: Lake George, 1969
Song (of the Pharmaceutical) of the Song
Art Feature
Scenes from an Odyssey: Oscar on the Road (essay)
Sojourner
Unsettling whimsy, gravity, and grace: Photographer Rosamond Purcell’s portfolio— the debut of her “Oscar” series— provides the visual key signature for our most symphonically ambitious gathering of voices yet. Fiction by Beth Bosworth, Josh Weil, Chitra Divakaruni, and Tony Eprile; poetry by Nick Flynn, Erica Funkhouser, Peter Balakian, and Jill McDonough; essays by Anna Journey and K. E. Duffin; and much more. Superb translations of Virgil, Raúl Zurita, Théophile Gautier, Antonio Tabucchi, and others bring striking accents to the weave.
Editor
Sven Birkerts
Sven Birkerts
Founding Editor
Askold Melnyczuk
Askold Melnyczuk
Senior Editor
William Pierce
William Pierce
Asst. Poetry Editor
Sumita Chakraborty
Sumita Chakraborty
Poetry Editor
Lynne Potts
Lynne Potts
Fiction Editor
William Giraldi
William Giraldi
Prose Editor
Jennifer Alise Drew
Jennifer Alise Drew
Readers
Jessica Keener
Mary O'Donoghue
Erin Trahan
Brian Burt
Jessica Keener, Mary O'Donoghue, Erin Trahan, Brian Burt
Galley Editors/Events
Lindsay Guth
Beth Romano
Lindsay Guth, Beth Romano
Social Media
Sumita Chakraborty
Rachel Mennies
Sumita Chakraborty, Rachel Mennies
Marketing
Daniel Pritchard
Steven LaFond
Daniel Pritchard, Steven LaFond
Newsletter Director
Alison Lanier
Alison Lanier
Editorial Assistants
Emily Frisella
Alison Lanier
Will Harrison
Brian Han
Anna Ziering
Emily Pineau
Rachel Feingold
Jannell McConnell Parsons
Emily Frisella, Alison Lanier, Will Harrison, Brian Han, Anna Ziering, Emily Pineau, Rachel Feingold, Jannell McConnell Parsons
Advisory Board
Leslie Epstein
Robert Pinsky
Derek Walcott
Rosanna Warren
Leslie Epstein, Robert Pinsky, Derek Walcott, Rosanna Warren
Contributing Editors
Lucie Brock-Broido
John J. Clayton
William Corbett
Stuart Dischell
Sharon Dunn, ed. emerita
Thomas Sayers Ellis
Marie Howe
Diana Der-Hovanessian
Ha Jin
Alex Johnson
Dana Levin
Fred Marchant
Fiona McCrae
Gail Mazur
Dzvinia Orlowsky
Lia Purpura
George Scialabba
Tom Sleigh
Sue Standing
Oksana Zabuzhko
Lucie Brock-Broido, John J. Clayton, William Corbett, Stuart Dischell, Sharon Dunn, ed. emerita, Thomas Sayers Ellis, Marie Howe, Diana Der-Hovanessian, Ha Jin, Alex Johnson, Dana Levin, Fred Marchant, Fiona McCrae, Gail Mazur, Dzvinia Orlowsky, Lia Purpura, George Scialabba, Tom Sleigh, Sue Standing, Oksana Zabuzhko