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Suite Française

1Hot, thought the Parisians. The warm air of spring. It was night, they were at war and there was an air raid. But dawn was near and the war… More

The Selected Poems of Wang Wei

At Cloud Valley with Huang-fu Yüeh1 Bird-Cry CreekIn our idleness, cinnamon blossoms fall.In night quiet, spring mountains standempty. Moonrise startles mountain birds:here and there, cries in a spring gorge.3… More

House of War

The Building looms over the Potomac across sixty years of war and peace, through six decades of memory. A forbidden temple even now, when I am older—imagine how the… More

Cut off the Ears of Winter

Cut Off the Ears of WinterCut off the ears of winterthey have overheard too much,where incinerators burn,where rubble-strewn streetsare covered in dust from the remodeling.Again, the doe-man in mauve… More

Writers Like Me

I am a 46-year-old writer of “literary” fiction. I’ve had three novels published — the first for young people, the last two for adults. All have won minor prizes,… More

Writing Melitte

In my young adult novel Melitte, I did not let readers know that she was a slave until the third chapter. I wanted them first to identify with the… More

Ms. Body

Dear Ms. Body,I want to start this letter by telling you that I am only writing this because I have to. I know there are a lot of things… More

Hiding Franz Fanon

Scene 2(Building Major Lenny Bealy sits behind his desk, hunting and pecking on a dummy terminal. A knock sounds on the door.)Major: Yeah. C’mon in, Shakir.(Enter Shakir, wide-eyed.)Major: Close… More