AGNI 104
Contents
Editor’s NoteFictionEssaysHybridPoetryArt FeatureProximity: A Portfolio of Writing and Art by Women of Color
Editor’s Note
Fiction
A Woman Considered Beautiful
by Anita Harag
Translated from the Hungarian by Marietta Morry and Walter Burgess
Burial Ground
by Andy Miller
Ham
by Eli Woloshin
Hybrid
Huckleberry Finn Did This
by Holly Hunt
Poetry
Louise
by Aria Curtis
When we were little and still slept in drawers
by Daniela Danz
Translated from the German by Monika Cassel
Fetal Position in My Mother’s Wrapper
by Martins Deep
Glaucidium gnoma
by Kelly Gray
I Try Again to Carve the Deer Out of the Sonnet
by Kelly Gray
Sappho
In Other Words: What Odysseus Says
Translated from the German by Christopher Nelson and Monika Cassel
A script born of fingertips
PTSD
Smoke rising
Proximity: A Portfolio of Writing and Art by Women of Color
Editor’s Note
Essays
My Father Is a Hill
by Emma Ramadan
Hybrid
[T’s story •••]
Poetry
Labor
Courtship Sonnet
by Hala Alyan
Dubai Sonnet
by Hala Alyan
Midtown Sonnet
by Hala Alyan
Daini
In Search Of
weehawken police department waiting room
by Sophia Chong
Come, Read My Poems
Translated from the Sinhala by Subhashini Malika Dharmarathna
English as a Second Language
Know me by my love, he said,
Ramshackle
by Sadaf Halai
Al-Hoda
Obit—Heba Abu Nada
Obit—Khawāti
Obit—Sadiqati
The Syrian Quarter
Wild Caught
Basement Bathroom
My Carpets Keep Me Warm
by Seema Jilani
Chicago
by Bhanu Kapil
warning: Baba’s words of caution
The Pseudofruit
The Centennial State
by Sydney Mayes
Sex-Portrait on the Lower Deck
The Devil’s Dance Hall
Rat Race Haibun
Art Feature
Pregnant with You
Bliss, New York
by Lola Flash
Shaheen Bagh, Inhtijaj, Resistance (Delhi, 2019)
by Sofia Karim
from Gut Feelings Meri Jaan
by Jasleen Kaur
Tremors and agitations. The challenged body strives for coherence in our art feature by Nkechi Ebubedike, which joins the halves of AGNI 104: On one side, there’s Proximity, a major new portfolio of work by women of color, featuring writing and art by Hala Alyan, Lola Flash, Sophia Chong, Haleh Liza Gafori, Tracy K. Smith, Ibtisam Azem (translated by Mayada Ibrahim), Karthika Naïr, and many more. On the other side, the familiar goes tectonic. The ground shifts in fiction by Andy Miller and Caren Beilin. The story shifts in essays by Daniel Barnum and Laura Mullen. And visions shift in poems by Kelly Gray, Khaled Mattawa, Oak Morse, and Clementina Suárez (translated by J. P. Allen).
Editor
William Pierce
William Pierce
Senior Editor
Shuchi Saraswat
Shuchi Saraswat
Senior Fiction Editor
Mary O’Donoghue
Mary O’Donoghue
Senior Poetry Editor
Jennifer Kwon Dobbs 허수진
Jennifer Kwon Dobbs 허수진
Fiction Editor
Julia Brown
Julia Brown
Poetry Editor
Jessica Q. Stark
Jessica Q. Stark
Nonfiction Editors
Sven Birkerts, editor emeritus
George Estreich
Sven Birkerts, editor emeritus, George Estreich
Asst. Fiction Editors
Ben Black
Ariel Courage
Koye Oyedeji
Ben Black, Ariel Courage, Koye Oyedeji
Assoc. Poetry Editor
Esteban Rodríguez
Esteban Rodríguez
Asst. Poetry Editors
Dorsey Craft
Rachel Mennies
Issam Zineh
Dorsey Craft, Rachel Mennies, Issam Zineh
Asst. Nonfiction Editor
Katie Cusumano
Katie Cusumano
Reverb Editors
Ryan Choi
Grace Singh Smith
Ryan Choi, Grace Singh Smith
Reviews Editor
Rachel Mennies
Rachel Mennies
Newsletter Director
Arielle Kaplan
Arielle Kaplan
Promotions Director
Alison Lanier
Alison Lanier
Social Media (Bluesky & Instagram)
Katie Priest
Katie Priest
Reverb Assistant
Celeste Amidon
Celeste Amidon
AGNI Online Archivist
Rachel Harrison
Rachel Harrison
Editorial Assistants
Ilah Ross
Lauren Mirzakhalili
Zoe Hanquier
Meredith Olsson
Sumon Bomya
Julia Glazebnik
Ilah Ross, Lauren Mirzakhalili, Zoe Hanquier, Meredith Olsson, Sumon Bomya, Julia Glazebnik
Founding Editor
Askold Melnyczuk
Askold Melnyczuk
Advisory Board
Ha Jin
Robert Pinsky
Rosanna Warren
Ha Jin, Robert Pinsky, Rosanna Warren
Endowment Campaign Director
Erik Vorm
Erik Vorm
Contributing Editors
Sumita Chakraborty
John J. Clayton
Stuart Dischell
Jennifer Alise Drew
Sharon Dunn, editor emerita
Anne Germanacos
Marie Howe
Alex Johnson
Dana Levin
Fred Marchant
Gail Mazur
Fiona McCrae
Dzvinia Orlowsky
E. C. Osondu
Lia Purpura
George Scialabba
Tom Sleigh
Sue Standing
Oksana Zabuzhko
Sumita Chakraborty, John J. Clayton, Stuart Dischell, Jennifer Alise Drew, Sharon Dunn, editor emerita, Anne Germanacos, Marie Howe, Alex Johnson, Dana Levin, Fred Marchant, Gail Mazur, Fiona McCrae, Dzvinia Orlowsky, E. C. Osondu, Lia Purpura, George Scialabba, Tom Sleigh, Sue Standing, Oksana Zabuzhko
Typesetting and Design
Gian Lombardo / Quale Press
Gian Lombardo / Quale Press