Shakespeare, Sir Thomas More and the Strangers’ Case
Shakespeare writes about race. A lot. Othello and The Merchant of Venice are just the best known examples. Most regard Shakespeare’s writings as humanising the …
Kyoto spared the bomb because
Kyoto spared Spared, it is said, Because Of a second honeymoon trip For Stimson, who crossed it off the list. Kyoto, first, became last Spared, …
Ameen Rihani – from A Chant of Mystics and Other Poems
Ameen Rihani was an emigré Lebanese poet who wrote in English and Arabic. Like Kahlil Gibran and May Ziadeh, who were well known to him …
Down by the Queanbeyan River
Down by the Queanbeyan River Sulla Sponda del fiume di Queanbeyan A river too is like a library, Its banks like storied shelves, Its memories …
A Visit to the Queanbeyan Library
When I first visited the Queanbeyan Library, it was housed in the old council chambers. After that, it moved from place to place, and is …
Bagpipes over the Arboretum drift up to the hill
This poem was inspired by a visit to Canberra’s arboretum. It is a beautiful gift to the city by visionary leaders who rather than opening …
Desdemona’s Tears rain down for another than she
In recent times, I have been working both on translating May Ziadeh’s poetry and publication of Cinthio’s Desdemona: The Story that Inspired Othello. With both …
May Zaideh’s poignant country lost and found
Of the many cruelties of colonialism, one of the worst was the dissection of colonial possessions as colonialism came to an end. That dissection left …
Echoes of Other Tongues
The poem below plays with language and voice. Recently I have been publishing poems in bilingual form: an original accompanied by a translation (English-Italian or …