PostPoetry is defunct, but read the short story here.
“My Legacy as Written in the Lives of Kin” is the true story of my maternal great-grandfather, who got locked up for breaking the law, and whose children subsequently hitchhiked across the country to ask Herbert Hoover to pardon him. It sounds crazy, but it really happened. Lifetime made a movie about it, though they left out the key points of prostitution, grand theft auto, and suicide, and replaced them with religious jingoism. I attempted to get in touch with the screenwriter of The Angel of Pennsylvania Avenue in order to discuss his sources. He never responded. (Incidentally, the message boards and comments on the IMDB page are fascinating.) For me, the piece was a means to reflect upon how failure can feel pre-ordained.
PostPoetry was an awesome dual language (English and German) publication out of Britain. It briefly restructured as The Transnational since the publication of the story, and has since folded.
Ben Leib hat die vergangenen zwölfJahre seines Lebens als Kellner, Student und Junkie zugebracht – und jede dieser Lebensstationen hat ihm ein gleichwertiges Maß an Qual zugefügt.
About Postpoetry:
Despite the associations which the name carries, PostPoetry doesn´t consist of poetry alone: PostPoetry is open to a wide range of forms and styles: We are always looking for texts (epic poetry, diary extracts, comments, essays, thought experiments, experimental and absurd texts) which offer a new approach to the political and social landscape of the previous century and of the present.
PostPoetry is a modern way for the generation of the 21st century to express itself. Texts can be like old scars and calluses, like blood and dirt. Or they can be melancholy, quirky, ironic or enlightening. They can dissolve existing boundaries and suggest new ones. They can make us question our beliefs about what writing can do. Texts can champion social justice and human rights, war and psychological violence, giving rise to provocative or soothing thoughts. And if they don’t entertain, they should at least make us laugh or cry. Or both.
The PostPoetry mission is to cull the submissions we receive into a printed collection that will stay with you long after you read it, a collection you’ll return to again and again.
We’re a print journal. Which, of course, doesn’t make us better than online journals, but we like the fact that our contributors’ work appears in a pleasant magazine that, between readings, will grace perhaps hundreds of bookshelves and coffee tables.
The PP Mag doesn’t set thematic limits. Texts and pictures will be collected and arranged in an appropriate aesthetic form in the printed magazine. The web presence can be your point of orientation – the pictures and texts that you find under the category of “samples” are a little glimpse of what you’ll find in the printed version of the PP Mag.
The PP Mag is bilingual: available in English and German. (We will publish English as well as German texts and translations.)
Topics aren’t compressed, allowing you to say what you have to say. PostPoetry want to join the play of your thoughts. This is the only way PostPoetry can react to impulses and present events.
The PP Magazine isn’t commercial. PostPoetry is financially and politically independent.
PostPoetry is a platform for political and socio-critical texts and artwork. PostPoet(People) enjoy the freedom afforded by speculation and criticism.
PostPoetry believes that all great literature is revolutionary and necessary. Great writers are honest. They call upon us as readers to experience the intangible.
PostPoet(People) show us parts of the world that we have never seen, places we’ll never see, situations we will never experience while making us see through their eyes what has been right in front of us all the time.
Great writers can channel emotions and find new ways to stretch all sense of the conventional. PostPoet(People) see their world with open and critical eyes – and express it in a whimsical, oblique or tightly structured manner. Thus, the visual plane is not limited to one dimension: it is open in all directions.
So if you have something to say – say it.
The Transnational:
We publish poetry and essays from authors from around the world. We are always looking for texts (poetry, diary extracts, comments, essays, thought-experiments, absurd and experimental texts) which offer a new approach to the political and social landscape of the present day. (Please read the submission guidelines, before sending texts).
Texts which are published in the Transnational can dissolve existing boundaries or suggest new ones. They can make us question our beliefs, champion social justice and human rights, war and psychological violence, giving rise to provocative or soothing thoughts. We believe that all great literature is revolutionary and necessary. Great writers are honest. They call upon us as readers to experience the intangible.
We are a print journal. Which, of course, does not make us better than online journals, but we like the fact that our contributors’ work appears in a magazine that, between readings, will grace perhaps hundreds of bookshelves and coffee tables. The Transnational shows its readers parts of the world that they might have never seen, places they might never see, situations they will never experience while making them see through the writers eyes what has been right in front of them the whole time.
The Transnational does not set thematic limits. Topics are not compressed and will allow you to say what you have to say. The Transnational wants to join the play of cultural thoughts, social ideas and therefore react to impulses and present events.
The web presence can be your point of orientation – the texts that you find under the category of samples are a small glimpse of what you will find in the printed version of the magazine. The website and magazine are bilingual (English and German) – texts can be send in both languages.
The Transnational is not commercial. We are financially and politically independent.
Josh Barlas 