An Interview with Nidia Hernández
Nidia Hernández is a leading figure in the world of Latin American poetics. Her radio show, La Maja Desnuda, has served as an archive for poets across continents and eras, and has survived censorship from the Maduro administration. She is also a vital part of Mercurius, introducing the magazine to wonderful poetry from the Americas, both the North and South. Read her interview with Jonny Lipshin.
As You Were
When he learns his father is dying, David Tromblay ponders what will become of the monster’s legacy and picks up a pen to set the story straight. As You Were (Dzanc Books) is the result.
La Noche Oscura (The Dark Night)
La Noche Oscura (The Dark Night) by Ariadna. An original song presented to the public for the first time by Mercurius Magazine.
A Brief Manifesto on Variety (For Dreamers, Poets and Tantric Artists)
Variety doesn’t exist just to appease Ennui; we each possess a psychic need to externalise inner forces, to find fresh images for buried depths.
Patience
Elliot’s an incredible observer, able to memorise and categorise in astonishing detail. He’s also an ideal friend, overflowing with compassion and warmth and fun. But he’s stuck, forced to spend his days in an empty corridor, either gazing out of the window at the birds in a tree or staring into a white wall – wherever the Catholic Sisters who run the ward have decided to park his wheelchair…. Read an excerpt from Toby Litt’s astonishing novel Patience (Galley Beggar Press), shortlisted for the 2020 Republic of Consciousness Award.
A Few Reasons to Celebrate
We form odd habits in times of strain. The early days of the pandemic were like those that follow heartbreak. The body wakes first, peaceful and unknowing. Then mind, that ancient film reel, starts its circuit. With a click and whir, news breaks: Pandemic. Stay at home.
Brian
Brian. 2020. Oil on canvas. 16 x 12 in. New York. Paul Joseph Vogeler.
Dance
Dance. 25x35 watercolour paper, November 2020. Dima Damyanova.
Essays on a Traumatized America
Sebastian Matthews’ memoir in essays Beyond Repair: Living in a Fractured State (Red Hen Press) explores a traumatized America through his encounters with friends and strangers. Mercurius is delighted to share two essays from the collection.
Fog and Metropolis
Two poems by Muanis Sinanović translated from Slovenian into English by Mirza Purić.
Selected Contemporary Poetry
Allow me to present the wonderful worlds of Amy Gerstler, Carolyn Forché, Alexandria Hall, Kazim Ali, Rosanna Warren, Diane Loue, Jane Hirshfield and Jan Beatty. These readings were recorded at the 2020 Miami Book Fair.
Shall I compare thee (for voice and mandolin)
A setting of Shakespeare's sonnet 'Shall I compare thee to a summer's day' for soprano and mandolin
The Art of (Stationary) Travel
Although cliched, the metaphor of the “journey” never loses its shine no matter how many times it is used. Immersed in an existence based on constant motion, we are possessed of a deep psychic need to decipher and come to terms with our own “soul-journeys”. And so time again we are drawn to the resonance of the “travel” narrative.
Tales from Dublin Pubs: The Chancery Inn (O'Reilly Bros) of Inns Quay
On a good day this seemingly foreboding haunt is in fact a source of warmth and welcome. A rare quayside pub with a bleak band of militant raw-boned smoking sentinels offering up plumes of smoke and gawking ever downward, perhaps contemplating Plato, perhaps counting cigarette butts, who’s to know?
Crayon Poems
Crayon Poems is the poetic equivalent of a cat gifting its owner a dead bird, only it’s done with greasy, gentle colours on the page. It is a gift you don’t want but should be grateful for.
A Complicated Progress
Perhaps the popularity of the bildungsroman has less to do with a taste for accurate depictions of reality than a desire for a comprehensible structure amid the chaos of emotions.
All days are mine
All days are mine. Acrylic on canvas, 100 x 81 cm. 2020. Victor Manzanal.
Death in a Time of Coronavirus
It’s difficult to believe in death without first-hand experience. The loss of a loved one, or perhaps an illness, brings your own mortality into focus. The inhuman birth and death cycles carry on regardless of your absence. What appears steady, will change. If not now, then later. If not later, than now.
Solitude and a Meditation for Winter
This morning brought the first frost. The park was unrecognisable. An otherworldly scene. All washed with silver, save the outline of the deer and trees. Winter, the Earth’s contraction, was beginning.
Death
The best thing about this year of lockdown has been the sighting of so many animals one ordinarily never saw, or, if you did, they were already dead, victims of roadkill or industrial poisoning or sheer exposure.
The never-ending quest…
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